Dry stone walls or else, what is best?

Not only are dry walls beautiful, they have some other properties that a normal wall does not have... But first of all, let's look at the structure of walls in general: Most important aspect is how the ground sustained by this wall is breathing, meaning how rain water is drained through. A sealed wall structure without drainage can be very dangerous after heavy rain falls, as the water is accumulating within the soil, adding extreme weight to the whole, not having any option to evacuate. Necessary piping has to be added to the wall in certain distance and height in order to create an efficient enough drainage and allow water to flow.

A dry wall on the contrary does not need any piping as the excess water flows directly through the interstices between stones but keep the soil on the top layers. This space allows microorganisms and little insects to nest, offering protection for the winter and coolness during hot summer days. We have to admit that dry walls are somehow less easier to build than conventional walls but they are in our opinion way nicer for the fauna and flora.

At Conscious Cevennes playground, we have different types of walls. Most of our terasses have been sustained by very high dry walls for the last 200 years, but their integrity have been seriously compromised, the walls were partially damaged by falling rumbles from the neighbors above. We also have some smaller walls that simply have disappeared through the years, by erosion, natural degradation, tree roots, or human interaction. In any case, this is just a shame and it needs proper reconstruction very soon. The fallen stones are lying around and nothing can be planted in the direct area as long it as not been repaired...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmirRuXp3tw

Our action plan focuses on the zonage of the house, starting with the "transition wall" from the back of the house to its front along the edges of the river Tarn slope. We will integrate a rain water drainage to it, allowing the plants to gain directly from the roof pipes, excess water will then flow to a water barrel at the extreme edge of the wall.

The second action will be the reinforcement of partially fallen terrace walls using a combination of concrete and dry walls, the lower strong part being made with a concrete base up to a certain height, and finalised with a dry stone wall. This is a compromise really and will only be done with walls that are not visible from the main walkways. It will allow us to sustain these terraces very quickly which will at the same time allow us to plant on them.