Building a dry stone wall, paths, stepping stone using rockeries
A dry stone wall looks very beautiful in the garden. They are very good companions for a majority of rockery plants, as well as small animals.
The ideal time to construct a dry stone wall is early spring or autumn. Use a light protective covering of conifer brushwood during the winter. Does not use cement or mortar as this is not suitable binding material for a dry stone wall. Mix 2/3 lime or loamy garden soil with 1/3 cow dung to make binding material. Ensure that the mixture is moist so that it's easy to work with.
The foundation of the dry stone wall
If your dry stone wall id going to be just below a meter, then you do not have to dig a foundation. However for any heights above a meter
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Dig out a trench , having a string as your guideline with a width of 50cm and a depth of 30-50cm will be ideal.
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If you have very sandy soils install a gravel layer as a foundation. Its good practice to start building the wall below the surface, using large stones- thereby giving the wall firm support
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Add loamy soil to the cracks and wash it with a stream of water. Ensure that all spaces are completely covered with soil as air spaces will cause the structure to crumble.
How to build the wall
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Select the largest stones and place them at the bottom layers
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Avoid cross joins. Lay the stones perfectly and in a way that does not live any humps
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Ensure that the joins are inclined towards the walls or towards the center of the wall
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Fill the center of a free standing dry stone wall with rubble, gravel and small stones
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Live a depression running along the top of the free standing wall creating a water reservoir
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Add the plants before you finish building. Place the plants in the cracks and spots in the wall
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Only use stable, broad-based stones for the top courses of the wall
Designing steps and plants
You can create paths at lawn edges by sinking natural stone slabs that form a boundary for the rockery bed on the lawn side. Plants can grow in the cracks and ensure a harmonious change from flowerbed to lawn.
Stepping stone paths leading through rockeries ensure that the scents of the plants id captured by people. Connecting paths that connect to sitting areas should be slightly curved, allowing one to walk freely to different positions in the garden. You can use sunken paths to divide up a sloping area of the garden. Short positions of steps forming paths are ideal for sloping areas, as sloping paths may become slippery on wet days or in the winter.
Building paths
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Use stones that are flat, regular and easy to lay. The stones must also be firm
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Mark the course of the prospective path with wooden pegs and try out laying the stones
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Do not allow the plants to grow all over the path. Dig out soil to a depth of 20-40cm. when set in place later on, the stones should be level with the soil, reducing the risk of tripping.
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Firmly tramp down the soil in the trench and insert a layer of course gravel or pebbles