Supporting a 1metre drop between lawn and patio with gabion baskets

[Sean]

Hello there

We're in the process of building our house and I've been thinking down the line to the gardens landscaping. Our site from front to back falls away in the last 1/3 of the site. With that in mind I'm planning to have the patio area at the back of the site at a different level to the lawn at the front (in the order of 1 metre difference). Trying to do things differently, I'd thought of using "gabion baskets" (Wire mesh baskets filled with rock) to support this drop in levels, possibly with a decorative stone on the open face of the basket (facing into the patio)

The concerns I have are.... Will it stand the test of time? (weeds, sag,) How do I terminate the lawn as the garden drops into the patio? Flower bed on top of the baskets?

Any opinions and advice would be greatly appreciated Thanks Sean

[Stoph]

I am new to gardening, so I won't pretend to be able to answer the lawn question, but as a geotechnical (soil) expert I can tell you that a gabion basket wall will last as long as the quality of its foundation. If you excavate the foundation to a strong, well-drained soil layer and level it fairly well, the basket wall will last a lifetime.

[Gardñ]

"Stoph" in news:lsmdndAWO [e-mail]:

try grit and scree loving plants. small plants that don't develop large woody roots, of course. you might want ot wrap a layer of filter fabric over the top of the rock, to provide separation for the layer of finer aggregate for the grit loving plants.

interesting idea, you shouldn't have drainage problems that some retainig walls do!