Cheapest way to create retaining wall

Elmroad82

Hi,
im levelling my garden and I’m looking for the cheapest way to create a retaining wall that’s about 15M/ 45 ft in length and about 30cms / 1 ft high. I was going to use railway sleepers but think this would come in an over £1800.. Any other ideas? I could perhaps pile the soil up so it create a small bump/ hillock of a foot high rather than abruptly end at a retaining wall. Is there any type of vegetation that could be planted to hold the soil together?
thanks 

Eldi_Dos

Would a double row of low interwoven willow wall suit your plan.

Elmroad82

It’s a fair amount of soil behind it and would imagine that as the willow ages, it will become more brittle and wet soil would just push it over?

TELLIT01

Wood of any form will rot out over time and have to be replaced.  Concrete block would probably be the most cost effective option in the long term.

FreeBear

Use gabions - Very rough price. £250 for the gabions, and another £1260 for 80-120mm Scottish cobbles.

Eldi_Dos

There is a bypass road near us constructed about thirty five years ago that used the living willow wall technique and seems to be retaining soil behind it quite well.
They drove wooden posts into ground then interwove living willow cuttings (rods). Did two parallel rows and infilled with soil and as I say seems to have been a sucsess.
Whether you would want the upkeep of the resulting hedge would need to be taken into account.

stuart45

You can get mortarless blocks for retaining walls. You don't need a concrete foundation either.

Cheslea2010

Gabions are attractive, long lasting and relatively straight forward to construct. There are loads of different coloured stones to choose from allowing matching with existing brickwork/landscaping as required.

Elmroad82

Can gabions be filled with soil and vegetation added? I’m keen to try and avoid anything looking too industrial. Where’s the best place to get gabions from?

FreeBear

stuart45 said:

You can get mortarless blocks for retaining walls. You don't need a concrete foundation either.

Looked some of those up. A few are like overgrown lego blocks. Painted in vibrant primary colours, you'd have quite an individual wall

Eldi_Dos

Elmroad82 said:

Can gabions be filled with soil and vegetation added? I’m keen to try and avoid anything looking too industrial. Where’s the best place to get gabions from?

I wonder if you could face them with turf and fill with stone and soil mix.