Walls and pavers do a lot of quiet work in a landscape. They level a sloping yard, hold back soil, give guests a place to sit and create patios and paths you can use in any weather. Madison Planting & Design Group designs and builds retaining walls, stone seating walls, and paver patios and walkways for homes and businesses across central Mississippi. If you need retaining walls in Madison, MS or a paver project anywhere in the Jackson metro, our team plans it and our own crews build it.
Retaining walls
A retaining wall holds soil where it wouldn’t stay on its own. On a sloping lot, that can mean:
- Creating a flat, usable area for a patio, lawn or play space
- Stopping erosion on a bank that keeps washing out
- Terracing a hillside into planting beds that are easier to maintain
- Building up raised beds that define a garden and improve drainage for plants
Retaining walls in the Jackson metro have a tough job. Much of the area sits on heavy clay, including expansive Yazoo clay, that swells when wet and shrinks when dry, and the area averages more than 50 inches of rain a year. Water that builds up behind a wall adds pressure, so drainage behind and below the wall is part of the design, not an afterthought. Where a wet slope is part of the problem, we may pair the wall with a French drain or other drainage solution.
Taller walls, or walls that support a driveway, structure or steep grade, may need an engineered design and, in some places, a permit. We’ll discuss what your wall involves during the site visit, and for larger grading work our licensed landscape architect can plan it as part of a full site plan.
Seating walls
A seating wall is a low wall built at a comfortable sitting height, usually around a patio, fire pit or garden space. It gives you extra seating without extra furniture, defines the edge of an outdoor room and can double as a retaining wall where the ground changes level. Our portfolio includes stacked stone seating walls with stone caps wrapped around flagstone patios, with wide stone steps connecting different levels of the yard.
Seating walls pair naturally with a fire pit or outdoor kitchen, an outdoor fireplace, and landscape lighting that makes the space usable after dark.
Paver patios and walkways
Pavers are individual units laid in a pattern over a prepared base. They come in a wide range of colors, shapes and sizes, so they can look traditional or contemporary. Because each paver is separate, a well-built paver surface can flex slightly with the ground rather than cracking as one slab, which is useful on soils that move.
We build paver patios, walkways, garden paths and landings. The layout, pattern and edging are chosen to fit your home, and the base and slope are planned so water runs off rather than sitting on the surface.
Natural stone or pavers? Both are good choices. Natural flagstone has an organic, one-of-a-kind look, while pavers offer a more uniform, patterned surface. If you’re drawn to natural stone, see our natural stone patios and walkways. We’re happy to talk through both and help you decide what suits the house and the way you’ll use the space.
Built on a solid base
Whether it’s a wall or a patio, what’s underneath decides how it holds up. On central Mississippi clay, that means:
- Proper excavation and base preparation so the finished surface stays level
- Drainage behind walls and a consistent pitch on patios and walks
- Edges that hold so pavers and wall stones stay where they belong
- Planning around utilities and tree roots; buried lines should always be marked through Mississippi 811 before digging
Part of the whole landscape
Walls and pavers look best when they’re planned with everything around them. As a design/build firm, we can design the planting that softens a wall, run irrigation to new beds, and finish disturbed areas with sod, mulch or pine straw. For a complete backyard, see our custom design/build process.
Our process
- Site visit: we look at slopes, soil, drainage, access and how you want to use the space.
- Design: wall locations and heights, paver layout and how the hardscape connects to planting and lawn.
- Proposal: a written scope so you know what’s included.
- Construction: our crews build the project and restore the surrounding areas.
Frequently asked questions
Do you build retaining walls and seating walls?
Yes. We design and build retaining walls and seating walls for homes and businesses across the Jackson metro.
Do you install paver patios?
Yes. We build paver patios, walkways and garden paths, as well as natural stone patios.
Which areas do you serve?
We build walls and paver projects in Madison, Canton, Ridgeland, Gluckstadt, Flora, Jackson, Clinton, Brandon, Flowood and Pearl. More answers are in our landscaping FAQ.
Plan your wall or paver project
Call (601) 859-5915, Monday–Friday 8:00–5:00, or request a quote online. Tell us about the slope, patio or path you have in mind and we’ll arrange a visit.
