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permaculture

Uses for boulders

Posts: 32

Location: France (zone 8b-9)

posted 13 years ago

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What permaculture thing would you guys do if you had a couple of boulders just sitting around? I'm talking rock the size that you might just be able to move if you've got an iron spit, a couple of smart yet strong people.

I came up with windbreak and shelter/sun trap. Now I am all out of ideas (it's been a really draining month and a half) and I was hoping that you intelligent folks could get the creative process started again.

Le blog d'Emma: Homesteading, vintage sewing & knitting, renovating, wildcrafting, etc. in Brittany, France.

John Polk

steward

Posts: 7926

Location: Currently in Lake Stevens, WA. Home in Spokane

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posted 13 years ago

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If they're in a good spot, and too big to easily move, just leave them there.
Dig a pond around them. How many people have a pond with an island?
They would make a nice center piece, plus help regulate the temps in hot/cold weather. Micro environment.

Jordan Lowery

pollinator

Posts: 1528

Location: zone 7

posted 13 years ago

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Large rocks are the masters of microclimate manipulation. Giving either heat or cold depending on how you design the system. They can direct water to key spots increasing penetration of water. This is helpful for fruit trees. No weeds will grow on a boulder that is not flat or depressed. They make good mulch protecting the soil from the sun and protecting sub soil moisture from evaporation. That and many many more useful things, simple observation will give you an almost unlimited source of ideas.

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. - Masanobu Fukuoka

Xisca Nicolas

pollinator

Posts: 1981

Location: La Palma (Canary island) Zone 11

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posted 13 years ago

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John Polk wrote:Dig a pond around them. How many people have a pond with an island?

I love this idea!

According to the place, type of rock and other parameters, if you have the opportunity to have a stone sculptor at home... take the opportunity!

(here I know a sprouting dolphin, it has been sculpted in a pine trunk... still alive)

Emma Fredsdotter

Posts: 32

Location: France (zone 8b-9)

posted 13 years ago

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I like your pond idea, John! In my location, it would require some moving (the boulders are currently sitting in the courtyard as they were pulled out of the wall of my house when previous owners opened up doorways), but it's a cool idea and gets you thinking.

In less permie related ideas, I keep telling my husband we should just make our own stone circle. He just wants to roll the biggest one up to the road and paint it with the name of the farmstead.

Le blog d'Emma: Homesteading, vintage sewing & knitting, renovating, wildcrafting, etc. in Brittany, France.

greg patrick

Posts: 168

Location: SoCal, USDA Zone 10b

posted 13 years ago

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Build a goat pen around them! Goats love boulders and with a big rock in their pen you won't ever need to trim hooves.

'Science is the father of knowledge, but opinion breeds ignorance.' - Hippocrates

LaLena MaeRee

Posts: 148

posted 13 years ago

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I second the goat idea, they love rocks. Painting the name of the homestead on one is also a good idea! Boulders also make great natural seats when placed around the garden or yard.

When you throw something away, there is no 'away'

Timothy Norton

Steward of piddlers

Posts: 7174

Location: Upstate New York, Zone 5b, 43 inch Avg. Rainfall

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posted 7 months ago

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It might be silly, but I love seeing a nice big boulder just sitting out on display.

Boulders make great passive boundaries along roadsides or pathways. They also act as a nice canvas for moss if you have the right location.

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Anne Miller

steward

Posts: 18352

Location: USDA Zone 8a

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posted 7 months ago

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I have some boulders sitting up by my front gate that I used to feel they looked like they were placed there by a landscaper.

There was a cute little bush by them. Now tall grass has moved in and messed up my landscaped rocks.

I had another place with a grove of live oaks and three or four square rocks that looked like someone placed them there. Again tall grass hides them.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Nancy Reading

steward and tree herder

Posts: 12226

Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland. Nearly 70 inches rain a year

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posted 7 months ago

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Hmm, I have a few large rocks at the moment from where we have been digging for our future house extension. They are too big for me to move easily, but we could move them with the digger. I'm thinking retaining wall at the moment, to help terrace some of our slopes. One of them would make a nice seat if it could be oriented right.

How Permies works: https://permies.com/wiki/34193/permies-works-links-threads
My projects on Skye: The tree field, Growing and landracing, perennial polycultures, "Don't dream it - be it! "

Ben Brownell

Posts: 117

Location: Klamath-Siskiyou CA

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posted 7 months ago

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Large rocks can make a good foundation piece (pier or footer) to build on. I'm doing that now for an outdoor kitchen/pavillion roundwood post frame structure. Orient as fitting and dig or settle them in such that they aren't likely to move around, wood post can go right on top and get anchored down with a concrete wedge bolt.

I agree. Here's the link: http://stoves2.com