How to fill trench between retaining wall and fence?

[heychikadee]

 Looking for ideas to fill this trench between our retaining and neighbour’s retaining/fence. I’m having trouble coming up with something that won’t put too much weight against the fence. Help! 😭

[JacobZ]

Hi @heychikadee,

Thank you for your question and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community.

It is not advisable to backfill the area with any kind of stone, soil or sand as the fencing you have is not designed to retain weight.

If covering the area to stop your cats getting in is the reason for wanting to fill the area, I might suggest building a frame out of 200 x 50mm 2.4m Treated Pine Sleepers to essentially create a platform at the same height as your retaining wall to block the gap.

If you are wanting to fill the area for aesthetic purposes, some plants or a hedge suited to your area could be an option. If the trench is not suitable for growing plants in ground, maybe some potted plants could be a solution.

Allow me to tag some knowledgeable members to see if they have any ideas @Nailbag, @Noelle, @Noyade.

Please let us know if you need further advice.

Jacob

[heychikadee]

Hi JacobZ, thanks for your reply. Yes I did try to engage an Airtasker to build a sort of wooden deck/lid to cover the area but had no takers after a few weeks. Looks like I might need to evoke my year 11 woodworking skills and have a go myself!

[Noyade]

Afternoon @heychikadee and @JacobZ 

How wide and deep is this gap? At least cat width I see...😁

Does it get deeper, in the direction the cat is walking?

[JacobZ]

Hi @heychikadee,

Excellent, I'm happy to hear you're going to give some carpentry a go.

Don't hesitate to reach out if you need any advice on the project.

Jacob

[Nailbag]

Hi @heychikadee It looks very shallow looking at your cat walking through the trench. If your YR11 skills let you down a couple of alternatives which would put little load on the fence could be:

• River-pebbles which would allow for drainage
• Soil mix and mulch and plant it out with low plants like grasses that would spread over the paving. Don't require maintenance and would look quite nice to have some colour along the fence line.

Regards, Nailbag