Here's “The Monolith” Hard to tell its 9.5 feet high, with 2.5 feet undergound. 5800 lbs. This is what started it all.. :-0
First course of the wall. It wil be four courses high (approximately). The length of the wall is about 24 feet.
The center of the wall has to be filled in with stone and completely level
Looking back towards The Monolith from the opposite end of the wall. Its really important to put some of the rocks going horizontally back into the wall. This adds stability. Every so often you also put in a large rock that goes through the entire width of the wall. These are called 'tie rocks', and help stabilize the whole mass. Its all about letting gravity and friction do the work. This wall is about 28" wide at the base, which is about the minimum is seems you can get by with using the dry-laid technique.
East wall - nearly complete
The pile! You have to sort all the rocks out by size, shape, color, etc. And you have to have TONS of them to choose from! Figure what the wall will use and get TWICE the amount. You have to have lots of sizes and shapes so you can find just the right rock for a particular spot. I haven't added it all up, but I bet we used 15 tons of rock or better on these two walls. Also note the large flat stones - we used various types of flag stones throughout the wall and for the top, and they were surprisingly expensive! The fieldstone used in the body of the walls was realtively cheap.
East wall with snow. Pretty, but you can't lay rock when its all covered up like that.
Snow on the East wall! If you look hard, this shot really shows the question-mark shape of the wall. You're looking at it upside down - the top of the question mark is closest to you, and the Monolith at the far end would be the 'dot'.
East wall finished! Just needs a little landscaping. The Monolith looks so much happier!
Ta Da!! East wall with landscaping! Shrubs are dwarf Colorado Blue Spruce 'Montgomery' and “Gold Mop” Juniper. The pine just behind the wall is a Shore Pine, trimmed up Japanese style. Other plants you may or may not see are Knock-Out roses, Black mondo grass, varius sedums, "Little Bunny' grass, and Tennessee Coneflower. Lawn comes later.
Wide angle view. The annoying telephone pole on the right is being removed (buried power lines - cool!)
Placement of large rocks on the West side. “T-Rex” in front! The middle rock was eventually moved elsewhere - it was too big for the grouping.
The West wall begins! Footings dug. I selected the big rock specifically for its perfectly flat side so we could butt the wall right up to it.
Another look at West wall footings goin' in.
West wall construction - looks like a jumble!!
The stakes and string are critical. We use a bubble level so we can get the courses right
Another early shot of the West wall. Notice the yellow bubble-levels on the pink string. You gotta check for level on your courses constantly.
Master craftsman Bryce “The Rock” hard at it. None of us had ever built a dry-laid stone wall before. We found a cool video on the internet that showed how its done, and took off from there. I think Bryce got in touch with his creative side on this project! He did the majority of the work and it is stunning!
Bryce finishing the West wall. We busted this one out in 1/2 the time of the first wall.
The ROCK himself! Please note the use of safety goggles and gloves here. We went through about 6 pairs of gloves between us! Stone is not easy on the hands. And stone chips aren't easy on the ole' eyeballs either. Even though we're laying dry, you have to chip or split 60+% of the rocks you use. It's like working on a giant jigsaw puzzle, and you shape the pieces as you go!
The layers of rock in the wall. Each rock in the wall must be balanced and leveled individually using rock chips and shards (you can see some balancing shards under the thin gray rock in the center of the photo). This is the secret to dry-laid stone work. We literally stood and jumped on each course of rock to make sure all rocks were completely balanced and stable. Notice also how the big rocks slope inward slightly. This is another key to making a stable wall. By having the wall slope inward (the 'batter'), gravity pulls all the rocks towards the center of the wall and keeps it strong and stable.
The stone I call “T-Rex” at the nursery, This is what they look like before I adopt. 2800 lbs.
“T-Rex” installed! Shape reminded me of a fossil dinosaur skull
See what I mean!?!
West Side with landscaping. T-Rex is gussied up with greenery! We're not done with the green stuff on this side, though. A giant pink dogwood is on order and will go behind T-Rex and between the two large oaks.
West Wall all finished, and with landscaping going in. We named the large rock on left "Gibralter"
View from East wall to West wall. Red tree in foreground is a rare Japanese Maple called 'Kasagi Yama'.
Another East-West shot
Mona, the turtle. She showed up to check out the walls. There was a darker male chasing her around my driveway, so on second thought maybe the walls were not on her mind! From the growth rings on her scales it looks like she's at least 15 years old. My property is some sort of ancient box turtle nesting ground. They flock up here to the hill every year to lay eggs. I have yet to see a baby one, though. I understand they hide really well in the leaf litter, so you never see them.
Stone wall along the front entry. Jesse 'The Junior Rock' (Bryce's little brother) did this one, with a little help from me.
Another Front wall view. I almost lost my prized 'Crimson Queen' Japanese Maple to the Easter freeze of 2007. :-( It got below 20 for 4 straight days!) Its finally making a comeback this year, but it used to be 18 inches taller!
Even the center island in the middle of the drive gets a makeover. That rock weighs 4800 lbs.
Another shot of the center island. Landscaping incomplete at this point. The rock was affectionately named 'Mother'
Left side of walkway is now a rock garden. Green Japanese Maple (center right) is 'Aocha Nishiki' (dwarf). Jesse and I moved all the big rocks (largest at least 600 lbs) with a hand truck! All the rocks are buried in the ground 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up so they look like they 'belong'.
Shot showing entry rock garden looking towards the pond.
A wider angle of the front
The Full Monty!! Straight down the walk.
“Before” shot of the house without the wall and the rock garden. The Zebra grass to the left of the walk actually ate a few visitors. I had to tie it up to keep it civil! The wall made such a difference, didn't it?!
People have been asking for an update and more pics - so here they are.
Follow-up April 30th. This gives a clear shot of the 'Monolith' and the East wall on the right, and 'T-Rex' (in front), Gibralter (behind) and the West wall on the left as you come down my drive. The two walls are at 90 degree angles to each other, more or less. Read on - there is a method to my madness.
Updated photo. This is the West side of the drive. T-Rex in the front. Gibralter and the wall run parallel to the drive.
East Wall, on the right side of the drive. No lawn yet out here - Waiting for the trenchers to come through burying the power lines, new water lines for sprinlkers and the pond, etc. (Pond!? Yes, I'll get to that in a minute)
The Monolith and the East wall as you drive by.
The back of the east wall. Those are not weeds, by the way, but wildflowers. Soon to be turned into lawn, however! (I have TONS more space for wildflowers, and in fact sowed about 5 pounds of wildflower seed elsewhere, so don't worry, all you wildflower lovers!)
Portrait of the Monolith. Its some kind of sandstone from Tennessee.
East wall detail with 'Knock-Out' roses just coming into bloom.
Looking from The Monolith down towards Acer palmatum 'Kasagi Yama'. You can see the curve of the wall a little more in this picture.
In front of the East wall, the medium sized rock is 'Spike'. I love that 'Montgomery' Blue Spruce!
The West Wall. It starts a few feet past “T-Rex'. 'Gibralter' caps one end. The pointed rock at the other end mimicks in miniature the top of 'The Monolith' on the opposite side of the drive. Just a subtle detail. The 'Crimson Queen' Japanese maple to the left was a nursery find! That tree had been badly damaged, and I picked it up and three other 15 gallon Japanese Maples that were also damaged for $50 TOTAL. That's about $1000 worth of trees for 50 clams!
View of the West wall as you pass by on the way in.
Looking back from the far end of the West wall
Another view of the West Wall looking back just after you've passed. You can't even see T-Rex from this angle.
Looking back up the drive. Here you see both walls.
View from the cap stone on the West wall pillar to The Monolith and the East wall
Ferns LOVE the wall!!
Detail of the top of the walls. No mortar used anywhere. We laid the top rocks down and then hammered rock shards in the cracks to wedge them in place. I like the look.
More seam details on the top of the walls.
The back of the West wall, looking from the woodland path.
A view farther back on the woodland path (The woodland path is a hiking trail that meanders over my 22 acres of woods). The rocks in the foreground will be part of my next wall, which will be a “ruined” wall about where I'm standing. The first five feet of it will be normal, with a pillar on the end similar to what you see on the left of the West wall. It will gently curve towards that end of the West wall. Then, as it gets past five feet it will start to “crumble” for the next ten or so feet, getting more “crumbly” as it goes until it ends in a few rocks scattered on the ground. There will be another Stone pillar - even more ruined, on the opposite side of the woodland path. And inbetween will be a 4' x 8' rustic wooden Pergola forming an arch and arbor for vines. So this will become the official “gate” to the woodland path.
Looking down the woodland path towards the driveway. The Monolith, Spike and the East wall are directly ahead in the center. T-Rex just to the left of it, and Gibralter and the West wall to the far left.
New delivery! This is how the fieldstone comes - on palettes caged with dog fencing wire. This will be used on the Ruined wall next to the woodland path.
The woodland path. The ruined wall will be be just past the rocks on the right, about where the sunlight is hitting the leaves in the middle of the picture. The pergola will butt right up against the ruined wall and will arch eight feet over the entire path (see next picture).
The pergola design is similar to this, but its much longer and wider, and the timbers are much more massive. The corner posts are six inches thick! Should be delivered in a week (made by the local Mennonites, interetingly enough. The craftsmanship is superb!)
I cut down a large wild cherry tree and had the trunk and main branches sawn into 5 inch thick log rounds. After they've dried a while, they'll all get a coat of marine varnish and be used as stepping stones at the entrance to the woodland path.
Another shot of the log rounds.
Going down the drive, getting closer to the house. The rock is called“the Thinking Rock' - you can sit on it and think. Big white oak with three trunks to the left is at least 100 years old.
Landscaping in the Center Island is nearing completion. I have to put some annuals in the front and finish mulching. 'Mother' (the rock) had a few babies!
Another view of “Mother'
Another view of the center island looking towards the house.
Looking over the back of 'Mother' towards the West wall.
Looking from the West wall at the area that will become “The Pond”. It used to be a pond, actually. There was a meadow up here about 75 years ago and this was a cow pond at one corner of it. It still fills up with water when it rains hard, but of course, the water doesn't stay. You can see the orange paint on the trees we're going to cut down to clear it out.
Site of “The Pond” You can see the shape of the old pond pretty clearly. Mine won't be nearly so big. There will be a rock (of course!) waterfall coming down the slope to the left, and will spill out into the pond about where the fallen log is.
Looking from the center island of the drive towards the pond site. You can see the shape of the old pond pretty well.
A closer view of the pond site and the trees marked for cutting. Should be done in about a week (the cutting that is!! Not the pond!). I'll make a new post as these projects progress.
We had a big rain storm, and you can clearly see the water in the old pond.
Closer look. My new pond will probably follow the outline of the current standing water.
View from the West wall after a rain. You can see the standing water.
