Botanica Atlanta | Landscape Design, Construction & Maintenance

Images: Mark Wheadon & Diamond Geyser

If you imagine a wall, there is a good chance that your mind goes to mortar. Mortar, considered all but compulsory on brick and stone buildings in the modern world, certainly has its advantages. Mortared walls are firm and fixed; crisp and refined; and can readily support such attachments as swinging gates and light fixtures.

Images: Jon Hill & Diamond Brooke

It is worth noting that -- when you are building a landscape wall of brick, block, stone, or even wooden masonry units -- you have a choice. Selecting a "dry stacked" or "dry laid" wall has some distinct advantages.

Images: Karl Norling & Anthony Tong Lee

First off, with nothing to "glue" the wall units together, there is flexibility for some amount of movement. In essence, the open joints can absorb soil settlement without noticeably cracking but also without requiring the construction of an expansion joint.

Images: Duncan Cumming & Bart Lumber

The reason that cracks do not emerge in a dry-stacked wall is that deep, shadowed joints are simply part of the design. With lower expectations for formality and precision, dry-stacked walls require shallower, simpler foundations, and often all that is needed for a solid base is to bury a few inches of the first course below grade. Weep holes, required for through-drainage in concrete and mortared retaining walls, can also be omitted due to the loose structure of a dry-laid wall.

Images: Sonja Lovas & Robert J. E. Simpson

While there is a lower baseline for craftsmanship with a dry-stacked wall, the level of care, experience, and creativity that goes into one of these walls is easy for anyone to detect. The most impressive and durable dry-stacked walls are built by old-school craftsmen, often with a great degree of laborious tooling, chinking, and brainpower. A builder who is both creative and skilled can tailor a dry-stacked wall to harmonize with the landscape and nearby architecture; walls can take on an ordered ashlar pattern or incorporate large boulders and small pebbles into an organic composition.

Images: John Seb Barber & Rick Payette

At the bottom of the heap - in terms of stability, craftsmanship, and cost - is simply a linear pile of rubble. With a range of options, it is critical to reflect on the purpose of any new walls in your landscape. Do you need a perimeter wall for safety or security? Are you trying to hold back the sea or just keep your pets on your property? Do you need a wall or just a visual border? Ask yourself these questions before laying the first stone.

Image: Al Crompton