Question about landscape curbing / block walls around planting beds
 

I see pic after pic of homes in TV that have several different types of decorative curbing or block/stone walls around the landscaped planting beds. I find the vast majority to be very attractive & appealing, but......

My question is this: How deep are they installed and are they placed on any kind of footer? I'm just wondering how much they will settle over time?

At our current home here in B'ham the previous owner had the quik-curb concrete curbing installed around the landscaping about a year before he sold to us. We've been there only four years & already the curbing has settled & is just barely visible above the grass in many places. It's going to be a job to dig up & re-set.

And before we buy in TV I'd just like to know how well these walls & borders are likely to hold up? Did anyone ask about this before you had yours installed?

thanks!

Depends on the company
 

The soil in the Villages is either clay or sand. The new stacked blocks today are an interlocking block. So the more pressure and dirt build up behind them the better they hold up. If its a good company they will countersink the first block on bottom. And most importantly layer the backside with weed barrier for strenght and to prevent errosion. So when the ground settles, the entire wall would have to shift at the same time. Not just one block like the old castle wall type block. Plus the caps should be glued for added integrity.

On the blocks used for our landscaping, they dug down a little and placed sand under where the blocks were to be placed. The blocks are pretty heavy so I don't think they will shift much. For the caps they used a caulking gun to place a line of glue between the cap and the block which effectively gave even more solid weight to the top layer. There are two layers of block and one cap. I can't speak of longevity since the walls were just built!