Retaining walls hold up unstable soil while creating a more level piece of land. If you need to install retaining walls in your yard because the ground is too uneven or because you've got an unstable slope on one side, you have a great opportunity. You can have one big wall or have landscapers create a series of terraced retaining walls. Each works better than the other in specific situations.

Terraces: Less Drastic Visuals

You would think a series of terraces would be much more visually obvious than one wall to anyone looking at the yard. And yes, if you have, say, three shorter walls installed, you are going to see more detail than if you had one large wall. At the same time, however, you can soften the appearance of the terraces by adding plants, benches, and other things that are generally considered nice to look at. With one big wall, you offer a view of one big expanse of brick or concrete. Unless you have plans to install a vertical garden on the side of the wall, that one wall is going to look like a drastic change in scenery.

One Wall: A Nice, Flat Yard

If your entire yard is hilly or uneven, a series of terraces could be too visually busy — and you won't have much actual yard space. Herein lies the advantage to excavating your entire yard and having one big wall to hold up each slope: yard space. If you have kids who want to play or you want room to extend your verandah, that large, flat yard is what you need.

Terraces: Flowers!

You'll be able to plant flowers whether you have terraced walls or one big wall, but with terraces, you can really show off each variety of flower or shrub you plant. You don't have to worry so much about plant height and obscuring plants in back as you would with a bed planted in a flat yard. The tops of each wall can also serve as walkways that give you better access to each plant.

One Wall: For Lower Hills and Slopes

If all you're dealing with in your yard are very small hills, like mounds, terraces would be overkill. Terraces provide gradual steps down from the highest to lowest points, but if your yard is already fairly low, there's really nowhere to go with terraces. Excavating the yard, levelling the soil, and installing one retaining wall at the edge of the yard (on whichever sides needed one) would be enough.

Have a landscaper or contractor take a look at your yard and discuss your plans and why you want the yard to have certain features. That allows the landscaper or contractor to suggest the options that will let you get as close as possible to that dream garden.