Ham Lake is a different kind of community — large wooded lots, custom homes, estate-style properties. If you live here, you’ve invested significantly in your property, and the outdoor space should reflect that. Steve’s Lawn and Landscape has been working on Ham Lake properties since 1997.

BEFORE: Old failing retaining wall at a home in Ham Lake, MN.
REBUILD: A new retaining wall being built with Keystone Intermediate 2 blocks.

Steve personally walks every property for the estimate and is the foreman on every project from start to finish. He has a small dedicated crew and never uses subcontractors. Ham Lake’s large wooded lots and variable soil conditions — sandy and fast-draining in most areas, but with high water table pockets near Ham Lake itself and Lake Netta — mean the contractor you hire needs to know what they’re dealing with before they dig. Steve has been building here long enough to know the difference.

Retaining Walls – Garden Walls – Seat Walls in Ham Lake

Ham Lake’s larger properties often come with real grade challenges — sloped back yards, erosion along wooded lot edges, elevation changes that limit usable outdoor space. A properly built retaining wall turns those problems into permanent solutions and adds lasting value to a property you’ve already put serious money into.

Boulder walls fit the natural, wooded character of Ham Lake better than anything else — and they’re almost always less expensive than concrete block, often by thousands of dollars. For a cleaner, more structured look, we also build with Versa-Lok, Keystone, and County block systems. Either way, every wall gets the right base, proper drainage behind it, and geogrid where the engineering calls for it. For walls over 4 feet, we handle the permit process with the City of Ham Lake — you don’t have to deal with any of that.

We also tear out and rebuild failing walls. When we demo a failed wall, the same three problems show up almost every time: no drainage rock, inadequate base, no geogrid. We fix the cause, not just what’s visible.

A Retaining Wall Rebuild in Ham Lake

Project Details

This Ham Lake homeowner had an old retaining wall that had been failing for years — leaning, cracking, and losing ground. We tore it out completely and rebuilt it from scratch using Keystone Intermediate 2 retaining wall block. A wall this size requires strict setback guidelines between wall tiers and geogrid reinforcement throughout to create a solid, engineered wall system that holds for decades. Done right this time.

Garden walls and seat walls are worth mentioning here too. They’re lower-profile but often the finishing detail that makes a patio or landscape renovation look intentional rather than assembled over time. On a Ham Lake property, that cohesion matters. We build both using the same boulder, fieldstone, and block materials as our structural walls — so everything on the site looks like it belongs together.

Patio Installations & General Landscaping in Ham Lake

Beyond walls, we do custom paver patios and a full range of landscape installations — bed builds, sod, black dirt and seeding, decorative rock and mulch, shrub and perennial planting, edging, and drainage solutions. Ham Lake’s low-lying areas near the lake and Lake Netta can have drainage challenges that need real attention — we assess how water moves across your specific property before recommending a fix.

Why Ham Lake Homeowners Choose Steve

Ham Lake is the kind of community where most homeowners have done their homework before they call. They’ve gotten a bid from a large company and felt like a number. Or they hired a smaller guy who seemed fine at the estimate and then went sideways during the project — wrong show-up time, wrong materials, wrong result.

Steve personally walks every property for the estimate and is the foreman on every project from start to finish. No subcontractors. No crew you’ve never met. What I bid is what gets built. I’ve been doing this since I was nine years old — started in Anoka in 1997, built entirely on repeat business and referrals ever since, and 90% of our customers today are return clients or word-of-mouth. Most of them never bother getting a second bid.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a retaining wall cost in Ham Lake, MN?

Most retaining walls run $60–$80 per square foot of wall face depending on material and site conditions. Boulder walls are often less expensive than block — sometimes by thousands of dollars — which surprises most homeowners. Wooded lot conditions like buried roots or stumps, limited equipment access, or high water table areas near Ham Lake and Lake Netta can affect cost. We’ll give you a specific number after the on-site assessment.

How much does a paver patio cost in Ham Lake?

Most professional patio installations in the North Metro run $30–$50 per square foot. Our pricing typically falls in the $30–$40 range depending on patio size, paver selection, and site conditions. A smaller starter patio begins around $3,500. Call for a free estimate and we’ll give you a number specific to your property.

Do I need a permit for a retaining wall or patio in Ham Lake?

Patios generally don’t require a permit in Ham Lake. Retaining walls over 4 feet require engineering review and a building permit — we handle that entire process as the contractor. Gas-fired fire features also require a permit, which we pull. You don’t have to manage any of it.

How do you handle Ham Lake’s variable soil conditions?

Most of Ham Lake sits on sandy loam to near-pure sand — fast-draining and generally good for hardscape work. But lower-lying areas near Ham Lake itself and Lake Netta can have higher water tables and organic soils that require more careful drainage planning. We’ve been working in Ham Lake long enough to recognize which conditions we’re dealing with before we dig, and we build accordingly.

How long does an installation take?

A standard patio installation typically takes about 5 days start to finish. Most residential retaining wall projects run one day to under a week depending on wall length, height, material, and site access. We’ll give you a realistic timeline when we assess the project on-site.

Serving All of Ham Lake, MN

Steve’s Lawn and Landscape provides retaining wall, patio, and landscaping services throughout Ham Lake — from luxury custom home developments near the Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area to established lake-adjacent neighborhoods and the wooded subdivisions that define the community’s character.

Elwell Farms
Hidden Forest
Swedish Chapel Estates
Majestic Oaks & Majestic Oaks West

Deer Creek & White Oak Ridge
Lake Netta & Soderville
Ham Lake East
Kingswood & Andover Blvd area

If you’re not sure whether your property falls within our service area, call or text — we’ll let you know. We also serve surrounding North Metro communities including Anoka, Andover, Blaine, Oak Grove, Nowthen, Ramsey, and East Bethel.

Ready to Start Your Ham Lake Project?

Call or Text Steve at (763) 498-1916 for a FREE Estimate!