Don't Toss Old Tires. Use Them To Diy A Retaining Wall

Old tires can be a nuisance. Many states restrict their disposal, so you can't leave them for curbside pickup or take them to a landfill. However, rather than adding to the estimated 280 million thrown away each year, there are a whole bunch of creative ways you can repurpose tires in the garden.

Take your old tires to a whole new level by reusing them to build a retaining wall. If you don't have enough tires lying around, try to source them from a local tire shop. Many will be happy to give them away for free because it costs them money to dispose of them properly. Alternatively, if you saw old tires stacked up at a business premises, you could offer to take them away.

To start, dig out a straight and flat area for the wall, ideally using a level. Place a tire down, then add rocks and dirt to fill it. At around halfway, stamp it down and kick it in under the tire rim. Next, overfill the tire a little and use a sledgehammer to stamp on the dirt some more to compact it. In a nutshell, that's the entire process. On the following levels, where the tires overlap, place a few rocks to stop the dirt from pouring through the gaps. You could also use pieces of cardboard or scrap wood.

If you have a sizable retaining wall to build, this is a physically challenging job and not a project that will be completed in a weekend. Having a buddy to help you could speed things up dramatically. You also need a lot of dirt to fill the tires, although if you don't have enough, you can get various grades of dirt delivered relatively economically.

Although stone retaining walls can look amazing in your yard, the materials are expensive. Building one from old tires should cost nothing except your time and effort. Once the tires are filled with dirt, the wall should have considerable strength. If you were at all concerned, you could drive rebar through the stacks vertically for additional support. The tire wall drains well, so pressure doesn't build up behind it.

Depending on where you want to position your tire wall, there may be other considerations. There are mistakes everyone makes when installing a fence, and similar problems could be true with a retaining wall, especially if it is on your property line. You'll need to check local regulations. You might also want to weigh up the environmental implications. On the one hand, building a retaining wall from old tires prevents them from going into the landfill or being dumped illegally. On the other hand, they do break down eventually, and toxic chemicals can leach into the soil and watercourse. It's a complex issue, and something each individual will have to decide for themselves.