A stone privacy screen can be relatively effective in shielding not only visual but also acoustic disruptive factors in the garden. However, in addition to safety and appearance, garden owners should also consider other factors when planning a stone privacy wall.

A stone wall protects against looks and has a rustic decorative effect

Preliminary considerations before the construction of stone privacy walls

Before you can start building a stone privacy wall in your own garden, the most important questions about the following factors should first be clarified:

  • legal regulations/required permits
  • stability of the subsoil
  • material and surface design
  • Ecological or practical added value of the erected stone wall

In many cases, an official permit from the responsible building authority may be required for the construction of a stone privacy wall. In this case, prescribed minimum distances to the property line also come into play. In addition, walls made of natural stones or stone baskets, in contrast to the planting of a privacy hedge, require a precise examination of the respective subsoil. After all, ordinary soil can subside, be undermined or simply give way under the often underestimated dead weight of a stone wall. In such a case, life-threatening accidents can sometimes even occur if a stone wall collapses. While brick walls and gabions offer hardly any ecological niches, a natural stone wall can provide a habitat for rare plants and animals in the cracks in the wall.

Security through a suitable base

Once the building permit for the planned stone wall has been obtained, the preparatory work can begin. As a rule, a trench is dug along the planned course of the stone wall, which is first filled with some coarse gravel and then provided with a load-bearing foundation made of base stones or concrete. Since this will cause an obstacle to "settle in" in the garden in the long term, passages for cables to be laid or the water draining underground should be integrated on slopes in the form of pipes or empty shafts in good time. As soon as this foundation has hardened and is stable, depending on the material, the construction of the actual privacy screen can begin.

Erect a privacy screen from demolition material

When demolishing old houses, it is not uncommon for bricks and natural stones to be uncovered, which would be far too good to be backfilled as rubble. When erecting a stone wall in the garden, it is not necessarily a problem if the individual stones still have mortar residue from previous use. Rather, a stone wall made from recycled stone offers a type of patina that allows the newly created brickwork to immediately integrate organically into the landscape design. If a rather ruin-like look is then chosen instead of a strictly geometric construction, the result is a special charm with a romantic factor.

Gabions as contemporary privacy screens

Landscape planners and gardeners often have different opinions when it comes to gabions: These stone baskets sometimes offer advantages in terms of the approval process, since they usually do not have any fixed anchoring to the ground and (at least in theory) can be quickly removed again at any time. However, the rather rugged look of quarry stones and galvanized steel rods cannot necessarily be combined with every type of architecture and landscape design. However, it is quite possible, for example, to green a wall made of gabions by growing annual or perennial climbing plants.

tips

The higher a stone wall is erected in the garden, the higher the requirements for stability and tipping resistance. As a compromise between the height of the privacy screen and a reasonable effort, it is advisable to build a raised bed out of stones and then to plant reasonably high-growing vegetables or flowers on it.

Category:

Garden design