I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower—but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is.
– Alfred Tennyson
Slopes and Terraces
Slopes are a gardener’s dream. A slope lets us create terraces that allow greater flexibility for creating outdoor space in 3 dimensions rather than just 2.
In order to create a terrace, we need to build a wall. Walls made of natural stone material are ideal for creating these low terrace walls, as they become an integral part of the garden almost immediately.
In terms of cost, stone walls are extremely cost effective, and will cost about half what a nice block wall will cost.
We generally use two types of stone for stone walls, granite and rhyolite.
A Colorado Granite Stone Wall
Stone Terraces from Rhyolite
In most cases, stone is an appropriate material for walls that are less than 3′ in height. While it’s possible to build higher than 3′, the look of stone lends itself much more to lower garden terrace applications.
Colorado Native Granite Walls
In the image above, notice how the granite hardly appears to be a wall at all – it’s just an integral part of the garden, blending well with the purples and reds.
The image above is the same garden, in a different season.
This image shows how well granite looks as turf runs right up against it.
Granite looks particularly well when draped with ice plant.
Above is a great example of how the terracing lets the garden expand dramatically in the third dimension.
Above are granite terraces in the second year of growth.
Above is a granite wall surrounding stamped concrete immediately after planting. In the second year, this wall will be draped in garden.
Above is an application where we used granite as an inexpensive material to create a border at the far edge of a yard up against weedy greenbelt, helping us to isolate the more formal garden behind. Notice the block walls in the background that form the more formal portion of the garden.
Rhyolite Walls
Rhyolite is a more consistently light red color. If larger boulders are desired, it’s usually easier to find them in Rhyolite than in granite.
Stone Terraces from Rhyolite
If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.
Red Adair
