How to Build a Stepped Block Wall

Stepped block walls are a common feature in many gardens. They are built to help contain built-up gardening areas and provide a permanent contrast to what is growing inside. Stepped block walls can add decoration to a flower garden or help keep your vegetable garden in check. When combined with landscape fabric, a stepped block wall can even protect against the spread of roots, preventing invasive plants, such as bamboo, from escaping.

Garden hose
Shovel
Sand
Hand tamper
Lipped blocks
Rubber mallet
Carpenter's level

Instructions

- 1
  Divide the length of the wall you want to build by the length of the block. Most blocks are 1 foot in length.
- 2
  Use a rolled-out garden hose to mark the perimeter of your wall.
- 3
  Dig a trench that is the height and width of the block. Flatten the soil with a hand tamper to make it as level as possible.
- 4
  Pour a 1 inch layer of sand into the trench and flatten it with the hand tamper.
- 5
  Lay down a course of block into the trench. Place a level on each one and tap the block with a rubber mallet until it is level.
- 6
  Place the second row of blocks on top of the first, hooking the lip of each block onto the back of the first layer of block.
- 7
  Add dirt behind the first course of blocks to hold it in place. Add landscape fabric behind the wall if you are trying to contain invasive plants.
- 8
  Stack another course of blocks, adding dirt behind the wall at each layer until it is the desired height.

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