[SOUND]
[MUSIC]
So, at this point of the build, our main focus is gonna be keeping the,
the dirt off of this fence.
So, we are gonna do a dry stack retaining wall.
I do wanna address the word retaining wall, cuz I know it sounds scary to some people.
It's really simple.
We don't have to do any crazy footings or rebar or concrete.
We're gonna do a simple dry stack retaining wall, and
you can pick up the materials at your local home and garden center.
Before I get started in the process and show you exactly how to do it,
I wanna cover some of the commonly made mistakes that we see out in the field.
All right, a common made mistake that I see all the time is a waterfall that
looks unnatural, kind of protruding out of the ground.
I'll show you how to not make that mistake.
If you put your, your retaining wall, or your garden wall, in, in a nice tight horseshoe,
then the waterfall just looks like it's popping out of the ground.
What we're gonna do is this waterfall's about 30 inches up, so
we're gonna come out about five and a half feet.
I'll give you an example here.
Our dirt and our wall is gonna come in at about this height.
If you had a type horseshoe, it would be sticking up like this.
You can see the difference in the angle.
It's not, not so natural.
So if you're up 30 inches, come out about five and a half feet.
If you don't have five and a half feet,
then consider reducing the height of the waterfall so it looks natural in the yard.
We're ready to start setting the blocks.
We're gonna get the tampers over here and some tools,
some levels and we're gonna show you how to do the garden wall.
Which side of the waterfall do you start on?
It's actually an important question.
We wanna start on the low point of the yard.
This particular yard we're working in is kind of tilted this way.
So we're gonna start on my right.
What happens is, you wanna set that first block level, on the low point, and
then you carve into the earth and compact it as you set the next courses in, in place.
If you start on the high point and you're coming around and you're adding soil
underneath to make that first course level, and it's not as strong that way.
So, what I'm gonna do right now is I'm gonna set this first block
right in line with the face of this waterfall.
If I set the waterfall back too much, the liner comes in, you have a chance at leaks.
So we want the block wall to come back just a little bit
farther past the face of the waterfall.
That way your liner has this curve and it contains all the water inside the pond.
So let's spray paint this out.
[NOISE].
The first course is the most important.
You wanna take your time, have a level, compact it as you go.
As soon as you finish this step all the way around,
the whole wall's gonna snap together in just minutes.
[NOISE]
It's in decline, gotta go down more.
[NOISE] Give me some on the back.
A little bit more.
[NOISE] This side's
gotta come down, then up.
[NOISE]
Okay, next piece
[NOISE] Okay, we have the first course set.
It's nice and level.
We're ready to start stacking all the way up.
Before we do that, I wanna take a second to show you the material that we're using.
They call it interlocking block because of this strip of concrete right here.
Now when we set it into place and pull it tight to the next part of the wall and
compact soil next to it, it makes it nice and, and strong.
So one thing I wanna point out is, when you do the next course the,
the blocks are gonna overlap the joints.
For example, this guy right here, we're gonna set this one on.
And overlaps the joint, and we wanna follow this pattern all the way around.
That's a wrap on the garden wall construction.
We'll have this finished up in the next couple of minutes and
the next process we can do is excavation.
In the next video we are gonna show you some excavation tips and tricks.
You know, we wanna make sure it doesn't look like your pond's out of balance and
out of level like the water's gonna come spilling out.
We'll show you how not to make those mistakes in the next video.
Listen, if you have any questions on the garden wall and
you are nervous about anything, please leave your questions in the comments section.
I'll get to every question.
I'll answer every them so you know how to do everything right the first time.
I'm Eric Triplett, The Pond Digger.
Thanks for watching.
[MUSIC]