Gabion walls are flexible and fairly quick to put up. Once you have your design and your gabion cages in place, you can use materials found on your land to build a wall that blends easily with the landscape.

1. Gabion Walls Can Serve As Retaining Walls

You may have seen low gabion walls as free-standing cages loaded with decorative rocks. While this is a wonderful option, you can also use gabion cages to serve as the basis for a structure that can serve as a retaining wall.

Rocks, piled up along a ridge of soil or sand, may have been serving as a retaining wall. However, if you notice any loss of soil integrity or if the rocks are becoming more bare over time, reinforcing your retaining structure with a gabion cage may save you a great deal of trouble over time.

2. Gabion Walls Can Cut Down on Road Noise

A series of gabion fences between your home and the road can cut down on road noise. Many people think that road noise is caused by engine sounds, but a frequent cause of road noise is tires moving over the pavement.

By putting in a gabion wall, you can disperse this noise. The more earth berms or gabion walls you add, the quieter your yard will be.

3. Your Gabion Walls Can Take Pressure

Gabion walls can be free-standing or part of another structure. Because gabion walls drain effectively, they can serve as a retaining wall. They can hold back sand at the back of your property. While a gabion wall can’t offer you protection against flooding, it can stabilize soil that tends to erode when rain is heavy.

If you have a stream, river, or irrigation ditch on your property and you’re concerned about erosion, talk with a structural engineer about the best place to set your gabion wall. Should you notice that sand is washing away down an irrigation ditch, adding a gabion wall at the top of the sand ridge can slow the movement of heavy rains and reduce the pressure on that sand.

4. You Can Beautify Your Gabion Walls

Tall gabion walls can be adorned with an opening or window. You can add a tray to the top of your low gabion wall and add decorative fireplace glass. Plants can be added to the top of your gabion wall.

Gabion walls can change your landscape. If you have an area of your land that is prone to rapidly shedding water, you can slow that water movement with a gabion wall. If you have struggled to start plants on your property, your gabion walls may make it easier to capture and use available rainfall.

Currently, there are many areas of the desert southwest that use gabion walls to great effect for privacy and rainfall management. Gabion walls can be used in any part of the country. If you want to stop blowing snow from piling up against your garage door, a gabion wall can be ideal!

Published by: Nelly Chavez