Landscaping with Stone Borders

Using stone to make low borders around planting areas gives a wonderfully natural look. It sure beats all the plastic and metal edgings that you can buy. In New England and other regions with plenty of rocks, you can collect the stone from your own yard.

I started building these miniature stone walls about six years ago. Haven't stopped. I love the sturdy look of the vintage walls seen throughout New Hampshire and other states around there. Now I have my own version right in my yard.

Here are my tips for constructing a dry, fieldstone border for your landscaping. The photo shows my planting beds by the back deck with the walls I built.

1. Determine the outline of your planting space and mark in the dirt where you want the border to be. You can also use the garden hose to lay out the line. I recommend a graceful curve. You might prefer straight lines with 90 degree corners. It's your project so do it the way you want.

   Since I use field stone, it doesn't lend itself to sharp corners. That's my experience, anyway.

2. Gather the stones. At first we just picked them up as we cleared areas for planting. We found more once we started digging. Collect both large and small stones.

   Where I am in New Hampshire is old glacial area, so the rocks are granite and rounded in shape. Do not collect stones from old walls, even if those are tumbling down. In NH, it is against the law. Those are historical and protected.

3. Pile the rocks near the area where you want to build your low wall. No use moving them more often than necessary (unless you want the extra exercise).

1. I like to put 3 or 4 stones across to form the base. I use some of the smaller stones here. See the Photo Section below for the visual on this.
2. The next layer of stones needs to fit the contours of the first layer and interlock with each of the stones in the 2nd layer. Put small stones in between to get larger ones level or to fill gaps between them.
3. If you slant the stones slightly towards the center, then they are less likely to fall out of the wall.
4. Keep adding layers. Overlap them across pairs of stones in the layer below.

These videos show a regular sized wall, so just apply the same principles but on a smaller scale for a flower bed border made of stacked stone.

I see some people just put a single stone to form a border for planting areas. That's fine, especially if you don't have very many stones.

My preference is to mimic the stone walls that you see around New England. These go back to the colonial days. Each farmer had to clear the trees and drag large and small stones out of the field to plow for crops. Putting the stones to use as a wall for the field was a natural way to go.

Driving through New England, I'm enchanted by the centuries-old rock walls along the country roads. There is so much history here and if only these old stones could tell us their stories.

I gathered quite a few stones last fall, so this summer I can continue building my rock borders. Some of the early ones need reworked. I may never get finished.

(photo by Virginia Allain)