There’s nothing like turning to traditional crafts and ways of working when it comes to both interior and exterior design at home. Where hard landscaping is concerned, one of the best ways of creating a beautiful border around your property is to make excellent use of dry stone walling techniques, a practice that was first seen as far back as the Neolithic age.
Dry stone wall is simply the construction of a wall without the use of mortar and it’s something that the great British landscape has come to be known for in particular, although similar techniques have been seen in Mayan civilisations… so we can hardly take credit for the idea!
What’s interesting is how the different dry stone wall styles vary around the country. If you head to Scotland, for example, you’ll find single walls very commonplace indeed, because builders have access to bigger granite stones, so they had no need to make double walls.
But if you make your way to Cornwall, you’ll find stone-faced earth banks instead, while in the north of England you’ll come across excellent use of more regular structures made from the likes of limestone and sandstone.
From a garden perspective, dry stone walls represent an amazing investment for all sorts of reasons. They don’t need much in the way of maintenance work at all and basically just look after themselves, without you having to worry about the mortar cracking over time.
They also make excellent homes for all sorts of wildlife and plant species, so you’ll boost your green credentials as a gardener, as well.
It’s also relatively easy to build your own wall, which could also be appealing if you’re keen to upskill and learn something new. These walls are actually made up of two walls built close together, with smaller stones used to fill the gap between them. With just a bit of practice, you’re sure to get to grips with it sooner rather than later… so why not give it a go!