How to turn a hill into a flat yard with a Retaining wall

Hello everybody. So today what we're going to be talking about is how to turn a hillside into a usable backyard. What I when I got the call on this project, what we initially seen when I came out was a steep slope that ran directly into the back of this customer's house. It led to multiple issues. The first one was drainage. Everything on the site drained right down into their basement, which created floods during heavy rains. The second one is there was just plain and simply no room to use the yard for anything other than a sledding hill, which led directly into their kitchen. They wanted a flat enough space that they could have their kids play in the backyard. They could throw a grill out there and do some cooking, and if they wanted to toss a ball around, they wanted to have enough room to be able to do that. But they also had a budget. So, the solution that we came up with was what what I'm going to do is chunk it into three separate parts. The first part is excavation, which is what you see behind me right now. What we're doing is the excavation part, the second part is slope stabilization. So although we're flat, creating a flat space, we're also creating more aggressive slopes on the site that somehow need to be stabilized. And then the third phase of this project is the restoration phase. So when we break a project like this down into its three separate components and we have a budget that we have to fit it within, what we like to do is try to create as much flat space within the excavation number and minimalize how much slope stabilization or what we're going to call it for what it really is retaining walls and settings. The reason we want to minimize that is because that is the most expensive portion of most landscaping projects. When you call in an excavation company that can build retaining walls, it's simple for them to do the excavation. The material cost on a boulder retaining wall is where the expense starts to rise. So, in this case, as we look behind us, we're right now in the excavation phase of it. We've currently hauled out hundreds and hundreds of cubic yards of soil and have just begun forming or terraforming the slopes and stabilizing them. What we're concentrating on in this case is minimalizing those retaining walls. What we're doing in this particular job is a three tiered retaining wall, but we're going to quickly break those three tiered retaining walls down into boulder settings. And the reason we go down to boulder settings is because it it's less material. It's still can stabilize that slope and it gives it a nice look without the extra expense of actually building a retaining wall. So, we're going to go through this project in phases. We're going to keep you updated, but at this point, what you're seeing behind me is just the excavation. You'll see the finalized retaining wall, which is in progress right now. It will be broken down from three retaining walls into boulder settings as we go through the slope to minimize that expense. And then the final component of this will be this uh the restoration, which will be simply nothing more than doing sod. And what we'll probably end up doing in this case is some wood chips on the slope because wood chips aren't expensive, folks. Um, and do some plantings. And I think that is going to be our best way to do it. We're going to film the process and let you guys have a look at uh behind the scenes how we actually accomplish this. What you can see is we have an assortment of stones of various sizes. And what he does is he uses the largest stones for the base for the lower stones. and then he uh sorts and separates the smaller stones based on where he wants to place them in the structure itself. Um we like to be able to get those big 3 to 5ft stones on the bottom and then go the subsequent courses anywhere from 3 to four uh and then smaller sizes on up from there. The retaining wall itself in this case is a random pattern. Uh we like to break up a standard basket weave style boulder wall by putting a few boulders in uh at different um different angles just to give it a little bit of interest instead of having it looked like we laid uh like like we laid a bunch of uh bricks on top of each other and just a a standard brick form pattern or a basket weave pattern. So the retain this retaining wall is the random style and we need that site. It's been a few days since the last time we've been here and this is a perfect example of how jobs can change, how they are basically fluid and nothing is really set in stone until you actually get started on the project and see how everything comes alive and just uh fits in with the site. So in this case, original plan was just to have some very small retaining walls and mostly focus on boulder settings. But at the customer's request, they saw how well the walls were going in, how they looked. They basically fell in love with that look and they asked us to add more walls, to add more terraces, and to just create more of usable space above and below the retaining walls. So what we were able to do for them is if you look up here, we were able to create um a setting area that the focus of this will be to have a bonfire. Heartscaping has been completed. The bonfire pit is in. The terrace retaining walls are in. Everything is set. Now we move into the restoration phase. You can see we've got the hardwood mulch. It's a double shredded hardwood down. We have the edging going in place. Next will be the sad. In this project, we're going to allow the customers to do their own plantings as a kind of a bonus that what we'll do for them is we'll purchase the plants at wholesale. And to save them some money, we'll let them put them in themselves. A lot of our customers like to do that. It's a nice easy way for them to add sweat equity to their own project and it saves us from focusing on soft scapes and allows us to focus on what we do best, which is hardcaping. So, you can see that this is in process. We're going to revisit the site after we have the saw down, after we've finished up with the mulch. But, let's walk down the retaining wall and take a look at what we've done here. What originally was supposed to be the the wall ending in this area here was extended at the customer's request, and I think it turned out real well. I like what they've done with it. I like how they've uh asked us to put the terraces in for them. It's optimized their space and it's given them a raised planter bed. One of the things that you want to look at when you build a a planter bed is you want to look at the height that you're going to put that planter bed in at. For this couple, this was the perfect height. They can easily reach in and do all their maintenance. They don't have to bend over. They don't have to have sore backs. They can work right at a height that is comfortable for them. The entire wall has been established. We look, we have the dedicated planter bed which dies into one terrace and then we were able to implement the idea of putting in the boulder settings after that point. That's going to be the no maintenance zone. That's not going to be something that they ever want to touch up in that area. So after the hardwood mulch goes in place, they'll put some evergreen bush bushes and shrubs in there, things that they don't have to deal with versus having their own planter bed, which is where they can put their perennials, their annuals, or whatever type of flowers or shrubs they want to change out or intermix from season to season. So that's the gist of it. And what we have right here is this is going to be the play zone. They're going to put in a swing set. This is where they're going to play catch. They're going to throw the ball. This used to be a hill that is about six or seven feet tall, diving right into their backyard uh kitchen. Now, they actually have a flat play area that they can their family can enjoy. Now, we're in phase three, which is the restoration phase. You can see that we have the sod going down onto the site. We've cleaned up the extra dirt. We've hauled that out. We've completed the mulching operation. All the boulder walls are in place. Everything is set. So, at this point, the site is ready to turn over to the customer within a day or two, allowing them to complete the touches and personalize the project. What they really all they have to do at this point to make it their own is bring in their own plants, set up their own um finished landscaping as far as what kind of vegetation they want behind the the walls and up on the upper hills to give it that personal touch that they're searching for. but also better yet, it also keeps the budget down by let letting them again focus on adding a little bit of their own sweat equity into this project. So, we've completed the hardcaping and got it all done. And this is what the the finished project looks like when you uh turn a hillside that's overgrown with weeds, brush, shrubs, and trees, and transform it into a usable backyard that allows the customer to actually get out and enjoy their house and enjoy their landscaping. So, here you go. From this angle, you can also maybe get a glimpse of the upper portion of the retaining wall. That's their seat area. So that's where I believe they're going to be putting a fire pit in, maybe a picnic table or anything that they choose. And that and we have the raised planter beds like we've already discussed. So I think it turned out pretty well. Uh it's a simple three-phase project including excavation, boulder walls going into boulder settings, and then the restoration phase, which in this case we're trying to keep as simple as possible by just focusing on soding, putting in the mulch, and allowing the customer to finish the project all on their own.