My property is a corner property. On the two sides I have neighbors I am
building a 6' tall privacy wood fence up to the edge of the house, then on
each end a gate will be installed to wrap the fence to the exterior wall of
the house.

However I would like some sort of a border to continue to the edge of the
property which is about another fifteen feet from the edge of the house.
This border ideally would be much lower than the 6' tall fence. Initially I
was thinking of a stone / masonary wall like this:

http://www.bushnellhouse.com/new%20flower%20garden.JPG

But after looking at how much that would cost I gave up, now I am thinking
of instead of a low stone wall, what about a railroad tie 8" tall if I stack
one on top of the other that would be about 16" tall. Would that be a nice
transition? From a 6' tall pine board wood fence to a 16" tall double
railroad ties? Trying to imagine what that would look like, would it be too
low?

I am located in Miami Florida zone 10, so the railroad ties and fences would
be pressure treated. The area may be flooded, so I need a way to anchor the
railroad ties to the ground. I have seen people drill holes through them
and then pound rebar through it to the soil, is this the proper way to
anchor them in place? or do I need to dig a trench and partial fill with
sand/gravel for drainage then put the rr ties on top?

Since it is a corner property, I would also like to have a low border around
the property in the front where the sidewalk curved. Obviously rr ties
would not work there, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

MC

On Feb 23, 8:57 pm, "MiamiCuse" wrote:
My property is a corner property. On the two sides I have neighbors I am
building a 6' tall privacy wood fence up to the edge of the house, then on
each end a gate will be installed to wrap the fence to the exterior wall of
the house.

However I would like some sort of a border to continue to the edge of the
property which is about another fifteen feet from the edge of the house.
This border ideally would be much lower than the 6' tall fence. Initially I
was thinking of a stone / masonary wall like this:

http://www.bushnellhouse.com/new%20flower%20garden.JPG

But after looking at how much that would cost I gave up, now I am thinking
of instead of a low stone wall, what about a railroad tie 8" tall if I stack
one on top of the other that would be about 16" tall. Would that be a nice
transition? From a 6' tall pine board wood fence to a 16" tall double
railroad ties? Trying to imagine what that would look like, would it be too
low?

RR ties are ugly, not very environmentally sound, and do eventually
rot and look shoddy. Actually, I think they look shoddy from day 1. I
ripped out every shred of RR tie wall I had on my property, no easy
feat once they start getting soft.

Small dry-stack stone walls are not very expensive and really quite
easy to put in. In Florida you don't need to worry about freeze/thaw,
so it's even easier. I've done tons of them (literally :-), and there
are lots of articles here and elsewhere on how to put them up. Short
story: with a trench like you described for the RR ties, just put dry
stack blocks. A decent selection can be found at the big orange or
blue box stores, or any landscaping place. Just lay them down one row
at a time until it's done. There are decorative caps if you want too.
Natural stone like the picture you showed is a bit more expensive, but
not much.

If you are set on timbers, I recommend 4x6 or 6x6 pressure treated,
rather than RR ties. Dig the trench, then drill holes and pound in
either rebar sections or 12" landscape spikes. I did a small gravel
retaining wall that way. The biggest problem (same as for RR ties) is
the weight. An 8' 6x6 PT lumber is 70 or 80 pounds. When it's august
and 100 degrees out, it seems double. RR ties are even worse. I can't
even lift a 6 footer.

I am located in Miami Florida zone 10, so the railroad ties and fences would
be pressure treated. The area may be flooded, so I need a way to anchor the
railroad ties to the ground. I have seen people drill holes through them
and then pound rebar through it to the soil, is this the proper way to
anchor them in place? or do I need to dig a trench and partial fill with
sand/gravel for drainage then put the rr ties on top?

Since it is a corner property, I would also like to have a low border around
the property in the front where the sidewalk curved. Obviously rr ties
would not work there, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

MC