Perennial Bed Project, Go!

I've had enough poison ivy, so the clearing by the road is abandoned for now.  *scratches violently*

I've finally knuckled down and started working on my perennial beds.  Let me tell you what, I am definitely not 20 years old anymore.  Hell, I'm not even as spry as I was five years ago.  I'm not entirely happy with my end product, but I just didn't have it in me to rip the wall apart for a fourth or fifth time to set it straight.  I also have to admit this is a project I probably shouldn't have tried on my own, but the first wall is done, it's good enough for plants, and I have my doubts that it will last the winter. 

You can see the small dips and rises along the top line.  Try as I might, I couldn't seem to keep things level.  Had I been using mortar, I might have been able to make small corrections.

I packed the blocks with gravel to help add some stability to the wall.  I had hoped to pound short pieces of rebar at strategic points to reinforce it, but that didn't happen.  There is so much rock in this ground that I couldn't find a spot where the bar would sink more than an inch, and that was using a sledgehammer. 

I'm hoping any water will seep through the mortarless cracks and trickle down through the stone within, providing enough drainage that it won't be an issue.  I've been using the abundance of potato-sized stones from the dirt I've dug out to fill in behind the block for more drainage.  A layer of gravel, a layer of potato rock, a mix of gravel and topsoil on top of that. 

I can see this going one of two ways; either the pressure of the dirt against the dry stacked wall will push it forward and collapse it, or a miracle will occur and it will stand.  I could have staggered the rows back a little each course to work against the pressure from behind, but I really wanted a smooth faced wall.  I've seen a product that is made for short walls like this, a kind of stucco material you can use to bond it together and give it a little more stability.  I may look into it once the other two tiers are finished.  *sigh*  Finished.  I can't wait.