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The dry stone wall provides a brilliant backdrop to any garden. It gives an image of old world charm as well as being functional and cost effective. But, do you think you can put one up yourself? Yes, you can. By doing the appropriate forward planning and taking your time in the construction process you can put together a dry stone wall to be proud of. Set aside a whole weekend and you’ll find the investment well worth it.
The trick with a dry stone wall is to get it as stable as a conventionally built one, but without the cementing usually used. To accommodate this, many stone walls are built with a taper, having a wide base of heavy, flat stones that gradually decrease in width as the wall gets higher.
The selection of stones is vital to the success of the venture. You should look for flat stones in a variety of sizes. Make sure that some of them are wide enough to take in the full width of your wall. Within the base of the wall, and in it’s core, a bit of mortar can be used to provide extra stability. The stone can also be bedded in soil. Pack the dirt firmly into the crevices between the bricks as you layer your way up.
It is unadvisable to build a dry stone wall any higher than 1 meter(3 foot, 3 inches) in height. To build a battered, or sloping, wall to this height make the base about 1 foot, six inches wide. The slope should be about 1 inch for every 2 feet in height.
To provide a reliable footing, lay a concrete footing about four to six inches thick. Make the footing about four inches wider on each side.
Now follow the following steps to construct your wall:
(1) Spread a 1 inch layer of soil over your footing, then place a large bonding stone across the width at the end of each layer.
(2) Lay other stones that are about the same height along each side of the wall. Make sure you press them down into the soil firmly. Lay small stones in between and pack all crevices with soil.
(3) Spread a second one inch layer of soil over your base and lay your next layer of stones. Make sure that the stones angle inwards towards the center of the wall. Continue layering in this manner, remembering to include bonding stones every couple of layers.
(4) To finish off your wall, hammer smaller stones into the chinks to lock the larger ones into place. Lay large flat coping stones across the top of your wall, solidifying them in place with packed soil.
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