Gabion baskets buying guide
Updated: October 2026
You are on amazon.co.uk with a tape measure and a cage whose title already says retaining wall, and the price on the screen is only the empty mesh. A gabion baskets buying guide has to start there, before the basket total looks like a finished wall. The [Gabions comparison](/hub/fencing-and-wire/gabions) holds the eight kept listings, from the Garvee cage at about £26.99 to the BOWEKAM three-column pack at about £280.43. Peter F. used those listings, the stored review notes, and UK supplier sheets on wire and coating. There is no lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You are on amazon.co.uk with a tape measure and a cage whose title already says retaining wall, and the price on the screen is only the empty mesh.
You are on amazon.co.uk with a tape measure and a cage whose title already says retaining wall, and the price on the screen is only the empty mesh. A gabion baskets buying guide has to start there, before the basket total looks like a finished wall. The Gabions comparison holds the eight kept listings, from the Garvee cage at about £26.99 to the BOWEKAM three-column pack at about £280.43. Peter F. used those listings, the stored review notes, and UK supplier sheets on wire and coating. There is no lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Wire stated | Mesh stated | Coating claimed | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Relaxdays Relaxdays gabion wall | 4 mm | n/a | Hot-dip galvanised | 5.3 | about £33.90 | View offer |
 Nordswal Nordswal six gabion cages | n/a | n/a | Galvanised | 6.4 | about £169.00 | View offer | |
 Garvee Garvee gabion cage 100 × 30 × 30 cm | n/a | n/a | Hot-dip claimed; material line says iron | 3.0 | about £26.99 | View offer |
On this page
What the price is actually buying
Every price in this set is an empty cage, and stone is a second purchase. On 19 October 2026 the cages sat in three bands. Entry is Garvee at about £26.99 for about 100 × 30 × 30 cm, Relaxdays at about £33.90 for about 30 × 100 × 30 cm, and the other Garvee at about £38.99 for about 100 × 50 × 50 cm. Mid is Gawany at about £68.60, the BOWEKAM basket at about £91.93 and Monster Shop at about £94.99. Upper is Nordswal at about £169.00 for six cages and BOWEKAM at about £280.43 for three columns. The two Garvee pages share a bullet pattern and neither states a wire, so the gap is box size, not a thicker face.
Wire, mesh and braces
UK suppliers treat about 3 mm as a light welded wire and 4 mm when the face must stay straight. If the diameter is missing, do not assume 4 mm. Only Relaxdays prints 4 mm without a second size that cancels it. Both BOWEKAM bullets print 3.5 mm, then a tiny dimension that fights the bullet. Nordswal, both Garvee cages, Monster Shop and Gawany leave the diameter blank. A blank diameter is a fail for a straight face or for soil. Stone has to be larger than the hole. Specialist welded mesh is often 75 mm by 75 mm. BOWEKAM prints 10 × 5 cm and 12.5 × 5.5 cm. Every other listing leaves the hole blank. Relaxdays lists spacer hooks. The stiff-mesh against flexible-mesh choice is on welded vs woven gabion.
What galvanised does and does not mean
Galvanised, on these listings, means the seller has used the word. It is not a coating weight and it is not a life in years. Galfan is a zinc-aluminium coating, and the decades specialists quote belong only to products that state them. Suregreen describes Galfan as 90% zinc and 10% aluminium. Wire Fence prints 95% zinc and 5% aluminium. None of these eight says Galfan. Monster Shop’s title says galvanised and the material line says stainless. Gawany says galvanised and powder coated, with no weight on either. BS EN 10223-8:2013 covers the welded cage and excludes the fill. A listing that never mentions it has not shown a certificate.
How the cages in this comparison read
Read the eight listings as pass, fail or conflict. Relaxdays passes the wire line, at 4 mm and about £33.90, and fails the hole. Both Garvee cages fail the wire line and have no review row. Nordswal, 4.7 from 10, still fails wire and mesh. Monster Shop fails on piece count and on metal. Gawany fails on wire. The BOWEKAM pair states 3.5 mm and a mesh, then contradicts the size: 120 × 30 × 50 cm against 30 × 30 × 30 mm, and 25 × 25 × 197 cm against 3 × 3 × 3 cm. A stated diameter next to an impossible second size is not a pass. If the cage must hold soil, the listing is not the design. That limit is the gabion retaining wall page.
Common questions
What wire diameter should you look for?
Look for a diameter printed in millimetres. UK suppliers use about 3 mm as a light welded wire and about 4 mm when the face should stay straight or people will sit on it. Gabion Baskets Ltd ties 3 mm to about 3 m on its own baskets. Wire Fence’s cut-off is nearer 5 m. Those heights are not the same rule. In this amazon set, only Relaxdays states 4 mm without a second size that cancels it.
Is galvanised the same as Galfan?
No. Galvanised on these listings is a word without a coating weight. Galfan is a zinc-aluminium coating that specialists name when they quote a long life, and that life belongs only to the product that states it. Suregreen prints a 90/10 zinc-aluminium split and Wire Fence prints 95/5. Use the ratio on the cage you buy. None of the eight listings here says Galfan.
What mesh hole do you need before you buy stone?
Stone has to be larger than the hole. Specialist welded mesh is often 75 mm by 75 mm. If the listing is silent, you cannot choose a stone size from the page. The BOWEKAM bullets print 10 × 5 cm and 12.5 × 5.5 cm, beside size lines that conflict. Every other cage in this set leaves the hole blank, including the 4 mm Relaxdays cage.
Are stones included in the price?
No. The prices above are empty cages. Relaxdays, both Garvee listings and Nordswal say the stone is not in the box, or they never list it. Gawany does not confirm a liner. Connectors are described on some pages and counted on almost none. Budget the stone, the gloves and the time as a separate job.
What do you do if the title and the material line disagree?
Keep both lines and do not pick the one you prefer. Monster Shop’s title says galvanised and the material line says stainless. Both Garvee bullets say hot-dipped galvanised steel and the material line says iron. Gawany says galvanised and also powder coated. Until the seller resolves it, you do not have a coating you can name, and a life in years would be an invention.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and amazon.co.uk listing lines; retrieved 19 October 2026.
- Planning Portal, Fences, gates and garden walls: planning permission (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Planning Portal, Building regulations for fences and walls (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- BSI, BS EN 10223-8:2013 welded mesh gabion products (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- BSI, BS EN 10223-3:2013 hexagonal steel wire mesh products (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Wire Fence, Galfan welded gabion technical specification (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- TRL, PPR1036 gabion wall information note (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 explanatory booklet (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- HSE, Manual handling in construction (retrieved 19 October 2026)