Читать книгу The Organic Garden - Allan Shepherd - Страница 34

Walls tend to be made out of earthen materials (i.e. those that come out of the ground), although you do get some very nice walls that mix earthen materials with wood – a technique known as cordwood masonry. If you want a stone wall, research which stone is local to your area and buy accordingly for a wall that fits in with your local environment. Alternatively, use reclaimed brick (www.salvo.co.uk or check with local builders’ merchants), or make your own – see left. Making your own bricks gives you a great sense of pride. Organics is all about gaining confidence by doing it yourself. Avoid using concrete blocks. Many show gardens have experimented with walls made with recycled materials, including old bottles, tin cans, rubble, and so on. These are either built using a binding material such as mortar, or more simply stacked in rows using gabions. Gabions are steel mesh boxes primarily used in the road building and construction industries. Now you can get garden-sized gabions from www.stones3.co.uk. Fill the mesh up with natural stone, reclaimed building rubble or any material that will hold weight.

Cob is used extensively by eco-builders. It is made by mixing subsoil with straw and water, and then pounding or treading it down to form free-standing walls (see page 57). In a similar vein, rammed earth, mud bricks and stabilised earth blocks are all popular natural building materials for walls.