The ecological benefits of building drystone walls.
Wednesday, 25 November 2020 15:58:20 Europe/London
Beneficial
There are many reasons why someone might consider building a drystone wall, these include: setting a boundary around a field, incasing a flower bed or tiering a garden. But one benefit that we often overlook is the ecological impact of building one.
Plant Life
There are many plants which love nothing more then to live out of the gaps of soil between a drystone wall, such as: lavender, primrose, snapdragon and much more, plants with small roots, like the ones listed, are perfect for drystone wall constructions, not only will they have an excellent environment to grow, but they will also add colour to your drystone wall construction and of course combined, these plants help to purify our air.
Insect Life
Once your wall is built it will not take long for the cast of A Bug’s Life to move in. Ants, woodlice, millipedes, spiders and caterpillars will all find there place in your wall. In the end, every foot of your wall will contain at least one species of insect these bugs have various roles including feeding larger critters.
Larger critters
Unfortunately for the bugs, they will attract birds, frogs and lizards which not only use the drystone wall as shelter but also use it as a restocking buffet and help to control the numbers of insects. Even larger animals can benefit from the wall including large mammals which may use the wall as shade or shelter from winds or rain. All in all when you decide to build a drystone wall, you are not just benefiting your garden you are creating a mini eco system.