Why Use Stone?

So the question is, "Why use stone in garden design and construction?" The obvious answer is "Because we live in New England!" Here in the Pioneer Valley we have a variety of stone available both from immediate and adjacent sources.

Immediate sources of stone are the Notch Quarry on 116 that harvests basalt: a dark, dense, blocky, volcanic stone. On the opposite end of 116 is Warner Bros. Quarry who sift through the ancient floor of glacial Lake Hitchcock, harvesting sand, gravel, and beautiful, smooth round stones of all shapes and sizes. If you look west out Route 9 past Northampton you can find sedimentary schist of the Berkshire foothills, harvested by quarries in Ashfield, Cummington, and Goshen. Towards central MA, past the Quabbin, are the boulder-strewn landscapes of towns such as Barre, Petersham, and New Salem, who have been blessed by the glaciers with an abundance of fieldstones.

Further North and Northwest we have offerings of granite from New Hampshire and bluestone from New York. So, the material choices are vast and available in this part of the country.

Article Index

1. Why Use Stone?
2. Responsible Design: Using Local Stone
3. The Merits of Dry-Laid Stonework