core. This is what the spirit of stone is all about. Andy Goldsworthy, a British environmental artist who works intimately with natural rock explained it this way: “A lone resting stone is not merely an object in the landscape but a deeply ingrained witness to time…”
Today, many people are rediscovering the spirit of stone; along with appreciating stone for its useful durability and rustic beauty, they enjoy the “grounding” that stone features confer upon their surroundings – and on us. Try holding a small stone in your hand. Concentrate on its solidness and feel the weight. After a minute or two you may feel a little more rooted, your energies more levelled out. This is the spirt of stone at work.
Like water, stone in the landscape is a chameleon material of the best kind, able to elicit from us our most creative efforts and imaginative ideas. Its unique appeal lies in its ability to be many things, from a solitary garden feature to an artful wall or a quiet gravel “sea.” Best of all, it is the long-lasting quality of resilient stone that makes it so worthwhile. What you create today will weather through the years, forming an enduring backdrop to fleeting flowers and shrubs. Stone stands the test of time, marking and making a place. Andy Goldsworthy said it well, “A stone changes a place with its presence, with time filling it and flowing aorund it, just as a sea or river rock affects the surrounding water by creating waves, pools and currents.”
This chapter, The Spirit of Stone, reviews some ways that natural stones have been used historically outdoors, designating a place. It offers new/old ideas for using this earthy material in a garden and, hopefully, will inspire you to see rocks as a living part of a vibrant landscape.
An artful stacked stone sculpture by Thomas D. Kent, Jr. This is a short lived balanced stone art piece that lasts as long as the wind does not blow.
The nature writer Loren Eiseley eloquently described the elusive secret life of large boulders in his book The Firmament of Time: “They seemed inanimate because the tempo of the life in them was slow. They lived ages in one place and moved only when man was not looking.”
Stones in Place
Stone, with its strength and permanence, was venerated by early cultures. Dimpled by time, rocks were deeply associated with their locale and told the story of a place in every fissure and crevice. Native Americans saw specific large rocks as the “ancient ones” or the “First People.” They would address a large boulder as “Grandfather” or “Aged One,” because it evoked an all-knowing presence. Naturally, this reverence led our ancestors to bestow meaning upon certain stones and to use them to summon up memories, assure fertility and to signify special areas.
The word “dolmen” refers to prehistoric stone monuments consisting of two or more upright stones supporting a much larger stone. This ancient dolmen is in the Rock Close of Blarney Castle in County Cork, Ireland. It is a large boulder sitting precariously atop rock supports.
Standing Stones
There is a long-lived tradition in many cultures of using standing stones — upright, vertical stones — to exalt a specific place. These tall sentinels were often seen as helpers, such as in the biblical story of Samuel, who installed an upright stone on the site where a victorious battle occurred. It was more than a commemorative stone; it was what he called an Eben-Ezer (Stone of Help).
The 60 ton “Balanced Rock” sits next to a roadside in North Salem, New York. It is the town’s designated historic landmark and is perched surprisingly atop three smaller pointed stones. You can walk around it and marvel at its placement. No one is quite sure how it ended up this way—scientists say it is an ‘erratic’ left by chance when the glaciers receded after the last Ice Age. Others, the descriptive sign says, believe it is a dolmen, a Celtic memorial stone.
You can find standing stones left by earlier civilizations around the world, and most particularly in Ireland, Great Britain and Brittany in northern France. In France they are called menhirs, and there are 1,200 of them in northwest France alone. They are thought to have been used as territorial markers or early astronomical calendars, but no one is certain. Whatever their purpose, their presence still exerts a commanding call.
In Crawick Multiverse the standing stones and the boulders are carefully laid out to represent cosmological themes. Constructed from 2,000 boulders found on the site, the “artland” conveys galactic mounds, comet collisions and much more.
Today, modern standing stones have the same exhilarating appeal. Charles Jencks, a well-known contemporary landscape artist and designer, used prominent standing stones in the spectacular “artland” and visitor attraction in Scotland known as the Crawick Multiverse. The large stones he placed and the earthworks he created form an inspiring landmark that links the themes of space, astronomy and cosmology. The stones, our most earthy material, are used to symbolically connect to the outer realms in a dramatic and memorable way. The Crawick Multiverse displays standing stones for us and future generations to enjoy. You can find more information on their website www.crawickmultiverse.co.uk
You can follow in the steps of this ancient tradition and install a standing stone or stones in your landscape. The spare majesty of tall vertical stones — used as a focal point or entry marker — can be quite memorable. Any kind of long, narrow or pointed stone may become a standing stone. You can use a fissured character stone or a smooth, tapered slab marked with long striations; the choice is yours.
The arrangement of these stones can vary as well. They can be solitary boulders, a procession of evenly spaced spires or a grouping of upright stones. You may choose to install one stone on a wide expanse of lawn, or you can highlight a noteworthy stone by placing it in a plant bed, flanked by a shapely pine tree. Just make sure your stone is deeply embedded in the earth for maximum stability.
The standing stones shown here can be seen in Innisfree in Millbrook, New York. The photo shows a series of pointed standing stones, half covered by the large leaves of common butterbur (Petasites hybridus). The contrast of the fissured, tapered rocks with large round, green leaves is what makes this scene so alluring.
Narrow natural stones, set upright along a road or in a garden make a unique statement. You can place them in a plant bed or alone. Standing stones can be formed of many types of stone: granite, limestone, bluestone, quartzite and others.
A group of standing stones are set within a grassy plant bed. They are counterbalanced by a low-lying natural stone that appears to jut out of the earth. Design by the author.
Choosing a Standing Stone for Your Garden
The best stones to use as standing stones are long, narrow or thin stones that have clear markings, marked grooves or angular
