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This has been an issue for us over the last few years, and I have spend hours searching online trying to see if there is anyone having similar issue but didn't get to anywhere... That is why I am here, hoping to pick some of your brains and help us ultilize a large gap between our retaining wall and neighbour's fence.

Due to local regulations and ex-neighbour is hard to dealing with, our retaining wall has to have a set back from the boundary. The retaining wall is 1.2m height, and locate on the west side of the property. Gap between retaining wall and fence is 1.2m wide, 1.2m tall and 32 m long.

Currently, we have two small compost bin at one end. And put gravel in the gap. It is a lot of land just set empty and not used (not to mention it is also a hazard for kids). We have had lots of ideas, like put a planter box, storage shed etc, but none of them works. This gap doesn't have much sun, especially in winter. We also thought about building a deck to close the gap, but it is going to be a lot of money to build a deck that is 1.2m height, not to mention we have had some drainage burried underneath, and building a deck would likely to destory the drainage pipe.

We are sort of out of ideas and open to suggestions on how to ultilize this space.

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  • A boardwalk? Empty on bottom, so no problem with water (and neighbour). You can use to put lounges, etc.
    – Giacomo Catenazzi
    Commented Oct 24 at 13:54
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    Where in the world are you located? If US or Canada, what hardiness zone are you in?
    – Jurp
    Commented Oct 24 at 15:17
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    What sorts of things do you like to use your yard for?
    – MackM
    Commented Oct 24 at 16:19
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    @Jurp I am in south island, New Zealand. Winter is cold and below 0 most of the nights.
    – Chenchen
    Commented Oct 24 at 19:31
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    @MackM We didn't do much in the backyard. We grow some veggies and that is it.
    – Chenchen
    Commented Oct 24 at 19:31

3 Answers 3

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Great ideas from Peter4075 but to offer a different opinion adding plants there is just going to make a lot of work.

  • How do you access the plants to water them?
  • Are you sure where the drainage work is so it is not disturbed?

Sometimes it is better in the long run to do nothing than to do something that means more work for little gain.

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Is there any sort of soil underneath the gravel? If yes, have you considered self-seeding annuals and perennials for an informal look that's also lowish (not "no") maintenance. No idea what might be suitable in New Zealand but here's the self-seeders I have in my small garden just north of London, UK: Verbena bonariensis, Erigeron karvinskianus, Leucanthemum vulgare, Myosotis arvensis, Primula vulgaris, Eschscholzia californica, Papaver cambricum, hollyhocks, etc. How about climbers trained (!) against some of the fence panels? This RHS webpage has loads of info on climbing plants. I have a Rosa 'Zéphirine Drouhin' (thornless, beautiful perfumed flowers) trained against a shady fence and it's lovely. Have you tried googling "gravel gardens"? Here's a link to a famous gravel garden in Essex about 50 miles from where I live.

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  • yes there are. We put gravel and weedmat to stop weed from growing... We thought about growing fruit trees etc, but it iw going to be hard to maintain and if anything falls into the gap we wont be able to get it.
    – Chenchen
    Commented Nov 5 at 2:05
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Maybe you can grow kiwis? They do well growing horizontally as a canopy, tolerate a fair amount of shade, can take the cold pretty well, and the gap underneath would provide access to harvest the fruit. Plant along the top edge of the retaining wall and encourage the growth out

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