Green Landscaping and Gardening - GeoGreid Problems Later???

Hi,

We are looking at options for replacing a retaining wall. Some of the options include the use of "GeoGrid" or similar products.

The questions is, do these products create problems/limitations later, such as for:
• Planting trees
• Setting fence posts
• Changing landscape shape
at a later time where the GeoGrid has been placed...?

Are there any other down-the-road considerations we should know?

Many thanks!!

Geo Grid is recommended for walls over three feet tall. In addition to wall height, soil type, drainage, or conditions that may dictate the need for reinforcement are considerations. A consultation with a landscape engineer, would be best to determine what your wall and landscape requirements are.

1. Planting trees. Tree selection should always be based upon choosing a tree that will do best in your growing zone and conditons, with consideration of its height and width at maturity, maintenance, amount of debris in the landscape, and its purpose in the landscape. Trees with an invasive root system should not be planted near walls or structures in order to avoid drainage.

2. Setting fence posts. A fence post should not interfere with the wall. Plan wall and fence placement in advance to avoid interference.

3. Changing landscape plan later. Consulting with a landscape engineer to plan the future landscape in such a way that it can be completed in stages as time and budget allow is best. The plan should include placement of home, other structures, walks, driveways, and other elements of the landscape such as walls, fences, pools, ponds, fences, and walls. Once the plan is drawn to scale on paper, this will be the guide for current and future landscape projects.

For interactive website for designing your own Geo Grid wall and engineering support, go tohttp://www.redi-rock.com/products/retaining%20walls/

Thanks for that.

When you say trees and fence posts should avoid the wall, do you mean that they should not be placed into / through GeoGrid?

Many thanks again.

~Louie.

The answer to whether you use geogrid or not depends on the wall type AND height.

Walls usually under 4 or 5 feet are classied as gravity walls from an engineering standpoint. Most of the nationally (available locally through licensed producers) brand names (Allan Block, Anchor Wall systems, Keystone and Versalok) have range of sizes and setbacks that permit walls higher than 3'. All have good design details, specifications and installation instructions. Beware of the local guy with no real technical support or design guides. Gravity walls do not usually require any geogrid since they rely on the wall weight, batter(slight slope backward) and the natural stability of the soil.

Engineered walls (over 4 or 5 feet) can be up to 45' high do require geogrid to reinforce the soil backfill.

The question whether you need a permit and/or design depends on your local municipality. The major systems usually make designs available to the municipality for their use in conctruction, so the acceptance is not a problem.

You can put fence posts through the geogrid if the are not large and cut too many strands. You would be wise to keep the fence back from the top of the wall to insure that you have enough lateral support for the posts.

I would do all anticipated plantings before construction.

If you do landscaping, keep in mind the raising the soil level (even if it is sloped upwatd) will increase the load on any type of retaining wall. Landscaping removing some soil from behind the wall is very possible, since it reduces the load on the wall.

The most important factor with ANY retaining wall is to provide proper drainage behind the wall.

Thanks, that all makes good sense -- in line with why I wanted to ask the questions.

Many thanks!!! :)