Create a garden wall without a foundation

Why does a foundation make sense?

The foundation forms the permanent basis of the garden wall. Without this, the structure would freeze in winter, which means that frost rises into the masonry and there is a risk of serious damage.

The cause of this is the water in the earth, which freezes and expands at minus temperatures. It pushes up in the wall and the connection between the stones can be literally blown open.

To prevent this, it is necessary to lay a foundation that is at least sixty, better eighty centimeters deep. This not only prevents frost damage, the garden wall cannot sink into the ground and become unstable as a result.

Dry stone wall without a foundation

Dry stone walls hold due to the weight of the stones, which are cleverly stacked on top of each other. However, these are not as stable as walls built with mortar and should therefore not exceed a certain height.

For this variant of the garden wall, it may be sufficient to level the ground and compact it strongly. This sounds easier than it is, because with laypeople, filling up and removing the soil rarely creates a really straight surface.

Therefore, even if the walls are not too high, you should take the trouble of creating a substructure. This is the only way to ensure that the structure does not become unstable and collapse during the first downpour.

Stable foundation made of gravel

However, it is better to lay a foundation of gravel even when building a dry stone wall that is not too high.

• First a pit is dug. This should be about four inches deep. The width is a third of the planned height of the wall.
• Fill the trench with crushed stone, which you thoroughly compact.
• On this you put the first layer of large stones.

In the case of mortared walls, the foundation must be at least sixty centimeters deep. First two thirds of gravel is filled in, which is well compacted. Fill the rest with concrete.