A brick garden wall is one of the few things you can add to a property that looks better in thirty years than it did on the day it was finished — provided it is built properly. MLS Contractors is a CHAS-accredited brickwork and groundworks contractor working across Surrey, Sussex, Kent and London, and garden walls are some of the most satisfying work we do. Boundary walls, retaining walls, piers and gateways, flint walls, planters and screen walls: designed to stand up to the weather and built off a proper foundation.
What We Build
- Brick boundary and garden walls, in matching or contrasting brick
- Retaining walls where a garden is on a slope or split into terraces
- Piers, gate posts and gateways, including piers built to take heavy timber or metal gates
- Flint and flint-panelled walls in the traditional South Downs style
- Pierced screen and honeycomb walls for airflow and planting
- Raised planters, seating walls and low walls around patios and driveways
- Curved and radiused walls set out on site
- Repointing, rebuilding and repair of existing walls
Garden walls sit within our wider brickwork, hardscaping and landscaping services, so a wall can be built as a standalone job or as part of a larger garden project with patios, paths, steps and drainage.
Foundations: The Part You Cannot See
Almost every failed garden wall we are asked to look at failed at the bottom, not the top. A free-standing wall has no roof and no floor to brace it, so it relies entirely on a concrete strip footing that is deep enough to sit below frost action and wide enough to spread the load. As a general rule that means a strip footing around twice the width of the wall and at least 450mm deep — deeper on soft ground, on clay, or where there are trees close by.
We dig, inspect and pour the footing ourselves rather than sub-letting it, which means the wall and the foundation are the responsibility of one contractor. If the ground turns out to be worse than expected once it is open, we tell you before the concrete goes in.
How Tall Can a Garden Wall Be?
Under permitted development rules in England you generally do not need planning permission for a wall up to two metres high, but that drops to one metre where the wall adjoins a highway used by vehicles, or a footpath alongside one. Conservation areas, listed buildings and Article 4 directions can change this, and so can a covenant on the deeds. We will tell you if we think your wall needs consent, but it is worth a quick call to your local planning department before you commit.
Free-standing garden walls usually sit outside Building Regulations approval, but that does not mean anything goes. A half-brick wall — one skin, 102mm thick — becomes unstable surprisingly quickly and should generally be kept low or stiffened with piers at regular intervals. For anything at chest height or above, a one-brick wall or a piered design is the right answer. Retaining walls are a different matter again, because they are holding back soil and water, and they need to be designed for that load.
Choosing the Brick and the Bond
The bond is the pattern the bricks are laid in, and on a garden wall it does structural work as well as visual work, because both faces are on show. A one-brick wall in Flemish bond or English bond reads as a proper solid wall from both sides. English garden wall bond and Flemish garden wall bond were developed for exactly this job and use fewer facing bricks without losing the look. Rat trap bond lays bricks on edge to create a cavity, which saves material and gives a distinctive shadow line. Stretcher bond is the modern default but only really suits a single-skin wall or a cavity construction.
On brick choice, the important question for a garden wall is not colour but durability. A wall is exposed on both faces and on top, it gets saturated, and it freezes. That means a frost-resistant facing brick with the right soluble salt rating, and a mortar mix that is not stronger than the brick.
Copings, Damp-Proof Courses and Movement
Three details do most of the work in keeping a garden wall alive. A coping or capping that oversails the face and throws water clear of the brickwork. A damp-proof course near the base so ground moisture and salts cannot wick up into the wall. And movement joints on longer runs, because a wall with no expansion joint will eventually crack somewhere of its own choosing. These are the details that get left out of a cheap quote and cost you a rebuild ten years later.
Flint and Stone Walls
Flint is part of the vernacular across Sussex, Surrey and the Kent Downs, and a knapped or cobbled flint wall with brick quoins and courses is a beautiful thing when it is done by someone who has done it before. We build both full flint walls and flint panels within a brick frame. There is more detail on our flint garden walls page.
What Affects the Cost of a Garden Wall
We price each wall on its own merits after seeing the site. The things that move the figure most are:
- Height and thickness. A one-brick wall uses roughly twice the brick of a half-brick wall and needs a wider footing
- Length and setting out. Curves, steps in level and changes of direction all take longer than a straight run
- Ground conditions and access. Whether a machine can reach the line of the wall, and how far the spoil has to travel
- Brick and coping specification. Stock brick against hand-made, reclaimed or a specific match to your house
- Piers, gates and ironwork. Piers and gate posts need heavier foundations and fixings
- Retaining or free-standing. A retaining wall needs drainage behind it, reinforcement and engineered design
- Making good. Reinstating lawn, planting, paving or driveway after the work
We would rather give you a proper figure after a site visit than a rate per metre over the phone that changes once we arrive.
Repairs, Repointing and Rebuilds
Not every wall needs replacing. Leaning is often a foundation problem, but cracked and spalling faces are usually a pointing and coping problem, and repointing an old wall in a lime or weaker mortar can add decades to it. Where a wall has been repointed in hard cement mortar and the brick faces are now blowing, taking the pointing out and doing it properly is frequently the fix. We will tell you honestly which of the three you are looking at.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need planning permission for a garden wall?
Usually not, if the wall is no more than two metres high. The limit drops to one metre where the wall adjoins a road used by vehicles or a footpath beside one. Conservation areas, listed buildings, Article 4 directions and covenants on the title can all change this, so it is worth checking with your local planning authority first.
How deep should a garden wall foundation be?
As a rule of thumb, a concrete strip footing about twice the width of the wall and at least 450mm deep, so it sits below the level that frost and seasonal ground movement reach. Clay soils, soft or made ground and nearby trees all push that deeper, and the correct depth is best judged once the trench is open.
Which brick bond is best for a garden wall?
For a solid one-brick wall where both faces are visible, English bond, Flemish bond or one of the garden wall variants of the two are the traditional and best-looking choices. Rat trap bond is a good option where you want a cavity and a lighter wall. Stretcher bond suits single-skin and cavity walls but looks thin on a boundary wall.
Do garden walls need piers?
A thin wall does. Piers stiffen a wall against wind and lateral push, and on a half-brick wall they are what makes any real height possible. They are also structurally essential wherever a gate is hung. A thicker one-brick wall can often run without them, depending on height and exposure.
Can you repair or rebuild an existing wall rather than replace it?
Very often, yes. Repointing, replacing a failed coping, rebuilding the top few courses or taking down and rebuilding one bay is frequently all that is needed. We will look at whether the problem is the foundation, the pointing or the capping before recommending anything.
Get a Quote for Your Garden Wall
Tell us roughly how long and how tall, and send a photo of the spot if you can. Call 01293 225853, email info@mlscontractors.co.uk, or use our contact form.