When properly done, dry stone retaining walls and freestanding walls can last for centuries. There are miles upon miles of centuries old dry stone walls separating sheep paddocks in England still today. There are still quite a few in New England as well, but forest has reclaimed the area around many of them, so they are harder to notice.
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Nice wall! I made a few small terrace walls last year. The stone around my hill isn’t usually easy to work with. Instead of flat, smooth stones we often have jagged, lumpy, and roundish stones to try to fit together. Since my walls are fairly short I use them anyway instead of trucking in better stone. I’m still filling in compost and such behind the bigger wall. I planted daylilies every 10 inches or so along the edge of the lower two levels of my gooseberry and currant beds to help lock together any soil with their roots in case some soil tried to escape through any cracks. I’ve noticed a ton of lizards that scurry off into the rocks already. A good dry stone Mason in England can make 3 meters a day of 4 foot tall freestanding stone wall. I’m not nearly that fast, but it’s still a fun, worthwhile project that will last a long, long time.
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That amount of progress makes me feel better about the pace at which I’ve worked on my projects! It’s tough work, and slow work to do it safely.
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