Stacked stone retaining walls can be an incredibly beautiful touch to a rustic yard.
Stacked stone retaining wall design.
Higher walls should be engineered for stability.
Each layer of a dry stack wall is called a course.
Building a retaining wall is suitable for diyers as long as the wall is a maximum of 3 feet tall in most areas.
When putting your wall together mix the stone sizes throughout the wall rather than using only large stones at the bottom and small toward the top.
Anything taller should be handled by professionals.
Another advantage of dry stacked stone walls is that you can create planting pockets for small rock garden plants such as sedums.
For this 18 inch high wall the footing should be at least 18 inches wide.
This is known as a gravity wall it s a matter of physics and good engineering.
For dry stack walls the base should be as wide as the wall is tall.
A dry stacked stone wall looks so natural.
For a stacked block retaining wall that s no higher than four feet a trench filled with three inches of crushed rock will help keep the wall from shifting and settling.
While all stone walls are stacked in some fashion here we re referring to walls consisting of smaller flat stones that marry up nicely with each other.
Using your stakes string and line level.
Excavate to a depth of 6 inches along the entire base of the stone retaining wall using the string marker as a guide.
Here are the basic steps involved in building a dry stack stone wall.
To build a natural dry stone retaining wall prepare the site.
Draw the wall to scale and measure the length and height.
Even if you don t plan to sit on your wall 3 feet is about as high as i would recommend building any dry stacked wall.
The ideal height for a dry stacked retaining wall is 18 to 22 inches so you can sit on it when your gardening chores are done.
Use a hand or power tamper to level the base.
Plan for good drainage proper width height ratio and distance between tiers.
The spaces between stones in the retaining wall allow water to drain through relieving pressure.
Design and build.
A stacked stone retaining wall relies on its own weight its setback leverage and the wall s mass to stand up.
The easiest way to build a stone retaining wall is to use the dry stack method that requires no mortar between stones and does not need a concrete footing like mortared walls do.
Lay high quality stones and use a geotextile backing to ensure the wall lasts a long time.