Finishing Pizza Oven Timber Retaining Wall - Fabric + Backfilling Soil - April 2025

Yesterday, I updated my pizza oven project with the latest progress on the small, timber retaining wall that I've been building in front of the oven.  The goal is to create a small, flat surface that I can use to work/bake in front of the oven.  The grade required a small wall and after hemming-and-hawing on what to do, I opted for action:  get the oven operational.

Yesterday's post showed how I set the timbers and backfilled with TONS of gravel for drainage.   

The next step in the process is to fold over the non-woven landscape fabric on top of the gravel - this fabric serves as a 'separation layer' from the soil that is behind the gravel.  It also is the separation layer to the soil I intend to pile on top. 

Below is a look at the fabric folded back on the gravel:

After the fabric was in place, I started to dig out the large pile of earth that I excavated for this project and began to fill in the space.  After a few inches, I compacted the soil with my hand tamper.  Then, I put a few more inches of soil on top.  And repeated the process.  

Once that was done, the project was.....(wow!) mostly done.  At least the wall portion of the project.  Below are a few photos showing the back-filled soil and how the new timber retaining wall fits into the newly created bed:

I might add a 4x6 timber to the lower levels, but that can be done at any time.  

I'm pretty pleased with how this came together.  Could it have been bigger?  Certainly.  But, that's for another time.  

For now, I have a flat patio where I can bake.  Let's get that roof done so we can start using the oven.