'Stone on stone looks free'
Mentors share the fine art of walling at Niagara Parks Botanical Garden
Posted By Theresa Forte
Posted 15 secs ago
They say clothing tells a lot about a man. The rolled-back cuffs of master waller Norman Haddow's royal blue pullover were dusted with limestone and hung loosely over his neatly buttoned plaid shirtsleeve. A sky-blue calf-length apron did its best to keep the dust at bay, while giving the kindly, silver-haired (and bearded) artisan the look of .
This is not the typical uniform you might see on a fellow working at the Niagara Parks Botanical Garden, but then Haddow, a former microbiologist, honoured with an appointment as the Queen's Royal Waller, is not your typical labourer.
A waller is simply a craftsman who builds stone walls without mortar. A well-constructed wall can last 100 years or more.
This ancient craft is enjoying a renaissance of sorts in Canada, thanks to the efforts of John Shaw-Rimmington, who founded the Dry Stone Walling Across Canada in 2000. Boasting more than 300 members, the association has trained hundreds of regular people in the art of building dry stone features.
The culmination of the association's week-long Annual Thanksgiving Dry Stone Wall Festival saw students at the Niagara Parks School of Horticultural complete a two-day intensive workshop led by master dry stone wallers Shaw- Rimmington and Haddow. Darrell Bley, instructor and curator of woody plants at Niagara Parks Botanical Garden, wanted to learn as well, and volunteered to oversee the logistics of the workshop.
A group of 10 students and two master craftsmen worked side by side to sort and reassemble a 25-ton pile of scrap rock into a distinctive dry-stone structure. This is recycling at its finest.
Affectionately dubbed the "Veg Wedge," the 9x14x4-foot wedge-shaped structure repurposes stone excavated during the construction of the Butterfly Conservatory into a delightful new focal point for the Vegetable Display Gardens.
The design features protruding stile stones that offer places to attach strings for climbing plants (functioning much like a garden trellis).
Working over a two-day period, the group successfully completed the project and then restored the site to its pre-construction order. The project reflects the group's remarkable spirit of co-operation.
Shaw-Rimmington has worked with stone for some 25 years. While working as a stone mason, he experienced an epiphany of sorts.
"Suddenly, the stones were talking to me. We don't need mortar -- we can stay together all on our own." He continues, "Stone on stone looks free; it wants to be there; it's alive."
One by one, the rocks are positioned face-out with the bulk of their surface buried in the wall. No wonder these structures are so strong.
Shaw-Rimmington advises: "Look for shape first when selecting stones." Like a giant jigsaw puzzle, the stones are pieced together -- but this puzzle is assembled without the benefit of the picture on the box to guide the correct placement of each stone.
Late Saturday afternoon, I watched the group crawl up, around and over the hip-tall structure with the fervour of a colony of ants tending an anthill.
"Pass me a two-or three-finger," a voice called out,
"This one is too small."
Rocks passed hand to hand, from helpers at ground level to the crew standing on scaffolding around the structure.
"Try this one, it might work."
After a couple of tries, a suitable fit.
Shaw-Rimmington describes the process simply: "It's a matter of listening to the pieces and understanding where they want to be."
The core of such a structure, made up of large and smaller stones, is known as the heart.
"It's all about the little stuff," explained Luke Serbina, a first-year student at the School of Horticulture.
The heart should be firm and not leave spaces for the face stones to shift inwards. Dry stone structures are a little wider at the bottom than they are at the top. The batter, or angle of the vertical taper, should be even from the top to the bottom.
Greg Rooke, now in his third year at the school, has worked with Shaw-Rimmington on several occasions and was instrumental in setting up this workshop.
"Each time I do this, I learn something new," he said.
Humbly offering a piece of stone here or a word of advice there, Haddow seemed more sage than authoritarian to the students.
A sprightly 70 years young, he claims to be semi-retired. This despite the fact he spends two months a year dry-stone walling (or dyking, as he calls it) for the likes of Prince Charles at Balmoral, the royal family's estate in the North of Scotland, working on other private estates and leading workshops around the world.
For the past five years, Haddow has joined Shaw-Rimmington for the Dry Stone Wall Festival to teach Canadians the fine art of building dry stone bridges and garden structures.
Trained as a biologist at the University of Edinburgh, Haddow worked for BP Oil developing cattle feed from oil by-products. Ask him how a microbiologist ends up walling, and his bright blue eyes sparkle. He loves to work with stone.
Thomas Laviolette, acting director of the Niagara Parks Botanical Garden and School of Horticulture, summed up the two-day workshop.
"This opportunity offered the students real time, real life experience while being mentored by two masters of the trade. Our students have given back to the NPC Botanical Gardens and have enhanced the visitor experience."
At the end of the day, the exuberant students formed a circle with their mentors, sharing thoughts and appreciation all round. Behind them, a fiery sunset stretched through the trees, casting a golden glow on the assembly and their newly completed project. Call it instant karma.
Theresa Forte is a local garden consultant and member of the Garden Writers Association. You can reach her by calling 905-351-7540 or by e-mail theresa_forte @ sympatico.ca.