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How to cover retaining wall in back yard to enhance ambiance?

HI, i have a retaining wall in my back yard which I want to conceal and make it look nice. Weeds and plants on top of the retaining wall have been cleaned and removed. Looking for quick turn over project as we have a weekend event coming up. Artificial foliage is an option but it will cost $1000+ to covers this area.

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Gardening

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Planting and Growing

Fencing and Screening

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MitchellMc

Hi @foxhound,

That's quite a large wall, so I'd imagine there would be a reasonably large cost to screening it. Painting the wall would be a relatively low-cost solution, but I don't recommend painting retaining walls as paint tends to have trouble sticking to walls when moisture pushes it off the surface from behind.

We do have the Lotus Collection 2 x 1m Dark Ivy Cloth Artificial Hedge Trellis, which would be a budget-friendly option for artificial foliage. Or perhaps you could attach Bamboo or Java reed screening. Add a few Bamboo torches, and you could have yourself a tropical island-themed event.

It might not be quite tall enough but the 1800 x 900mm H3 Treated Pine Fence Picket Panel would look quite nice across the wall.

Let me mention a couple of our knowledgeable members, @Dave-1 and @MrSober, to see if they have any thoughts.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

Dave-1

Good Morning @foxhound

Deadlines are always fun to work with... 🙂 For some reason I have decided on a party then go "oh this needs to be finished before hand" so many times.

First idea - Was some kind of Metal screens but that could get real pricy quick, Bunnings do sell smaller cut down versions of the plastic screens tho and you could space them aliong the wall liek windows? Now theirs an idea. Lay your hands on some mirrors, make a timber frame for them with a bit of depth then matrix 1200 x 800mm vines screen panel over the top to give the imoression of a window.

Second idea - Screw vertical battens Treated Pine outdoor framing type deal. Drill holes down the posts every say 30cm and then you could then string something like tie wire through the holes. Short term you could hang fairy lights off them for your function, long term you could grow some kind of vine/grapes.

Thrid idea - mmmm struggling lol Ok here is one and its come to mind because I was just looking up gal piping. Using Gal pipe have it mounted so its about 1 foot (25cm - 30cm) off the top of your wall. Think towel hanger but longer. Paint it black. Make sure that there are enough of Round flange to hold more weight then you would expect. You could then hang plants, lantens or lights off them. Or even make material hangers that you space along the wall (Think advertising you see attached to telegraph poles on the side of roads in teh city for advertising) I'd get the material from spotlight and hang vertical strips anywhere from 500mm wide to maybe 900mm wide.

Dave

isabelkdaw

Why don’t you buy or make a few nice looking slimline trellises and then grow either some food producing plants (like snap peas or tomatoes), or flowering plants like Jasmine or Bougainvillea. Even if what you plant is just getting started by the weekend event it’ll be a lot more interesting to look at than the plain retaining wall and maybe also offer a topic of conversation for your guests. I always love looking at my Bougainvillea. It’s such a pretty pop of colour in the garden. Jasmine flowers smells divine too. Wisteria is another gorgeous one that my parents are lucky enough to have growing over their Plain Jane dividing fence thanks to their green-thumbed neighbour. Also, tomato plants are super easy to grow from seed. I have approximately 43 growing right now! Not kidding. Here’s a photo of just half of them. And I’m a hopeless gardener!

EricL

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/29376#Comment_29376

Hello @isabelkdaw

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. Thank you for joining the discussion.

Let me tag @foxhound to make them aware of your recommendations. I can just imagine if you had your entire wall covered with climbing vegetable plants. It would probably look awesome, and you could get your food straight off the wall. Please make sure to post an update once you have your tomato plants in place.

Again, thank you for sharing your ideas.

Eric

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