Level Up Your Garden Bed with an Easy Retaining Wall

How to make a raised garden bed retaining wall, an easy DIY landscape project.
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Installing a retaining wall in a garden or around a raised garden bed is a great way to define your outdoor space. Raised planters in the garden add a place for us to grow vegetables this summer as well. Using tumbled stones for the retaining wall makes it look great. This is an outdoor DIY project that really levels up our landscape.
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[@drraymond57]

Great job, and thanks for showing some of the struggles you encountered....."plans are useless but planning is everything!". Pro tip: it helps tremendously to lay your fist row upsidedown with the tumbled stones, as the bottom is flat. This makes leveling easier and also gives the second row a flat-to-flat surface for the glue up. After that the rest of the wall will layout easily and be level because your foundation is set.

[@mrb6206]

great tip!

[@rscibona]

Wow, thanks for this tip as I am using tumbled stones as well and was having a bit of a hard time getting it nice and level.

[@dantrav1927]

What foundation do you speak of I see nothing that’ll keep this wall up for years to come?

[@sl5311]

Dude you listed everything but the name of that stone. I. must. find. it!

[@warrenbutt3746]

@@sl5311 Most Home Depots are going to source their stones from local suppliers, hauling rocks across the country doesn't make sense for 90% of applications. What's available in one region of the country isn't going to be available elsewhere unless it's special order. Go check out your different home stores, they'll have plenty of options to choose from and I'm sure you'll find something you'll love!

[@SchubertAloysius]

Now this is the good side of the internet. Hardworking people putting their efforts, knowledge and skills to help or educate others to be fruitful. Thanks bro!

[@timohara7717]

Has nice curves and edge though The wall guys

[@anonymoususer530]

Thank you for a wonderful video! This is hands down the best video I have seen! It was thorough and detailed in a brief presentation. I am a single, mid 20s woman and many people said I would be unable to undertake such a project on my own. You made it manageable!! And, I get to now enjoy a beautiful yard. Thank you for empowering people like me through your clear and detailed advice!

[@Fixthisbuildthat]

This is exactly why we make these videos! You’ve got this 💪

[@elaineteut9579]

Our yard slopes up in the back and it was a pain to mow, so my husband and I built a garden just like that and it turned out so nice. The rose bushes, Aster, Poppy plant and Lilies are doing beautifully. Love it.

[@honeybadger3408]

The wall looks fabulous. I love the darker mulch too because it gives good contrast to the greenery. Well done!

[@justlooking4771]

That looks great! I didn't even think about having to put small stones behind the wall to let it drain. I would have totally messed this up! Thanks for the how-to!

[@_Mackan]

Absolutely love how this turned out! A great starting point for garden renovation, would love to see more garden projects!

[@calvinsao1362]

I just want to say thanks to you! What you have demonstrated and your instructions are really doable, and I and my wife spent a week to build a three-tier retaining wall. This is our first time to diy a retaining wall.

[@sirbixalot73]

I happened to be using the same blocks on my project and your video helped me with the curve. I would not have thought to start at the curve. Thanks for the tips!

[@nikkilight2703]

Your video held my attention like no other landscaping video has before- very clear explanations and I love your positive attitude!

[@apsey3596]

I have never seen anyone sponsored by home depot, but you are the perfect one to be! I can appreciate the work that goes in here... especially during the months where the bugs come out. Already worked for maybe 20 mins outside and have 6 bug bites from early spring. Great job!

[@reyponce]

Used this video for help on doing my first garden bed remodel and we love the results. Thank you for sharing this video!

[@carjen121]

Oh my goodness, looks beautiful. Love how straight you fixed the Stones. Great job💕👏🏻😊

[@sharazar]

Turned out great. I have had a stack of wall block sitting for about 2 years waiting to be made like this but have not had the energy to get started. I want to do it myself but the thought of my back going out after has keep me from starting. I need to try this year. The video makes it look easy

[@jesusgarza8896]

I just start my business mowing and a lady did asked me to do a works just like this one !! Thanks god that I found this video it’s going to help me a lot !! Gob bleed you man for sharing this!!

[@cg5469]

PRO-TIP for leveling - Use Water = lubricant. Water with shower mode all paver base and sand then leveling becomes a Liquid Dream....do not over do it. Also, I like to set my block out and hose it down as well - a clean block is a happy block.

[@kakendrick62]

Thank you! I had been putting off a similar project because I was simply overwhelmed. You made this easier to understand and implement!

[@kellyb7321]

After watching this video 3 or 4 times I finally feel ready to attempt a similar project out front. Thank you!

[@narcoholic22]

Beautiful!!! I’m doing mine step by step with your video this weekend. I’ll pause it between each step!!!! I can’t wait!!!!Huge difference. Curb appeal!! 🎉❤

[@tannisjohnson6456]

Thanks for the great and informative video! And at the perfect time as I was contemplating how to start this project. Such clear instruction (and positive attitude) really helps!

[@KevinMichaelMichael]

Loved the editing decision when you were removing the sod in time with the salsa music. Super fun. Thanks

[@Dasan1111]

This guy is the best DIYer . His examples are wonderfully simple and everyone can follow them so easily.

[@chrisawelch]

Wow, I just stumbled across this video. I am literally planning on doing this exact same thing in a couple weeks. I already bought the stones a couple months ago. I got the same stones but only for the curves. I got the rectangle ones for the straight lines. After I got them I thought of using only the other ones and it would look more natural. But I didn't feel like taking all of the rectangle ones back. lol. Anyway, this video gave me some info I needed. Thank you!

[@SageOfSixxPaths]

I watched this video just because and didn’t pay any mind to it… now you just gave me an idea for my front yard. Amazing work 👊🏽👊🏽

[@klg642002]

Great tutorial and explanation on the leveling / curve installation. One trick I learned from a land scape guy is to use a dead blow mallet as the regular rubber mallets bounce on the bricks and don't shift them enough. Th dead blows have weighted heads but are still soft. They wont cause chips o cracks.

[@mulazo]

Loved the digging synced with the flamenco guitar riff! Great instructions as well.

[@rosew.w9513]

What a difference the wall made. Excellent job! ❤❤❤

[@vinrob2010]

Great video. I just bought and built my wall using these; in which here in Seattle area only to be found at lowes! The struggle for me is precision of perfection when it comes to level which I shared your frustration with the tumblestone roughness, I actually also made a jig with my rotary laser and story pole with reader to take elevations of each block along with the levels, once you get an eye for it you are good to go.

[@ufer1104]

Nice job, Mr. Rodriguez! My wife and I are working on clearing out a space for a small fruit/vegetable down here in Franklin. Yard work is hard work!

[@mcspacecash6807]

Great video! I appreciate the effort you take to explain things so clearly. The fire pit videos are going to come in handy in a few months!

[@juanbartolome9744]

Wow looks amazing I’m a beginner and got a lot of landscaping to do so this helps a ton THANKS!!!

[@chrisy4011]

Love those tumbled Gardner blocks. I use those for my firepit

[@fonzi42]

Just wanted to reach out and saw thank you for this video. It really helped me update and complete the garden bed and retaining wall at home. It turned out great. Thank you for the awesome content.

[@jcepri]

GREAT job. That wall looks amazing. I really appreciate how you showed the problems and how you dealt with them vs. these "antiseptic" project videos where everything goes just perfectly. I always encounter issues, so that was really validating.

[@adriankap2978]

So true! Who would have thought the in line level could have been off. I bought 2 of those exact ones and now need to get the blue string levels.He handled it perfectly and its a good thing he waited till the next morning to recheck.

[@JoeBurby]

Man, watching you is like watching Stacey David make modifications to cars! So informative and descriptive, showing everyone that they can do it!

[@pcken9067]

This dropped at the perfect time, we literally purchased a similar brick to test in our next project. Great information and seeing the process from start to finish, challenges included will be very helpful. Thank you!

[@Fixthisbuildthat]

You're welcome! Good luck with your project

[@rr84]

Same here! I just layed down the first layer. After watching this video I"ll need to go double check it! haha

[@dantrav1927]

This will not last it’s a waste of time and effort

[@amyebert7627]

Your video was very detailed and helpful. My husband and I watched it several times and we were able to put up our new retaining wall / flower bed. Love how our front yard turned out. I have been wanting to do something and found your video. Finished in 3-half days. 🙂 Thank you, thank you! Great job!

[@Fixthisbuildthat]

Awesome!

[@steviechristy7342]

this has finally made sense to me due to your work and explainations as you went along, Thanks, now I can do mine.

[@rbilardo47]

Excellent video, you take us from A - Z from start to finish. Always wondered how one would get this level, now I know. Thanks

[@overcomethepull]

Great video! I am doing this build soon for someone and this was a great refresher and "second opinion" of sorts to think it through.

[@SawdustmakerLori]

Wow....what a transformation!!! Looks AWESOME! You did a great job and thanks for sharing. Your tips will be very helpful to anyone wanting to do something similar. Happy Mother's Day to Susan!

[@Fixthisbuildthat]

Thanks, Lori! And Susan says thank you so much!

[@ivnvz]

I just completed mine! Thanks for the awesome video!

[@sg2037]

I loved "When I was a kid playing Army in the backyard". Lol, Great video. Thanks!

[@irmarivas7603]

Simply explained and the best video I found here! Thank you!

[@mellymel1100]

Susan is lucky to have a husband that's willing to do/help with this handy stuff.

[@nawtyshygirl6468]

Very nice I’m gonna try it, upgrade my garden bed, love your work and humor.

[@mijardin76]

Great video! Not a landscape fabric fan for the actual garden beds, but certainly for the drain rocks. Thanks for sharing!

[@cindyacuff6456]

Same. I will never use landscape fabric again. It’s expensive, a pain, the weeds get through, and they are hard to pull, because the roots don’t come through. I ended up tearing it out of about six beds.

[@aimielin3991]

Amazing job! Every household needs one handyman like you. Haha

[@thomasbrovarone7136]

You crack me up Shipmate. You give us weekend DIYers more advice and guidance beyond the wood shop. That's why I follow you and your channel. Keep Charging ,

[@hhprogressiveconstruction1140]

Being versatile with content expands viewers and keeps people watching . Doing one thing doesn’t work anymore like woodworking etc .

[@Fixthisbuildthat]

Thanks, Tom! It's fun to switch it up now and then and spruce up the yard too.

[@sierraanders4214]

Looks Amazing!! You’ve done a Great Job on that Flower Bed and it’s going to look great for years to come and low maintenance. Thanks for Sharing. ( I’m Saving this post) 😉

[@melmicsim]

Great video. I wanted to put a flower bed in front of my porch & this was perfect to get me going. Also, maybe lay flat topped stones for the lower levels & top them off with the rough 9nes?

[@achillesheel1231]

Great video. I have a solution for a couple of problems you encountered. If you started from the left side, you could have eliminated the cut block on the top layer. The sidewalk and steps are fixed and the right side could be whatever width needed to finish cleanly. Start from the curve on the left. Measure a half block starting against the brick wall and get a nice even layout of full blocks to the left side curve. Then run the width to the right side curve. It should line up to be the same distance to the brick as the left side and the half block will be the same on both sides. Nice job adapting to the situation on the fly, though.

[@its-probably_fine]

Exactly what my lawn needed, thank you !

[@tiffanyfisher1805]

So beautiful! You did a fantastic job!

[@andrewhumble7281]

Just encouraged me to go out and give my yard an uplift. May not look like yours but at least I will learn as I go.

[@marilynnschroeder4436]

Impressive! You’re like me, with that one stone you cut twice to get it just right!

[@MOJUSA]

Beautiful flowers bed

[@DeanKingston]

Great tutorial, very helpful and now I have the confidence to fo it myself. Thank you.

[@superrando837]

Loved the flamenco as well

[@JG-le8nf]

Awesome!! Great motivation for me to play with dirt this weekend

[@lanelljohnson5767]

Great job and excellent video. Thank you 😊

[@brunobarthas]

Great video, everything is very clear and the result is great. Thank you for the video.

[@manojaswani7100]

Lot of helpful information in the best possible way. easy explanation for Newbie in DIY.

[@platypusmaximus6658]

Thanks for the detailed tutorial! You included a lot of information that I would have never thought about while making this myself. It was extremely helpful! Love your channel.

[@Fixthisbuildthat]

Glad it was helpful!

[@mzkhan93]

@@Fixthisbuildthat if the measurement from the ground to the string is 15inch, do you dig the trench 15 inch + 3 inch for paver so 18inches ?

[@mohawow]

Awesome work! Exactly what I want to this coming weekend

[@davidh.8513]

Great job and the stone fit tight together with NO gaps. Your camera work and audio were also GREAT!

[@terrythomas790]

He talked to fast. I turned the speed back a notch and it was so much better.

[@sillysausage72]

Right before the video went to bnw, I was thinking, man that's gotta take some patience leveling them. Lol! Looks great! Thanks for sharing.

[@dred55]

That turned out fantastic. Great job!

[@jamesll9345]

Great video. Im not the "Home Depot Dad" type but your video gave me great ideas as I am trying to fix and maintain my yard and gardens. It was a lot of fun to watch!

[@tbuc2920]

A recovering engineer , now that made me LOL. What I did get out of this video that I never seen before was the stone you put behind the pavers wrapped in fabric. I really like that idea. Your engineering came through with that knowing you always need proper drainage , good job also help in securing the back. I will be doing that on my future paver wall.

[@Fixthisbuildthat]

yes, got that tip from some pro landscapers

[@kaaaashock]

​@@Fixthisbuildthat When you did the stone drainage, did you run the water out anywhere, or was it just flowing into the stones and that was enough? Thanks for the informative video!

[@tylerreiser7861]

Good stuff. Just built a wall using only this video!

[@monopinion8799]

Beautiful, clean look! Great work!

[@erinvela1555]

This actually helped me tons. Thank you for posting this video.

[@elizabethhealey5609]

I love the curve wall look sou beautiful their make the front the house wait landscape flower bed look gorgeous, tank you to sharing .

[@michaelnieves3550]

Thanks for sharing I will be building my first retaining well for a customer this video will be guidance thank you again

[@adamkral8110]

This was the perfect video I needed before starting this project. Thank you! BTW, you had me at “recovering engineer”. Subscribed

[@asmithD]

This was amazing to watch! Thanks for sharing!

[@Iamaflowerinbloom]

Love learning bout that knot

[@colleenkarayiannis8814]

I like raised beds, especially for herbs and veggies.

[@weeklyone]

I'm going to give it a try! Thanks for the video!

[@millionmilerclub]

Perfect I am doing it. Just hope not to die in the progress. Thank you.

[@suzychen5262]

Great video🎉 Now I have a DIY project on my to do list, thank you!

[@menaashley5619]

This video is so detailed and will help me with my project tremendously...I must say the part about the hitting the paver stone as an illusion had me in tears laughing lol Very beautiful

[@fixyourfkinhouse8871]

Looks good the tumbled stones are such a better selection than the flat stone

[@robertkerby2581]

Wow, an amazing wall, and flower bed! Well done!

[@Fixthisbuildthat]

thank you!

[@jeremym1158]

Good video! I'm using many of the same tools and materials, to include the tumbled stone bricks. Sure wish I would've found your video first! I'm 4 courses in, and realized I didn't follow the inset pattern!! I've been backfilling the gaps with gravel behind the wall. Darn.

[@gersonvazquez9399]

such a great video! Don't understand how 1.4 million people can watch this and only have 22k likes. Makes no sense! Thank you for sharing your expertise!

[@MichaelTran-bv1jm]

I watched it multiple times and liked once

[@colleenjohnson4116]

Looks fantastic! Great job

[@littlebrookreader949]

Great border! Great instructions! Great editing! Fun to watch … ! 🙂

[@vmarsfiles]

Came out awesome! I love it!

[@stianaslaksen5799]

This was pretty inspirational. Great job!

[@ahmeda.3198]

Wow, very nice wall. Great video, thank you.

[@brettrussell561]

Yo that break at 2:41 was slick 😂 very informative video, I appreciate the content, but that elevated it to another level.

[@infovidasupps8640]

Fantastic video!! Thank you so much Perfect for what I am looking to do

[@PorterWoodworks]

We need to do something to an area like this in our back yard so this is perfect timing Brad!

[@jamesmacintyre1415]

The HD list gets longer I see

[@Fixthisbuildthat]

Thanks, Travis!

[@timothymbess]

13:34 - I see that Gorilla Cart. Mine gets used 3-4x per week. It's indispensable. I used the 3 slots on one of the side rails to attach a row of vertical PVC pipes hanging off the outside of the cart. Makes it easy to drop in shovels, rakes, etc., and wheel them around your property, and you can still fill up the cart with hand tools, dirt, or whatever else. I used to just toss them into the cart, but long-handled tools would tend to flop out and fall (especially rakes).

[@JL-hw5hu]

Good video just subscribed! Great personality easy to watch and learn from. Love the honesty. The paver 2 garden beds near deck video brought me here.

[@SQLJedi]

Looks fantastic. I know what you mean about leveling the stones...what a pain. I did my front wall last summer which took me 4 days to do as it transitioned from 5 rows to 2 (300+ bricks) Definitely worth the effort though.

[@adam_loooong1735]

Brad, you are one of the best - so honest, knowledgeable, and encouraging. Love this project - thankful my house isn’t next to yours haha. Practical questions here - in landscaping projects where you don’t end up using up all the dirt that was dug out - where does that dirt go?? I know some have woods nearby that maybe they could dump it but what about people in neighborhoods?

[@chadpilled7913]

They have places you can dispose of yard waste around town

[@Jimbo10250]

Wow great video. I'm a recovering engineer too, and over-think things sometimes. But that's better than just slopping through something and not liking the end result. Drives my wife crazy who likes to just do it and get it done.

[@Fixthisbuildthat]

Glad I'm not alone :)