Building a Dry Wall

Do you admire the drystone walls of the dales or want a double skinned wall for more plants? Well here are some tips to help you create your own in the garden. True Dry Stone Walling is more complex but these tips are simple to follow and will help you create a useful garden feature.

Building Your Own Double Skinned Dry Wall

• A dry wall is made with soil packed between the stones rather than mortar.
• The best material is rough unhewn stone in blocks of varying sizes but your wall may be built with bricks or blocks instead.
• When making a double faced wall dig out a trench 6″ deep that is wider and longer than the planned wall.
• Put in a 3″ layer of clinker or small rubble as a foundation and firm it down.
• Lay your first course of stones on the foundation then add a few inches of soil before adding the next course of stones.
• Make sure this and sunsequent courses overlap  the gaps in the stones of the previous course.
• Press the soil in at the sides and gaps as you fill the cavity.
• Set each course so that the wall is slightly wider at the base than the top.
• The centre is filled in as the work progresses.
• Plants in the wall gaps should have roots that grow into the centre compost.

Tools to Use

• A spirit level will help you with the foundations and keeping the top level.
• Use a piece of string across the wall face as you work.
• Trowel the soil into the gaps.
• At the end of the walls you may want to cement in a post.
• Use a hammer or mallet to tamp down the stones.

For plants in your new wall read