Progression

Our rubric for learning to wall starts with an introduction to dry stone walling where you gain an appreciation for the only two forces at play in a dry stone wall; friction and gravity.  As you gain more experience you will learn to use these forces to the best advantage.

Our goal is to take you to a place in this progression that enables you to achieve your goals in stone, whether you are a hobbyist, homeowner, landscaper or craftsman.

Our path consists of formal courses, experiential walling days, and certification.  A critical part of learning the craft is to practice it.  Dry stone walling can be simply thought of as a series of choices, each of which have implications for the next set of choices.  Learn the skills in a workshop.  Practice them on your own and in walling days alongside other wallers.

The certification process distills your knowledge through the pressure of a timed test.  This serves as a measuring stick for your skills and as a mechanism to help you make better choices as you build.

If you’re not sure what workshop you should take check out our page on Where To Start.  This handy guide provides information for those with and without experience, and provides sample progressions of which courses to take.

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. ~Henry Ford

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First Steps

Our introductory courses provide the basic tools needed to build a dry stone wall.  You will learn that stone wall building is hard work but not impossible.  The joy of the work, and the satisfaction of a job well done is infectious.  You will learn five simple rules that enable a dry stone wall to stay in place, and much more!

An introduction to walling can be taken in a single-day or two-day format.  Which format suits you depends on your level of fitness to bend over and lift stones.  It also depends on your goal.  To get a taste of what dry stone walling is all about, a single day will suffice.  To get more working experience, two days is better.  We also offer a women-only version of the single-day course.

In either format, the structure of the course is the same, beginning with an existing wall.  You will be working your own section of wall, building across from and next to, other students.  The first step is to dismantle the wall, sorting the stone as you go and paying attention to how it is built.  The remainder of the course is spent rebuilding the wall.

All of this is done with active individual and group instruction.  As with all of our workshops, each instructor will have no more than 8 students.

Foundations

The art of foundations, through-stones and copes are combined with experiential learning to craft retaining walls, free standing wall ends, and to rebuild historic farm walls in this series of courses.

Historic Rebuild workshop students will participate in the site preparation necessary to rebuild old dilapidated walls.  The Retaining and Cheek Rebuild workshops develop skills needed for the majority of walling projects.  In each of these you will learn batter frame techniques that lead to a stronger and more beautiful wall.

A new offering for 2019 is the Contractors Intensive.  This five day offering in the Winter is conducted inside.  The intent is to transform practicing landscapers into certified wallers.   The Contractors Intro workshop is also a great way for the hardscape professional to start down the dry stone path.

Level 1 Certification is a great way to benchmark your progress. Testing makes you a better waller!

One summer day, while I was walking along the country road on the farm where I was born, a section of the stone wall opposite me, and not more than three or four yards distant, suddenly fell down. Amid the general stillness and immobility about me the effect was quite startling. … It was the sudden summing up of half a century or more of atomic changes in the material of the wall. A grain or two of sand yielded to the pressure of long years, and gravity did the rest.
~John Burroughs

Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice. ~ Anton Chekhov

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Competency

Serious hobbyists and professionals will find that these workshops provide the tools they need to build lasting and beautiful walls and features.

The Walling Skills Intensive is a four day workshop that teaches all of the skills needed to build a cheek end that meets Level 2 standards.  Topics covered extensively include batter frames and building to the line, stone shaping for through-stones and cheek material, and build strategy.

Recognizing the commitment that students are making to the craft, after participating in the Walling Skills Intensive workshop, each student will be paired with a certified instructor as a mentor to aid in the path to Level 2 certification.

Steps & Stairs, and Flagging workshops address design elements common to many residential projects.

Level 2 Certification is perhaps the most difficult jump in the certification scheme.  In our experience, this is where many wallers get off the train.  Key to success is your personal investment in the necessary skills.  It is our recommendation that before testing at Level 2, you build at least five cheek ends and 50 feet of free standing wall.  More is better!

Stop competing with everyone else. Focus on becoming better than the person you were yesterday. Aim to be your best. Aim to grow you! ~Brooke Griffin

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Artistry

A core part of our progression to Advanced Walling is instruction.  The Instructor Certification course provides you with interpersonal and leadership skills.  These skills are equally applicable to teaching workshops and to leading crews on a project.

The walling skills needed to achieve Level 3 certification are primarily developed on either personal or professional projects.  Expect to build hundreds of feet of wall on your progression.

Business Fundamentals for the Waller will provide you with tools to win more business, and execute your projects more profitably.

Advanced Walling Days are an opportunity to build features with other wallers at one of the Stone Trust sites.  This is a great way to learn while broadening your connections in the walling community.  It also is a great way to give back to The Stone Trust.

We are all apprentices in a craft where no one becomes a master. ~Ernest Hemingway

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The Zen of Walling

True Master Craftsmen are rare indeed!  They have demonstrated their skills on a myriad of projects.  A common trait is diversity in their portfolio.  Wall and wall some more!

The Design Principles for the Waller provides knowledge of adjacent domains that can be applied to transform a perfectly good wall concept into a masterpiece.  Topics include engineering, artistic aspects of walling (such as color, texture and perspective), and geology.  You will also learn about the history of walling and be exposed to walling traditions from across the globe.

Each Feature Build workshop is unique and tuned to the interest of students.  It will usually focus on a large installation with considerable technical challenges.

Level 4 Certification marks a transition point in your path.  Master Wallers don’t stop learning; they just keep amazing!

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