ABOUT THE DRYSTONE COMPANY
The Drystone Company offers clients a wealth of expertise and skill.
Large or small, simple or complex, we will design and build beautiful drystone walls, structures, features and planting habitats that showcase the very best of this traditional craft.
We are passionate about drystone walling and at the heart of our craft lies standard walling contracts and we value such work. So, whether you need repairs to existing dry stone structures or walls and features built from the ground up, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Our motivation as a team though is to meet clients’ aspirations for beautiful yet sustainable design, taking the art of drystone to the next level.
Drystone is the future of sustainable outdoor design. Why?
First of all, the carbon footprint of drystone is a fraction of that for other building materials. Our building materials were made by geological forces millions of years ago and by building without mortar, the large carbon footprint of cement is avoided. The only footprint our work incurs is our travel and, if needed, the transport of stone to site. To keep our impact to a minimum, we pledge to use local stone wherever possible.
Secondly, dry stone creates habitats in its interiors for tiny garden dwellers that in turn provide food for beloved birds. With our skills in creating habitats for different plant types too, our aim is to make each space we work on, a refuge for nature.
Finally, drystone work at this level is the ultimate in resilience, meaning your one-time investment will endure for generations.
MEET THE TEAM
LUKE DE GARIS
Luke is a professionally qualified Drystone Waller based in Perthshire, Scotland.
It was a move from Edinburgh to Perthshire that brought Luke to drystone. At first he imagined drystone as a hobby but loved it so much that he left his career in psychiatric nursing and decided to work towards his professional drystone qualifications. Luke received funding through the Prince's Trust to achieve his level one and level two LANTRA qualifications.
Concerned by the increase in monoblocked and mortared stonework in modern gardens, Luke is eager to draw focus to drystone as an environmentally friendly, sustainable, beautiful and far more cost effective way to add stonework to a garden. Luke is interested in helping clients to incorporate drystone structures, retaining walls/boundary walls and features into their garden design.
With the garden design industry finally moving towards more sustainable practices Luke has been out in front advocating for, and using locally sourced stone since he started in the craft.
KRISTIE DE GARIS
Kristie De Garis is a photographer, writer and one of a very small but growing number of female drystone wallers in Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Kristie’s passion for drystone walling began as a child, whilst she played on flagstone walls in the vast Caithnessian flow country. This fascination endured into adulthood and now as a working drystone waller, her approach is based on a deep appreciation for the history, skills and styles that are integral to the craft. However, she is also ‘looking forward’, anticipating the practice, attitudes and ideas that are needed to take drystone walling into the next century, more relevant than ever.
Kristie believes that drystone can take us into a better and more balanced future by having a positive impact on many things including sustainability and climate action, biodiversity as well as outdoor design aesthetics.
By combining the beautiful traditional skills and styles of the craft with contemporary design elements, Kristie wants to bring drystone to the forefront of imaginations, creating stonework that will suit any client and space.
Kristie has just completed a book, an unconventional memoir with a strong focus on drystone, which will be published by Birlinn Polygon in 2025.
