6 Landscape Design Ideas for a Multi-Functioning Retaining Wall in Camp Hill, PA Area

A retaining wall has so much potential as a design element in your landscape beyond the obvious of holding back soil and creating additional usable space. If you’re planning a retaining wall project this season, here’s what you can do with these 6 landscape design ideas for a multi-functioning retaining wall in Camp Hill, PA.

Related: 5 Benefits of Adding a Retaining Wall to Your Front Yard in the Harrisburg and Camp Hill, PA Areas

1. An Integrated Outdoor Kitchen

When your outdoor kitchen is integrated into a retaining wall, the design creates a cozy space that’s wonderful for sharing meals with family and friends. The wall could even house a small vegetable and culinary herb garden so that these fresh ingredients are readily available anytime. Add a pergola for shade or a pavilion to shelter the outdoor kitchen and bar area from the elements, and you’ll have a space that will become the hub of backyard patio living.

2. An Integrated Outdoor Fireplace

Along the same theme, you could integrate an outdoor fireplace into the retaining wall, creating a living room feel. Installing landscape light fixtures into the wall is the ideal way to illuminate the space with soft ambient lighting. You could also add a few niches for artwork or found objects.

3. An Amphitheater-Style Fire Pit Area

Take advantage of curves by creating an amphitheater-style fire pit area. With the seating up against the wall and looking out toward the wall, you create an incredibly cozy place to warm up on chilly evenings. The heat from the fire pit will radiate off the walls to keep the space warm even on the coldest winter’s day (yes, marshmallow roasting in January could become your new favorite winter entertaining activity).

4. Extra Seating

Any retaining wall is an opportunity to add seating to a patio - or really, anywhere in the landscape. The integrated seating could be in the form of wood benches; or the seating can be masonry, in keeping with the design style of the wall. Add landscape lights to the underside of the bench or under the lip of the coping used in masonry seating, for soft and attractive ambient light.

5. A Water Feature

A waterfall spillway is a smooth sheet of water that flows from a spillway installed inside the retaining wall into a catch basin and recirculates back to the top of the wall. This effect turns your retaining wall into a spectacular waterfall. Add LED lighting for dramatic effect after dark.

If you prefer a more natural look, incorporate a water feature alongside the retaining wall, for example where the wall comes to an end but the land is still sloped somewhat. For dramatic effect, a natural-looking waterfall could “break through” the middle of the retaining wall, looking very much like a broken dam.

A multiple-spout Roman faucet-style water feature is elegant and timeless; it won’t have the dramatic effect of a waterfall but adds the soothing sounds of water to your patio.

6. A Privacy Wall or Privacy Screen

If the upslope part of your property has unattractive views or nosy neighbors, you could add a privacy wall or a privacy screen to the top of a retaining wall to create a wonderful backyard sanctuary. This is also an opportunity to create a level foundation for a privacy fence that might otherwise be sloped. A privacy wall is solid, with no view to the other side. A privacy screen offers partial views but also offers a more airy, light feeling.

Related: How Patio Pavers Can Accentuate the Beauty of a Retaining Wall Built in the Harrisburg, PA Area