I spent four days helping build some garden walls. There was 3 of us constructing them with the help of a 3 ton digger to dig out the stones and topsoil and put any large stones into place. Here's a photo of one part of the wall:
It was backbreaking work yet it was worth it. My builder friend should take the credit for most of the construction but I did fill every stone layer with stones and soil and laboured and shovelled all day.
Number one son mainly drove the digger bringing big stones and topsoil to us.
One day last week I got up at 6.30 in the morning and filled up our vehicle with plastic crates of my shrubs and perennials that I have grown and propagated myself.
I spent the morning planting shrubs, applying bark and planting the tops of the wall with Sedums, Geraniums, Osteospermums, ajuga..
It was four days hard work. But when you stand back and admire our work I think we have created something natural and a beauty.
That was a political broadcast on behalf of the unofficial Drystone Wall Society UK and Eire.
Beautiful work, something you can stand back and admire for years to come it does look as if it's been there forever.
ReplyDeleteYes it is beautiful and looks it was there forever Marlene. I love stone garden and field walls. They look so natural. I sometimes think I should have been born in the nineteenth century in a rural location somewhere like Dorset perhaps working in a walled kitchen garden at a big house. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou're what they call a 'mastoras'. A master workman. The wall blends in perfectly. You should be very proud of the hard work and lovely result
ReplyDeleteJack of all trades and master of none. That's me Linda.😄 It does look rather nice and it's only help by layers of soil sandwiched better the stones. It will be one legacy that outlives us. Glad you like it.
ReplyDeleteThat looks good Dave.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rachel. I am glad you like it.
ReplyDeleteThat is a wonderous thing, Dave. Beautifully done. The work of craftsman. It must make you awfully proud to be part of a project that will stand long after you are gone from this world. I love this!
ReplyDeleteThank you Debby. Like your Amish friends know. It is good to work with natural materials and nature. Next time your stone picking on your land. Save the stones for garden projects.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very handsome wall, Dave. I am impressed!
ReplyDeleteThanks JayCee. I wouldn't like to build them everyday. The drystone wall gymnasium makes you fall to sleep in the chair after eating your tea.👍
ReplyDeleteDave I need someone with those skills to put to use the rocks I am prying out of my "garden to be". No one here knows how to do that and just pile rocks into metal gabion baskets.
ReplyDeleteThere are Common Knowledge courses in New Zealand TM. I found them online. Just have a go and try to keep your stones the same thickness and level yet leaning in from both sides. Grass sods, stones and soil will fill the middle and under each layer. Gabion can look good if the stone is neatly laid. You can also cheat by building with cement mortar and filling the front with soil. Good luck!
DeleteA job well done. It looks great.
ReplyDeleteI have a dry stone wall at the end of my garden, and it's my favourite feature.
Please post your wall on your blog Jules. It sounds beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post
ReplyDeleteThanks Rajani.
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