Build a ruin wall in the garden yourself

Walls of ruins can look Mediterranean, medieval or even enchanted - they are popular design elements in the garden for a reason. Overgrown by plants, provided with a matching window or decorated with projections and planters, they are always decorative. In addition, they can serve as a privacy screen and create a cozy corner in the garden. They are also individually built by yourself.

Require approval or not?

The first step on the way to the self-built ruin wall is to find out about the permit requirement. Since the ancient wall is usually not built to delimit the property, but is located elsewhere in the garden, a permit is usually not required. Nevertheless, you should ask the responsible building authority to be on the safe side. The regulations can differ from state to state and from municipality to municipality. Walls up to 1.8 meters high are usually not permitted. An exception is Munich, where the maximum height is 1.5 meters.
Tip: The regulations of the respective building authority can often be viewed online so that an appointment or long waiting times are not absolutely necessary.

preparation

The desired construction area should be cleared of weeds, shrubs, grass and bushes before the wall is erected. It is not enough to simply put the wall of ruins on the lawn. It is also ideal to remove larger stones from the earth, dig up the ground and finally compact it after the foundation pit has been excavated. It goes without saying that the preparation also includes planning the course and dimensions of the wall. Antique wall corners or three-sided ruin walls, the outer side parts of which slope downwards, are popular. As the last point of preparation, the statics must be clarified. The higher and longer the wall of ruins and the shallower its depth, the more likely it is that supports or retaining walls are required. In any case, it is advisable to consult a structural engineer in order to prevent the wall from collapsing or falling over in advance.

foundation

Once the construction area has been cleared of all plants, roots and other obstacles and the course of the ruined wall has been planned, the foundation can be prepared and poured. To do this, proceed as follows:

1. The construction area is demarcated with bars and a cord stretched between them.

2. The foundation is excavated with a spade or mini excavator. Depending on the size of the wall, this should be at least 30

to be 60 centimeters. The larger the wall, the deeper the pit for the foundation should also be dug.

3. After excavation, the soil is compacted. The use of a vibrating plate is recommended for this work step. These can usually be borrowed comparatively inexpensively in hardware stores.

4. Then the bottom of the pit is covered two to three centimeters deep with gravel. The concrete is then finally poured onto this.

Even if it is a wall of ruins, it should be as straight as possible. Otherwise it could become unstable. A spirit level should therefore be used when laying the foundation in order to make the subsurface as straight as possible with every step.

material

Obtaining the materials for a ruined wall can be both the easiest and the most difficult part of the construction. After all, the building should also look antique. Ideal are:

• old bricks
• Field fire bricks
• old cobblestones
• Granite grander
• Natural stones
• Ceramic shards

Unfortunately, these cannot be found everywhere in the required quantity. It therefore makes sense to test the following options:

• Antique stone shops
• construction sites
• Acquaintances or friends who build
• Collect stones from fields or from the garden
• Hardware stores
• Building materials dealer

Of course, the various procurement options can also be combined with one another. Antique and flea markets are recommended for antique-looking vases, pots and buckets as well as windows or frames. Online flea markets can also be the right place to go.

building instructions

When the foundation has been poured, construction of the ruined wall can begin. The following materials and utensils are required for this:

• mortar
• Trowel
• Stones, shards and planters
• Spirit level
• line
• Bars
• Tape measure or folding rule

Then proceed step by step as described here:

1. The width, length and course of the ancient garden wall are marked by sticks and a cord stretched between them. This makes it easier to orientate yourself during construction and there is no need for constant re-measuring.

2. For the first layer, stones and shards are placed next to each other along the course of the wall and aligned appropriately. That simplifies the work.

3. On the foundation is piece by piece

Mortar applied. There should only be enough to place one or two stones on top of each other. This makes it easier to align the stones appropriately on the still damp mortar. Then steps two and three are repeated continuously until the desired height and width are reached. Higher layers can simply be placed in front of the wall. This allows the individual elements to be aligned appropriately before they sit firmly in the mortar.

Create protrusions and planters

Projections at the end and the front of the wall create opportunities to place planters and to let the ruined wall overgrown or at least to decorate it. Bringing these into the ancient wall is very easy. For this purpose, larger stones or small stone slabs are simply aligned at a 90-degree angle to the other bricks and integrated into them. For particularly large protrusions, it may be advisable to additionally support the stone slab from below. For this purpose, a long piece of square wood is clamped between the foundation and the projection and ideally fixed with mortar. Planters are just as easy to integrate. When building the ruin wall, they are simply added to the row of stones and attached at an angle with mortar. It is important to avoid gaps and air holes.
Tip: It makes sense to have stones of many different sizes ready. This makes it very easy to fill in gaps if necessary.

With tips and tricks to the ruin

In order for the garden wall to really turn into a wall of ruins, the material is already decisive. But not only the stones are important for the antique look of the garden wall. The garden wall can also be optically aged and made even more decorative using the following methods:

• apply waterproof stone paint
• let it weather or cause superficial damage
• let it overgrown with moss
• Install window frames or openings
• Growing with plants
• Decorate ruin wall

Stone color

Waterproof stone paint can be used specifically to give the bricks, shards and stones in the ruined wall an antique look. With different shades of brown or gray, stones can also be painted and thus matched that do not quite fit into the ruined wall due to their original color. This makes it easier to find suitable materials.

To weather

Natural weathering by wind, rain and frost takes a long time. Otherwise there would soon only be a ruin of every building. The easiest, of course, is to use already weathered materials to build the ruined wall. However, if these cannot be obtained in sufficient quantities, the stones can also be weathered in a targeted manner. The following measures will help:

• Moisten stones or walls and sand them with coarse sandpaper by hand or with a sander
• Use a small chisel and hammer to chop off the corners of some stones
• roughen some stones with a sandblaster

Tip: Grinding devices and sandblasters can be borrowed inexpensively from many hardware stores.

moss

It is not uncommon for moss to be found on ancient walls. In the case of the ruined wall in the garden, the growth of moss can be accelerated by spraying moss and an appropriate nutrient solution onto the stones.
What is required for this:

• moss
• a mixer
• Water or beer
• Yogurt, milk or buttermilk
• Sugar or gelling agent
• a brush

The so-called Moosfitis (a combination of moss and graffiti) are produced and applied as follows:

1. As a basis, moss is required, which can be obtained from your own or another garden, the forest or specialist shops. Fast-growing varieties that can cover larger areas in a short time are ideal.

2. Three parts of moss are mixed with two parts of milk, yogurt or buttermilk, two parts of water or beer and a little sugar or gelling agent.

3. In the mixer or with a hand blender, the individual ingredients are briefly shredded and mixed to form a mass that is as homogeneous as possible - that is, smooth.

4. A brush can now be used to paint the areas of the ruined wall on which moss will later grow. The subsurface should be as rough as possible so that the moss can take root. It can therefore be beneficial to work on the stones and mortar beforehand with sandpaper, a grinding machine or a sandblaster.

In order for the applied moss to grow successfully, it must be regularly sprayed with water. The mass should be prevented from drying out. At the beginning and on very sunny days it can therefore be advisable to moisten the wall daily.
Tip: Alternatively, the moss can also be tied piece by piece to individual stones until it takes root.

Window frames

Antique windows or window frames can be a highlight in the ruined wall. If you want to enrich the garden wall with one of these, you should look around at antique and flea markets. Occasionally, corresponding frames can also be found in the handicraft trade. They can be built directly into the ancient garden wall and fixed between the stones with mortar. Alternatively, the frames can simply be leaned against the wall as a decoration. After all, with ruins it is possible that the frame, like the glass, could no longer hold due to erosion and decay.

Beranking

Ruins are often overgrown by the surrounding plants and used as climbing aids. One way to make the optically antique garden wall look even more real is to introduce climbing plants such as vines or ivy. These use the rough ground to strive upwards and decorate them in a natural way.

Decorations

Creeping plants and antique window frames, protrusions and moss are of course already decorative. In addition, other decorative elements can also be added to decorate the ruined wall. Among others, the following are suitable:
debris
In order for a ruined wall to appear, some parts have to fall off. In the case of real ancient walls, therefore, there are also rubble. At the ruined wall in the garden, some stones can be piled up, between which plants can grow.

Flowering plants
Placed next to it, placed on a ledge or creeping down from the wall - flowering plants are always decorative and can beautify the antique garden wall in a very simple way.
Pattern in the stones
Spirals, color changes, angular patterns such as lines or even lettering make the ruined wall a striking one-of-a-kind. It is sufficient to use stones of a different color or shape or to color them with a stone color to match.
lighting
Lanterns, a solar-powered chain of lights or torches literally put the ruined wall in the right light. They also give it a romantic flair.

Does the antique garden wall need weather protection?

No. A massive built ruin wall, like any other garden wall, can do without any special protection. On the contrary: rain, wind and sun make the ruined wall look naturally antique over time.