How to Design Garden Retaining Walls with Ties

Begin the process in spring when the ground thaws. Pick cool, moist days early in the season for softer soil and easier digging.

Choose a site with full sunshine and good air circulation and lay out your planter. Build a planter large enough to provide adequate planting space but small enough to fit the site. Measure all sides to be long enough to accommodate a set number of ties, to avoid having to cut the ties. Mark your chosen borders with flour.

Dig 3-inch-deep trenches at your borders, wide enough to accommodate the ties. These provide your footing or base of support for the ties. Slide the first ties into the trenches, end to end. Use a level to measure the ties and hammer the ties down in high spots to achieve a level surface.

Leave the wall at one tie tier or build a taller wall with a second tier of ties. Lay the second ties on top of the first tier and adjust them to get a secure fit. Ties are made of rough wood and should rub together and settle when you slide them.

Fill the garden with a mixture of one-half organic compost to one-half bagged garden loam or topsoil. Raised gardens dry more quickly than in-ground gardens, so soil should contain more soil-retentive material for longer moisture. Turn 13-13-13 fertilizer into the top 4 to 6 inches of soil for vegetable growing or 5-10-10 fertilizer into the top 4 inches of soil for flower growing.