Stone Landscaping

Stone landscaping is an incredible cost saver for people who want their property to look good with as little maintenance as possible. Stone is perhaps the most durable substance one can decorate a landscape with, and it can be used with almost infinite variety as either a primary element or secondary element to a specific structure, garden style, or outdoor design. It also works incredibly well with all forms of vegetation, because in Nature stone and plants are found side by side, as if they belong together.

One very popular form of stone used in landscaping is gravel. Gravel can be used to create beds for vegetation, pathways to walk one, and even special ornamentation. For example, gravel pathways are used to form the pathways that create complex patterns in parterre gardens. It is also used extensively around sculpture and fountains. Gravel consisting of darker rocks can be used to frame a statue made from lighter materials. Light colored stones can be mixed with darker colored stones to create a pattern along the ground that surrounds and accents a fountain. When laid out over areas that are prone to collect water, gravel also functions as one of the best drainage systems one can use—at a fraction of the cost of more expensive conduit work.
Of course, as useful as stone is to highlighting distinguishing features on a landscape, there is much more than you can do with than simply enhance another feature. Many garden designs rely heavily upon stone landscaping for definition and essence. Zen gardens, for example, rely upon sand and stones to represent complex ideas and relationships. The sand represents the energetic nature of reality, and the stones the material forms of reality. By raking designs in the sand, and by rearranging the stones in the sand, the Zen gardener can create an infinite variety of combinations that represent the states of consciousness, points of view, and objects found in Nature.

Perhaps the most vital role that stone plays in outdoor landscaping is as a building material for outdoor structures. Patios made from stone are highly decorative and blend equally well with indigenous plant species as well as garden motifs that are carefully cultivated along more formal lines of designs. Stone can also be used as a substitute for brick to turn what is otherwise a very common structure into an extraordinary feature of the landscape. Outdoor fireplaces can be built entirely of stone in such a way as to appear as part of the land itself. Even outdoor rooms can be built mostly of stone so as to create a feeling that Nature itself has become both a new form of living space and a special entertainment space. Natural swimming pools can be built using stone for coping and to create diving areas.

There really is no limit on what landscaping with stone can offer the homeowner looking to emphasize a unity of architecture and Nature.