A stone pile in an old fence row is a fascinating detail in a
rural landscape.

A sunny, springtime day is a good time to go stealthily along
your favorite paths and
creep up on a rock pile. Its picturesque, lichen-covered rocks
seem to date to antiquity.

You may find a chipmunk eating an acorn from his winter
store. It’s a good place to
find basking skinks, fence lizards or maybe a blacksnake. Be
still — or else they will
disappear into the cracks and crevices.

A stone pile is an ideal place of refuge for many a small
animal. The Southern piedmont
woods are full of them. They were made when settlers cleared
their fields of stones to
make them easier to plow.

Now, many of these fields have reverted to woods, but the
stone piles are still there,
little reminders of the past. They also serve as wildlife
habitat.

Stone piles also make good backyard wildlife habitat. Last
week, I made a stone pile at
the base of a big oak outside our living room window. It’s
already a haven for my
chipmunks.

Why not make a stone pile in your yard? Here’s how.

Pick a scenic place you see often. I made a stone pile in a
little natural place at the
base of a big oak just outside our living room window.

First, dig a basin-shaped hole. Why a hole? This is to make
the basement of your
stone-pile apartment building.

A basement allows your stone-pile dwellers to go deep below
the soil surface to escape
hot weather in summer and hibernate in cold weather.

How deep? Deeper is better. But in any case, get below the
frost line. I made my
stone-pile basement about a foot deep.

Next, fill the hole with stones. If you’re short of stones,
almost any rubble will do
— old concrete blocks, broken bricks, chunks of cement your
builder left behind. Bigger
items are better because the in-between cracks and crevices will
be bigger.

Don’t just throw the stuff in. Arrange it. What you’re after
is a labyrinth of
passageways connecting little rooms you have created for your
guests.

How large should these little passageways be? Make the larger
ones big enough to admit
a golf ball. As you add more material be careful to maintain the
passageways so they
connect to the outside.

Save your prettiest rocks for the surface. I like a mixture
of large and small, flat
and round. To create a natural look, set stones at the edge of
the pile about up to their
waists in the soil. Add some wildflowers for a finishing
touch.

Where to get stones? Stone stores cater to the landscape
trade.

Don’t pillage wild places for stones. Landowners won’t like
it. They could have you
arrested for trespassing and theft if you enter their property
to steal their stones.