How to build a cheap garden retaining wall?
Limestone is an inexpensive material for landscaping, and you can use it to build a low retaining wall to line garden beds. Simply stack them on top of one another—the more natural the better—and you have a simple retaining wall. Retaining walls look as if they have to hold back great masses of earth, but they only have to hold back a small wedge. Rather than filling that wedge with moisture-loving soil that may threaten your wall, fill it with sandy, gravelly materials that compact easily and allow water to drain down and away from your wall.
Does a 2 foot retaining wall need drainage?
Even a 2-foot retaining wall needs an effective drainage system. Without it, water can build up behind the wall, leading to pressure that might cause the wall to lean or even collapse. All walls need systems to manage water effectively, preventing damage over time. The four most common failure modes for retaining walls include sliding, overturning, bearing capacity, and global stability. Sliding A wedge of soil forms behind the wall, and the pressure it forms pushes the wall away from the soil. The wall stays intact, but the ground behind collapses.