Building A Natural Stone Retaining Wall

Use a hand or power tamper to level the base.

Building a natural stone retaining wall.

Learn to build a simple dry stack retaining wall for the garden using natural field stone. You can build a stone wall with natural fieldstone that you have on your property provided the stones are flat enough for stacking. Stone retaining wall tips. Other materials that could be used for such a project include landscape timbers railroad ties and cinder blocks.

This tutorial is designed for beginners interested in building stone retaining walls using a dry stack method but it also works for retaining block and flagstone walls. Flat or cut stones are much easier to work with than fieldstone and will make a sturdier wall. Ask a stone yard to help determine how much material you ll need and have it delivered as close to the site as possible. Homeowners may build their own retaining walls from natural stone without using mortar and adhesives and with careful attention to detail.

Prepare the footing photo by russell kaye. Excavate to a depth of 6 inches along the entire base of the stone retaining wall using the string marker as a guide. Lay high quality stones and use a geotextile backing to ensure the wall lasts a long time. Once built you ll have a rock solid retaining wall without all the heavy mortar lines.

1 cubic yard per 5 wall roll of soil blocking fabric at least 4 wide if the elevation of the footing drops more than approximately 6 step the footing down by making a. For this 18 inch high wall the footing should be at least 18 inches wide. For dry stack walls the base should be as wide as the wall is tall. One pallet will build a 3 x10 wall coarse gravel size 5 7 stone approx.

Plan for good drainage proper width height ratio and distance between tiers. If you have to buy stone choose a flat stone such as flagstone or a cut stone like ashlar. To build a natural dry stone retaining wall prepare the site. Building retaining walls prevents this soil erosion and helps disguise the unattractive remains from excavation into a hillside.

Great for making inexpensive raised beds out of rocks.