Sandstone Retaining Walls

When installing a garden on a piece of sloping ground, it will almost always be faced with the problem of what to do with banks, which by necessity will be formed. They are usually made of grass slopes, which are difficult to keep well stocked, and are therefore likely to look untidy if the work is at a premium.

There are, however, a much better solution to the problem, the Bank side can be converted into a garden wall with bright colors and full of interest in most of the year. The wall will allow the owner of a small garden, where there is no room for a more rock garden on orthodox lines, to grow alpine plants always popular and rock plants.

There is still another use to which the "dry" wall can be placed, and is to form a limit to the formal garden cast, in this case, the wall will be quite small, rarely more than three feet high in general less, and should be made of stone thinner and flatter than those used for ordinary retaining wall.

The "Dry Wall

The "dry" wall, as it is called, is built in sandstone or limestone, usually two to eight inches thick. They can be of any size within reason, and uncut. The stones are more than bricks, because they provide more cool and wet beds for root-wall installations.

They should be bonded, that is laid in layers so that the lateral ends of the stone are on the centers of the two stones in the line immediately below. If the wall is over three feet high, ways to strengthen the structure is deemed necessary, unless of very large stones are used.

This can be done by using links, ie, stones long endways based in the wall with their ends entering the bank. These should be in layers, and the individual links about six feet apart in the layer and a layer eighteen inches above the other, taking care to have the centers of the stones above between those people below, or, in other words, the stones must be staggered. This structure serves to keep the wall safe and firm. The stones must be long in proportion to their height, and are best when their upper surfaces are flat or even shaped cut.

When placed in the position they should be slightly tilted backwards, so they are weaker at the back than the front, stones larger and heavier is held at the base of the wall, the rain will then be collected and drained into the soil behind the wall to provide moisture to the roots.

No cement is used, but the earth is beaten firmly into the crevices between the stones, sufficient mold is used to hold the stones about one inch apart, vertically, the steeper the wall, the greater the amount of soil that can be used between the stones.

The soil should be well down behind the wall there right before the mold very well to the earth supporting the wall at the rear. In addition, the land must be well confirmed after each row of stones were thrown, and not "bubbles" should be left in the crevices.

Selecting Plants

In choosing the plants of the locality, climate, and the appearance of the wall should all be carefully considered so that appropriate topics may be chosen. Note that the vast majority of suitable plants for the garden wall thrive best in the sun. A garden wall in the shade, however, can be made anything but dull and uninteresting to the wall in a shady cool position hardy ferns such as Asplenium, Polypodium Phyllitis or should not be overlooked.

Thus, it can be seen with a little thought and planning, a garden wall can be built by anyone, and will allow the gardener to enjoy hours of fun.