"sams" wrote in message
m...
Hi,

Iam thinking of putting a 2' tall garden stone retaining wall in my
back yard. Probably for 15' long, approximately 1/3 of the backyard
width. My backyard is higher than the front yard. Iam in a rolling
slope. And thinking of filling this with whatever good and cheap and
make it look like a patio or flower bed or a water fall.

Any good site on the web to improve my imagination, and make it a
possiblility?
I would like to get more suggestions and what will be a good plan to
improve the property value and turn something sore to the eye into
beautiful. My thinking is to DIY a granite stone wall with no mortar,
but wife is afraid of snake and other creatures making it a home.

Appreciate any adivise or directions.

Sam.

Are you using existing rocks from your yard or are you purchasing stone? A
dry laid stone wall is much much harder to do than you think, especially if
it is your first one. Whatever stone you have, you need to lay them out on
the ground and "sort" them. Think of it as a giant 3-D jigsaw puzzle. The
yard will look like a disaster zone before you lay your first rock.
Depending on the type of stone you use, you will need more than is actually
in the wall because some of the stones just don't fit anywhere. This is
assuming you are trying to get a tighter fit with somewhat flat faces, as
opposed to a farmer's rubble wall.

Using some of your old large plastic garden pots, throw the useless or
smaller rocks into them. At certain points when building your wall, you'll
need filler in the middle. Just grab a bucket full of these rocks and pour
it in and work them into any larger voids.

The wall should be at least as wide (at the base) as it is tall. As far as
tools, a rock hammer, handheld sledge and a cold chisel (don't forget the
safety glasses) and lots of gloves (you'll wear them out real fast). You'll
eventually figure out where the seams in a granite rock are.

Here's one safety tip I learned the hard way... you see the perfect rock but
it's toward the bottom of the pile or wedged in with some other rocks. DON'T
try to just pull it out and save time. Spend the extra minute to take the
other rocks away from it. One small slip and you'll have a smashed finger or
hand and you won't be working on your wall for a while.

-al sung
Rapid Realm Technology, Inc.
Hopkinton, MA (Zone 6a)