Stone Retaining Wall
This project entailed the draining of a 200,000 cubic foot pond which was originally constructed in the early 1900s in order to install a water feature. I had previously dammed the lower pond, which was roughly equivalent in size to the upper pond, with stonework to match the existing stone walkways. The lower pond will be utilized as a catch-basin in an effort to keep the upper pond’s water level at a sufficient height through a pump system.
After the removal of over a 100 years worth of sediment, I began constructing several terraces, stone steps, stone walkways, and several stone retaining walls — all stone features were built without the use of mortar so as to allow plant growth, such as vines and flowering plants to grow through the stonework.
The difficulty I faced, oddly enough, was trying to be as random as possible with the placement of the stones, so as to make the stonework appear as though it had been built alongside some of the pre-existing 100-year-old stone walls scattered across other areas of the property. In essence, I forced myself to leave larger gaps in between stones where I typically wouldn’t, as well as leave some stones protruding from the wall, and allowing the wall to slightly fluctuate in height. All of which required me to become a perfectionist of randomness, which was quite trying of me.
The top 2 feet of the 2,000-foot upper pond was then faced and retained with stone.