Rock on: The versatility of stones in the landscape

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Updated Oct 20, 2023

stones in lanscapeStone has proven to be a tried and true hardscaping material to use in your customer’s landscape, as it works well in a multitude of styles and designs.

Whether it’s used in the form of gravel to adorn a garden bed or strategically set as a walkway between paths, stone serves as an affordable and easy-to-install element, but it’s important to know which form of stone fits properly in each area of the landscape.

Take a look at the numerous ways stone can be used throughout your customer’s landscape, whether the area is large, medium, or small.

Ground covers

For customers wanting to take advantage of low-maintenance garden options, replacing a lawn or border with stone can serve as an eye-catching focal point in the landscape, as well as being low in cost and easy to install.

Cobbles and pebbles can be used in both traditional and contemporary gardens to add texture and contrast against smooth concrete pathways. The stones also provide permeable mulch when it comes to planting.

Dry creek beds and mulch

If your customers have small bridges in their yard or other raised areas, filling in a dry creek bed with stones of varying sizes can create a stylish look that allows them to fill the space with something other than water.

Adding plants alongside the stones can not only help soften the expanse of the stones but also can create a more natural look for the space. Mixing in cobbles and pebbles can help create a realistic-looking dry creek bed, whether it’s in a more traditional or contemporary garden.

Using stones as inorganic mulch can also prove beneficial, as plants are able to grow through pebbles and rocks.

Mixed paving, walls, and pathways

Having the ability to mix and match the various sizes and colors of stone can prove beneficial when starting to incorporate mixed paving projects. Having more than one option within the same design offers color, size, and texture contrasts and adds a pop of pizazz to an area.

When creating walls, particularly gabion walls, cobbles, and pebbles are often used as infill because they are easy to handle and set, and once they come together in their wire cages, they are aesthetically pleasing.

If your customers want to get a little more creative and let their artsy side shine, talk to them about their ideas on creating a decorative stone pathway. There’s no limit to the shapes, colors, and sizes of stones that can be incorporated into a pathway, and if your customers have more than one idea they like, they have the chance to have multiple different designs all throughout their landscape. 

Water and fire features

If you really want to show off stones in an area, try incorporating them into a water feature. Add together the glow of the sun mixed with the natural shine water adds to stone and your customers will have water features that will be breathtaking. 

Bringing in stones as a border or accent piece in small ponds or other water features can also add an extra pop of color and more texture to the site. Whether it’s a basin with water flowing out or a rectangular raised pool, adding in stones will create dimension and give your water feature a fuller look.

Along those same lines, if your customers have fire pits in the yard, adding smaller stones around the pit and along the walkway leading to it can make the space reminiscent of time spent in the great outdoors camping by the fire.

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