AboutMarc Chapelle, ASLA Expertise As a licensed Landscape Architect, I am available to answer general questions about style and design, ideas and suggestions for site amenities, larger site-planning issues, or recreational and park design. I prefer you ask somebody else why your petunias are not as perky as they should be...I'd LOVE to tell you how can use those petunias to increase your home's value!
Experience Member, American Society of Landscape Architects(ALSA); My clients are mostly contractors, developers and local civil engineering/architecture firms, plus the occasional homeowner. I am currently located in the dry Great Basin area (Reno/Sparks), so use of landscape materials OTHER than plants is emphasized. As a licensed Landscape Architect on the East and West Coasts, I have been in practice over 18 years. My website: DesertLA.com
Question I have leveled my front yard which leaves a 3-5' deep area near the house in need of a retaining wall (the entire length of the house). Would you rather see the 8' area from the house to the wall flat (so a taller wall)with plantings or should I slope it, ending up with a shorter wall?
Answer Depends on which way the slope is...AWAY from the house is the ONLY way to go. Water still flows downhill, and I don't want your foundation to be at the bottom of the hill.
Assuming your sloped 8' planter is sloping away form the house, I'd opt for the shorter wall. Four reasons why: 1.) It creates an attactive display area- like a display stand - Just like the produce isle in the supermarket. 2.) It has the potential to create a lengthened perspective, making the house look farther away than it really is from the street. 3.) A lower wall makes the house look less like a fortress. And 4.), A lower wall is easier to build, potentially saving you money on engineering (if it is over 4 ft. ht.) and/or permit fees.
IF your planter slopes TOWARDS the house, all bets are off, and you'll need to correct this situation.
Be sure and match or accent the house's trim with the wall material you sellect - I.E. no red brick wall if the house is covered in ledge stones, conversely, avoid rock walls or mismatched brick colors if the house is red brick. You get the idea...
