Two-Tier Retaining Wall in The Ponds, Upper Mission, Kelowna

We built a two-tier block retaining wall across the back of a new home in The Ponds neighbourhood in Kelowna’s Upper Mission, then landscaped the level yard it created. Like a lot of lots up here, this one ended where the hillside starts falling away, so the homeowners had a narrow strip of usable ground and a steep drop at the back fence.

Project overview

• Service: Retaining wall construction and backyard landscaping
• Location: The Ponds, Upper Mission, Kelowna, BC
• Wall system: Segmental block, two tiers with a planting terrace between them
• Also included: natural stone boulder returns at the ends, drain rock at the base, flagstone pathways and garden beds

The challenge

The house sits above a steep, dry hillside. Without a wall, the back of the yard was a slope you couldn’t use, and every heavy rain or spring melt pushed soil and water downhill. The homeowners wanted a flat, finished backyard that would stay put.

How we built it

Instead of one tall wall at the property line, we split the grade into two shorter block walls with a planting terrace between them. Two tiers spread the load out, look less like a fortress from below, and it’s the approach Kelowna’s own retaining wall rules favour for this kind of grade. The lower tier steps in and out to follow the lot, and we tied both ends into natural stone boulder walls so the block doesn’t just stop in the dirt.

The part you don’t see is what makes it last: a compacted base under each wall, drain rock and filter fabric behind the block, and a band of drain rock along the bottom of the lower wall to handle runoff. On a hillside lot that takes the full force of spring melt, drainage is the whole game.

With the walls in, we brought in soil for the garden beds and laid flagstone pathways set in gravel that wind from the patio out across the new yard, with boulder accents in the beds.

The result

A hillside drop turned into a level, usable backyard, with a planted terrace below it that softens the view from the slope. The homeowners now have room to garden and walk the whole yard, and the hill is held back by walls built to drain.

Got a sloped lot in the Upper Mission, Kettle Valley or anywhere in Kelowna? See our Kelowna retaining wall page for wall types, costs and the City of Kelowna height rules, or book a free site visit.