I lost all my trees
But it wasn't by choice either
Thinned out all the cruddy ones and dangerous ones on my property. Thought I was done with them, and had the back yard looking really nice.
Then mother nature came along, smacked us with a tornado
Lost 14 trees in a 1/2 hour. Had to take out six more later on do to dieing off from the stress, or in the case of one giant red oak. It apparently got twisted during the storm and actually split in half up the middle
Walking next to it, you could see daylight through the middle for a 30ft stretch
But I get side tracked here. Flienlow, I like the idea of those retaining wall system. The only issue I see with it is the metal wire that holds the face to the lock. Seems like in a few years, moisture would rust them out, and the face would start separating from the rest.
The only approved method in our neck of the woods along rivers, and lakes are the basket retaining walls.
Here's a link for an example
http://www.gabion1.com/gabion_retaining_walls.htm