Outcropping Retaining Wall, Rock Beds & Fire Pit Patio Revival — Monticello, WI

This Monticello backyard had a circular paver fire pit patio that had been buried under a sliding hillside, an old low stone wall coming apart, and weeds where the beds should be. The homeowners wanted their fire pit back and the slope dealt with for good.

We cut the hillside back and built a curved two-course limestone outcropping wall on a compacted base, backfilled with clear stone and woven fabric so water drains through instead of pushing on the wall. The old lower wall was pulled and reset course by course so the whole space reads as one terrace.

The paver circle was uncovered, cleaned, and re-edged. Around it we laid fabric, a flagstone stepper path, and river rock beds planted with perennials and grasses. The upper terrace behind the wall got a mulched bed of hostas and shrubs, and the disturbed lawn was seeded and blanketed.

By the numbers: the wall runs about 45 ft and stands about 2 ft 9 in at its tallest, rebuilt with the stone already on site, with 1 ft of clean drainage stone and filter fabric behind it and a layer of geogrid tied 4 ft back into the slope. The river rock bed covers about 320 sq ft, 3 in deep over weed barrier and a screened topsoil base. A 3 ft wide mulched bed runs the full length of the wall top, 70 ft of edging holds the bed lines, and about two dozen flagstone steppers include a mulch path along the deck. Three lilacs, a small tree and old landscape timbers were hauled away, the patio joints were refilled with polymeric sand behind 48 ft of new paver restraint, and the bare lawn was seeded under a straw erosion blanket.

Retaining walls, patios, planting beds, and drainage across Dane and Green counties. Read our Google reviews. Call or text (608) 576-4220 for a free estimate.