There are so many ways to use stone in your landscaping design that we can’t even begin to cover it all in this short article! Stone is magical – it provides so much structure, design, layers, and livelihood to a garden. It is sure to make your yard or garden look exponentially more professional, functional, and beautiful.
Because there are so many ways to use stone in your landscaping design, it’s important to explore the wealth of options available to you. We’ll cover some of the ways you can use stone below, but it is also worth looking through magazines and design websites to begin doing some dreaming. There are so many possibilities for using stone for landscaping that it is difficult to work through all the options. Below, we’ll summarize some of the possibilities for you to get you started on your design journey.
Connect With the Landscape
Each yard has at least one beautiful element of the landscape or ecosystem that you can emphasize. In some yards, this will be the stunning flowers and blooms. In others, it is the patio that you host friends and families at for dinner. Others have beautiful trees, elevation, or shady nooks. All of these elements can be emphasized using stone. Stone creates clear borders and draws the eye towards these elements, which can make your garden or yard look even more beautiful or eye-catching. In short, you can show off the best elements of your yard, and downplay the things about your garden that you don’t like quite as much.
At JK Enterprise, we have so many ideas for using stone to connect with the landscape. You can create a stone circle around the base of an old or beautiful tree in your yard. You can highlight your raised beds and give your flowers and vegetables a safe place to grow. You can also use stone to turn a hill into a tiered garden. The possibilities are truly endless!
Create Cozy Enclosures, Walkways, and Walls
Stone can transform a yard from a giant, empty room, into a home: a place to live in, to grow in, to make memories in! Stone can create separate spaces in a yard that can become cozy places for living and playing. One of the best places to use stone and other hardscape materials is to pave or otherwise create cozy little nooks that contain a bench or a bistro table. You could just leave these to grass, but then they become a real pain to maintain, what with all those tight corners.
A garden without a place to sit might as well be a hallway — there’s no reason to linger. Use stone to create inviting places to sit and spend time in the garden, to sit together with friends, or to use for a variety of other activities: yoga, sports, or a play area for children.
Solve Drainage Problems
One of the perennial issues in Virginia is managing the sheer volume of rain. Gutters and downspouts are an important start, but many a gardener has been dismayed to see a flower bed nearly drowned after a week of rainy weather, or a trench gouged out by a torrent. Many types of stone, from pea gravel right up to river stones, can be used to channel water, without becoming soggy and unattractive doing so. You can even dig a deep pit to fill with stones that will function as a catchment and slowly release moisture into your yard on hot days. Not only will this use of stone look professional, it will help your garden maintain its health and look professional and lively as a result.
One of our favorite ideas is to create a “dry creek bed.” Using stones of different sizes, over weed-proof underlayment, use the lay of your land to create a “stream” leading somewhere safe. This feature is equally attractive dry as it is wet, and your yard will never again suffer from lack of drainage.
Create Borders
In a well-landscaped garden or yard, borders are important. First, they create strong visual borders and lines that separate spaces and make yards look well-quaffed and clearly delineated. Beyond their visual appeal, however, they are important elements of restrain natural elements of your garden.
Stones as borders can contain soil that can easily erode or spill into other parts of your garden. Especially in yards that slope one direction or another, rocks are important to containing soil and preventing it from washing downwards. In a sloping area, they can also create an important tiered look that looks elegant and extremely professional.
Stones can also contain plants that may tend to expand or take over a garden. Stones can create important barriers between grassy and floral areas of a garden. They can contain these plants and create clear lines between them, which is also important for ensuring their health and well-being. You don’t want larger or more invasive plants taking over the safe, quiet habitats of more delicate plants.
Mix Mediums
You wouldn’t plant all your flowers in one color, would you? So why would you feel constrained to one type of stone? Mixing types or stone, or even mixing in gravel or concrete, is a great way to add interest in a subtle and intriguing way. You can experiment with patterns, textures, or both! Hardscape is an enduring investment, so you won’t want to feel bored with it after a few years. Mixing mediums is also a good way to make your landscaping look more professional and unique. If you don’t have many elements in your garden, or don’t have time to maintain a perfectly manicured garden, stone can be a great substitute, creating a variety of visual elements that don’t require constant attention and maintenance.
Let’s Get Started!
Are you ready to get started? Be sure to stop by JK Enterprises for a catalog or two to prime the pump of your imagination. And when the time comes, we’ll be more than happy to help make your dream a reality and to bring our years of experience to the table.
