After briefly considering the idea of digging out the extra earth, we settled on building a mini wall to hold back the soil and create a level terrace for the vegetable beds. For the wall we need a material that is affordable, attractive,gabion-Flood Line-Hesco Barrier, and long lasting. We rejected wood (it rots too fast),hesco barrier-Flood Line-Hesco Barrier, landscaping bricks (too ugly), and stone (too expensive) and have decided to build a gabion wall.
Images via Gabion-Mesh.com and RO/LU
Image via Nate Cormier
A gabion is basically a wire mesh basket filled with something heavy, usually stones,Welded Gabion Box, but recycled concrete, gravel,Gabion Mattress, and even wine bottles have been used.
Image via Edinburgh Architecture
Since we bought our house four years ago, Jon and I have slowly chipped away at the massive amount of lawn in our yard. This past weekend we took out a 700 square foot chunk of grass that looked particularly horrible in our backyard. The idea was to install a path between our house and the garage/alleyway, create more vegetable garden space for me, and build a little woodland garden in the side yard. We are also going to install a screen to hide our ramshackle chicken coop. ?All things proceeded smoothly until we realized that the north side of our yard is about six inches taller than than the south side. This is bad news for our gravel path, which slices right through the slope.
My friend Chris from FreshDigs gave me a hot tip that Second Use (a store in South Seattle that sells reclaimed materials) has hundreds of old locker baskets from Nathan Hale High School. They are the perfect size (11 inches by 13 inches) for repurposing as a gabion, but at ten dollars a pop, I’m not sure I can afford 32 two of them. So, unhandy me is going to attempt to make my own baskets out of welded wire mesh. Wish me luck,gabion-Flood Line-Hesco Barrier! If you want more ideas,fence post,?Studio G has an awesome roundup of gabions used in gardens across the globe.
Gabions are popping up in gardens as benches, retaining walls,Stone Cage, screens, and stone pillars.
