Landscaping & Retaining Walls Supplier

Manufactured wall systems fall into three major categories: garden walls, free-standing walls, and retaining walls.  The diference between them is the load-bearing capacity.  A garden wall is generally 12" to 18" high and encloses a garden or landscape accent area. Because they are low, pressure on garden walls is minimal, allowing them to be made from smaller and lighter material. A free-standing wall generally borders a patio or other hardscaping surface for the purpose of privacy or providing a place to sit (aka a seating wall). The pressure on a freestanding wall is gravity; so, height is only limited by the depth and width of the wall block. A retaining wall can be quite high and may be holding back (retaining) soil, stone, or water for any number of possible applications.  Retaining wall systems can be used for garden walls; however, garden wall systems can rarely be used for heavy-duty retaining applications.

Walls can also be categorized by the way in which they are put together. Segmental wall systems are comprised of individual pieces designed to be installed on a stone base and held together by either a connector (wall pins or clips) or a design feature (such as a lip). Segmental walls "breathe," i.e., air and water can escape between the individual pieces.  This makes them able to withstand more pressure.  Solid walls are usually used when veneer is the desired finished look. This type of wall requires a concrete footer and is mortared together prior to applying the veneer. Since this technique takes several steps with specialized materials, it is much more expensive than a segmental wall, but results in a truly beautiful look. Major manufacturers are constantly creating new segmental wall designs to compete with the look of veneer. For example, EP Henry's Cast Stone Wall provides individually veneered blocks to combine the best of both segmental and veneer (solid) walls.

Major manufacturers offer many wall systems to cover the full range of applications in a huge range of designs.  We offer and have on display wall systems from Rockwood Walls®,  Nicolock®, EP Henry®, Techo-Bloc®, Belgard® and Keystone Hardscapes® in addition to several veneer options.

Related Blog Articles

Interested in learning more about walls? Check out these articles from our blog, which contain detailed information on applications and installation:

Building a Wall – Step 1: Structure

Building a Wall – Step 2: Look & Feel

Building a Wall – Step 3: Construction