How to Build a Wood Garden Wall

Build a wood garden wall with chunky landscape timbers that are insect and mildew resistant. Stack the timbers to make a wall as high as you need to hold back the earth in a gardening bed or to add a layer of privacy to your property. Landscape timbers are 8 feet long. Minimize the wood cuts needed to build the garden wall by designing the length of the wall in 8-foot increments. A wood garden wall adds dimension to your landscape.

Things You'll Need

• 4-by-4 landscape timbers
• Safety glasses
• Work gloves
• Drill
• 1/2-inch diameter spade bit
• Handsaw
• Shovel
• Gravel
• #4 rebar poles
• Reciprocating saw
• Sledge hammer
• 8-inch galvanized spikes

Instructions

1. Measure and mark one side of a 4-by-4 landscape timber 3 feet from both ends. Drill a 1/2-inch diameter hole straight through the timber at each mark. Follow the process to drill holes in the number of timbers necessary to build the length of the garden wall. Wear safety glasses and work gloves when handling, drilling and working with landscape timbers. Cut timbers as necessary to fit the space; drill at least one hole through each cut timber.

2. Excavate the grass, rocks and debris in a 4-inch-wide area for the desired length of the garden wall. Cover the excavated area with a layer of gravel. Line the 8-foot-long timbers end to end on top of the gravel.

3. Wear safety glasses and gloves and cut #4 rebar poles into 2-foot-long increments with a reciprocating saw. Insert one 2-foot-long pole through a hole on one landscape timber. Hammer the rebar into the ground to the top of the timber using a sledge hammer. Follow the process to insert 2-foot-long rebar poles through each drilled hole along the length of the garden wall.

4. Stack another row of landscape timbers on top of the first row. Hammer 8-inch-long galvanized spikes through the top timber and into the timber underneath. Place the spikes every 2 1/2 feet along the length of each timber.

5. Follow the process to stack and spike timbers for the desired height of the garden wall.

Tips & Warnings

• Make a chunkier garden wall using 8-by-8 landscape timbers and 12-inch-long galvanized spikes to hold the timbers together.

References

• Creative Homeowner: Build a Retaining Wall with Landscaping Timbers
• University of Missouri Extension: Raised Bed Gardening