yes a few tips

1 - spread the work out over many days - say 2-3 feet a day - or your back
will give out
2 - you dont need mortar at all - unless you go over 4 feet - all of my
walls have no mortar and are dry stacked
3 - add dirt into gaps so that you can plant some plants for looks, you can
even skip a stone or 2 to leave a larger gap for a planting hole -
4 - 2 over 1 is the rule of thumb - 2 stones then the stone on top goes in
the between the split
5 2 foot is not that high - however you want a slight lean backwards to the
wall
6 - curves are nicer than straight lines
7 - I did not worry about the bottom being flat, the stones can compensate
for the uneveness
8 - I backfilled mine with mulch that was ground 3 times (by me with a
chipper)
9 - soil upto 2 feet from the wall will be very dry - the sun heats the
stones and drys out the soil, plus the increased drainage so plan
accordingly
10 - keep the bigger flatter stones for the top cap
11 - you may even want to place a stone out like a ledge - toads like these
little shade ledges
12 - be prepared for snakes in the spring - they use the wall to scrape off
their skins.


send a picture when you are done -

tomatolord



----- Original Message -----
From: "Gena"
Newsgroups: triangle.gardens
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 8:19 PM
Subject: stone wall help needed..


i am going to build a stacked (and mortared) stone wall that will be about
2' high and 50' long.

has anyone here done this kind of work themselves? i'd love some feedback
on your experience before i get started. i've read a couple of books, but
nothing teaches like experince!

gena


"Gena" wrote in message
...
i am going to build a stacked (and mortared) stone wall that will be about
2' high and 50' long.

has anyone here done this kind of work themselves? i'd love some feedback
on your experience before i get started. i've read a couple of books, but
nothing teaches like experince!

gena