A lady wants a 2' high stone retaining wall for aesthetics and I am not sure if a footer would be necessary. If it is should it be below the frost line?
Yes there should be a footer if you are doing a mortared wall. It should probably be dug to a depth of two feet to get below the frost line.
If you do a dry-stack stone wall, then, no deep footer required.
Frost line in MD is 32" . Hey Busy Bee - I too am in Hampstead. Small world huh. What is the name of your co ? Maybe we could team up on some big projects.