For those who might be interested in building dry-laid stone walls, I thought I'd post some pictures of a project we worked on this winter, and also of a related project we started in May, and which is still in progress. I'm also looking for some landscape / plant selection ideas on the second project. Site get's 1/2 sun (afterooon), is in Zone 6b (TN), and relatively poor soils (clay).

OK, the teaser....It all started with a rock - a BIG rock! I saw it at the local garden center and thought it was just too cool not to be in my yard. It was 9.5 feet long, 3 feet square at the base, and weighed almost 3 tons! Now, I do have a BIG yard (22 acres), so for my place that isn't over the top. I bought it and had it shipped over and installed standing upright, like a post. I instantly dubbed it 'The Monolith'. I loved it!! Yes, I even hugged it! I'm a rock hugger, guys!!

After living with my beloved rock for a time, it began to look a little lonely. I thought perhaps a fence connected to it might be nice. I looked at cedar fences and the like, but just was never satisfied with what I thought it would look like. I showed my neighbor Bryce some photos of different fences I had been looking at, and asked him if he thought he could build a fence like that. Bryce works a summer job and then does odd jobs for me in the winter time. He had just finished clearing out some overgrown forrest and adding some insulation to the attic, so now I thought we should turn attention to this fence.

And we did for a while. We looked at every fence we could find, researching materials and building techniques. Then somewhere in all this research the thought shifted away from a wooden fence and towards a stone wall of some kind. I talked to the guy at the nursery about it, and after estimating the amount of materials I would need and pricing it all out, he suggested I try to build it myself. That was an idea I hadn't considered, and so I brought it up to Bryce. He was immediately keen on it! We began to research how stone walls were made, the various styles and patterns, etc. Then Bryce discovered a 40 minute video on the web made by a professional stone wall builder and restorer. Bryce watched the video and said; "I can do that!". So, as crazy as it sounds we had a big pile of rock delievered and Bryce and I (mainly Bryce) started building a stone wall! Then it turned into two walls! Then three!!! With this new summer project we're actually on wall number four! OK, I'm jumping ahead!

I have two slide shows - one that will take you through what we did on the first project to make it all come together, and the amazing results. The second slide show documents the current project (unfinished) I hope this will be of some benefit for any of you who are brave (or crazy) enough to try this yourself! Really, it was a lot of fun, and the end results are beautiful stone walls that will last for many, many decades. It was all worth it!

Enjoy!

K4

First project:
{{gwi:37853}}Stone Wall Construction

Second project - ongoing. Would like some landscaping ideas for this one.
{{gwi:37856}}Ruined Wall