Stone Wall Ideas

An undulating stone wall creates a barrier while looking stylish at the same time. Fieldstone offers a natural material for garden walls. You can either dry stack stone or use mortar to hold it together. (Dry-stacked walls should be no taller than 4 feet.) For a natural garden backdrop, a stone wall offers a classic and long-lasting option.

If you love the look of stone and wood fencing, why not enjoy both? This fence features a low fieldstone wall topped with a wooden shake center and crowned with small pickets. A stone foundation makes the fence look solid and substantial. Round fieldstones are usually mortared into place because of their shape.

Rethink the straight wall! This gracefully curved flagstone wall adds a stylish flourish to the backyard patio. The circular wall creates a sense of enclosure and privacy even though the wall is low. Best of all, the wall curls into a small fountain. Flagstone comes in large sheets from 3/4 inch to 4 inches thick. Quartz, granite, and limestone are common types of flagstone.

A low stone wall creates a clear barrier along a property line without blocking the view. A wall made of different shapes and sizes of stone adds textural visual interest to a home's landscaping. Walls can also be topped with pots and containers.

A stacked-stone wall provides the structure for a garden bed in this entryway garden. Flat stones make for a tight fit, adding strength to the wall--which is especially important if backfilled with soil for a planting bed. Don't be afraid to mix masonry types in a landscaping project. Here, the light stone is a great accent to the red brick.

A dry-stacked stone wall looks so natural. The spaces between stones in the retaining wall allow water to drain through, relieving pressure. Another advantage of dry-stacked stone walls is that you can create planting pockets for small rock garden plants such as sedums.

A mortared stone wall can be sized to fit any landscape. Here a sturdy mortared wall holds in a natural slope that has been terraced to accommodate planting beds. Stone is an ideal choice for garden walls because it provides a sturdy, yet natural-looking building material.

Manufactured materials, such as concrete blocks, make ideal building materials for smooth and uniform walls. Here, the smooth lines of this concrete block wall establish a boundary and complement the clean lines of the home and landscape. Although low, this wall creates a clear delineation of space, making a courtyard in front of the house.

Fieldstone makes an attractive and natural wall that complements many home styles. Here, even the steps are made from fieldstones and flagstones. Low stone walls can be built by nearly anyone, but if your wall will be 4 feet tall or taller, you should hire a professional contractor who specializes in working with stone.

A combination stone base and latticework top creates a tall wall with see-through appeal. In this garden, the low stone walls create terraces. The lattice top adds style as well as giving climbing vines a support structure.

Slim stones stacked into a low wall make an attractive way to delineate space and add a sense of structure to a backyard landscape. Differences in stone thicknesses make it nearly impossible to build a flagstone wall with an exact horizontal top. It's much easier to fit the flagstones without regard to thickness, and then choose flat pieces to create a level top. Low walls provide additional seating or a platform on which to display potted plants.

This lattice-topped wall shows off the beauty and diversity of stone. Large and small stones are mortared together to create a textural wall that is perfect for a cottage or country garden. The bamboo lattice trellis offers an additional feature--it gives plants a place to climb.

A stone wall doesn't have to be tall or mortared. Here, a simple dry-laid planter box is made of large flat stones. When building a simple stone wall, look for a variety of stone types with flat surfaces that stack easily. Low walls can be made with three to four layers of stones.

If you want a dramatic and long-lasting entryway to your home or garden, try a stone wall. Here, a castlelike entrance features stones that are mortared to create an arched doorway with iron gate and peek-in window. Stone offers an ideal backdrop for a garden's soft foliage and blossoms.

Tame a slope with a terrace of loose-stone retaining walls. Sedimentary flat stones, such as ashlar and flagstone, are among the easiest to use when building a wall of this type. Unlike other types of retaining walls, stacked-stone walls don't need drainage systems because water escapes naturally through cracks between the stones.

A dramatic stone wall features stone steps and espaliered pear trees trained to stretch horizontally across the walls (they bear pears too!). Mortared-stone retaining walls offer long-lasting solutions to sloped yards--and offer beautiful surfaces and backdrops for plantings.

When it comes to walls, anything goes--and that includes an informal wall made with large stacked stones. More landscape art than wall, this stone structure separates the lawn from the garden in this front yard.