We finally started a landscaping project is worth a picture. There is a hill in our backyard and three years ago we had it covered in rock because we just didn’t have time to work on it. We’d like to do some planting in the area, but we need a small retaining wall so we’re building a line of Gabion cages and filling them with the rock:
We have two in place and likely will need about ten altogether. The cages are two feet tall by two feet wide and a foot deep. These are wire baskets that we fill with the rock covering the hill. I’ve been building the cages and Heather has been filling them with rock. It’s hard to see in the picture, but I drive rebar into each cage corner to reenforce and anchor it to the hill.
Here’s what a cage looks like before it gets filled:
It’s just fence wire that I bend and use bits of wire to hold together.
I expect this will keep us busy for a couple of more weeks. If you need me – I’ll looking for my lost wire cutters.
Andrew's View of the Week 
I’m always up for new words and phrases – first time I’ve heard of “Gabion Cages”. Go easy on the back. Bend the knees before you lift.
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I didn’t know about them until my wife and I went to a garden show and saw them on display.
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Looks great, Andrew!
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Thank you!
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I love gabion walls! We’ve used stucco wire and smaller (2″ – 4″) rocks to create 8″ high retaining walls around our perennial beds. We have so many rocks here, it’s easier to turn them into something attractive than pile them up out of the way. Building the wire cages and filling them is hard work, but at least it’s a project we can pick away at instead of having to slog to the finish in one go. 🙂
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I like that it’s just a “do a little at time” project. We’ll place a cage and then just put rocks in as we feel like. The results are great.
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Looks great, and you’ll get very good exercise carrying all those stones!
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It is a lot of exercise!
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That’s a great idea!
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It’s working out so far.
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I’ve seen your projects over the years and know this will turn out great too!
(wish I still had your ambition!)
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I just try to stay busy!
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That much I do.
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This is a good idea, Andrew. You are very industrious.
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I try to keep busy.
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I love your project, Andrew. A couple of years ago I wanted a couple of Gabion cages to fill with rocks to create a “table” of sorts; I’d seen an example on Pinterest. I couldn’t find anyone to sell me the cages. Where we buy landscaping rocks I’d seen them for years, but they won’t sell them. So I’m impressed with your ability to build one. It’s a great project!
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I found a couple of places on-line that sell them, but they’re expensive and have limited sizes – none that matched our project so I just decided to build what I needed. Not a professional job, but it will work.
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You are a man of many talents!
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hmmm
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exactly … 😉
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Looks great! Makes my back hurt just looking at them.
I really like your steps – they look like sandstone – are they a natural rock or some sort of man-made material (I’m sure there’s no shortage of rock in NV! 🙂
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Those are natural stone, I forget the exact kind, but a locally quarried sedimentary stone. and yeah, no shortage of rock in my state!
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It is going to be really nice. I love seeing your yard. Be careful not to do so much.
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We always manage to over do …
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I’ve never heard of this before, but I think it’s going to look nice.
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I think this will be a good look in the yard. Gabion cages are kind of new in landscaping.
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Wow, I’d never heard of those — and they look so nice! And no way it could be 3 years already??! Anyway, well done!
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We first saw them about a decade ago at a garden show. Here in Nevada they’re used all over the place.
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If Heather has beeen carting the rocks about I’d ask her about your wire cutters. Hugs
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Good point – I just hope they aren’t buried in one of the baskets … 😉
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Wow, you’ve been there three years already!? Seems like just a few months ago.
Anyway, this looks like really hard work. My brother had something similar up at his place, along their driveway, and they had a bit of soil and some random wildflowers tucked in among the rocks.
(In this heat, wouldn’t you rather be woodworking or quilting??)
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We only work on the wall early in the morning when it’s still cool out, and in the afternoon it’s indoor activities. and yup, hard to believe, three years.
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