Many homeowners are always focused on how to make their home surroundings a sweet and captivating sight. Why does it matter? A well designed landscape not only increases the beauty and architectural features of a house, but also raises the value of the house.
It is a popular notion that designing the surroundings of your home can be very expensive but do you know that you can make your home and its surroundings look good without breaking the bank?Natural stones, a gift from nature, have proven to be priceless tools to make landscapes look good.
Apart from choosing to use natural stones for yourfront yard landscape ideas, where to use them and how to use them also matters. This article discusses tenfront yard landscaping ideas with pavers.You can decide to usenatural stone paversfor your porch, gazebo, garden steps, pathways, walkways, and more. Below are features of your landscape thatnatural stone paverscan transform.
10 Amazing Landscape Ideas Using Natural Stones
1. Plant flowers and trees and decorate with stones
If you have a big front yard and are wondering where to getbig front yard landscaping ideas, planting different trees and flowers around your surroundings can turn your large yard, outdoor space or landscape into a beautiful masterpiece, adding color, texture, and depth.
Flowers like Becky Shasta Daisy, Viette’s Little Suzy Black Eyed Susan, Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea, Ruby Spice Summersweet, Pee Gee Hydrangea, Luna Rose Hardy Hibiscus, Plum Crazy Hardy Hibiscus, English Rose, Dinner Plate Dahlia and many more can do the magic.
The flowers can be planted directly on the soil and then you can spread small sized natural stones around it. You can also choose to put the flowers into a pot or container, pour small sized stones into it and place them in strategic locations in your surroundings.
Trees are also options forbig front yard landscaping ideas. For trees you can plant Saucer Magnolia, Sugar Maple, Silver Marble, Maidenhair Trees, Dwarf Alberta Spruce Trees, Nellie R. Stevens Holly, Eastern Redbud, Japanese Tree Lilac, Crabapples (Red Jewel, Royal Raindrops, Prairiefire), ornamental pears etc and add natural stones around their roots.
2. Make walkways withnatural stone pavers
Your walkways are clear paths along your yard that can be useful throughout all weather conditions. These paths can run through your garden, front door,backyard, swimming area and around the house in general.
They also provide a way for members of the house and guests to walk around without crushing any plant or flower. However, you can make them become more than just a path. By using natural stone pavers for your walkways, you can add a rustic charm that will work not only for a cottage garden design but also for any natural landscape design.
If your home falls in the suburban category, using alandscape paverlike a flagstone for your walkways will add an extraordinary touch to your design. Just thinking about natural paver walkways alone can bring into mind visions of enchanting gardens and cute cottages.
Natural stone pavers are a good choice because of their durability and strength. When installed, they can be placed tightly together to give off a contemporary, manicured look, or installed with space in between where natural elements like grass can grow to give off a more rustic appearance.
A simple method to installlandscape paversespecially for people that are not professionally trained is to simply lay the stones onto a bed of sand, which helps the stones stay stable and makes it easy to get everything level.
Lastly, you can fill the spaces between the stones with sand or gravel or plants that can tolerate foot traffic. The second method that requires stone masonry training is done with a concrete foundation. Walkways made with this method last longer than the former.
3. Design Natural Stone Driveways
Your driveway is the first thing you and your guests interact with when you arrive at your house.
They start grading your home from the driveway, therefore you need to use the right material that can both beautify and make your driveway sturdy enough to bear the load on vehicles, whether moving or stationary.
Since driveways are exposed to the heavyweight of your vehicle, different weather conditions and oil leaks on a daily basis, the importance of choosing a suitable material that is extra durable and is properly treated for the outdoors cannot be over emphasized.
By usinglandscape pavers, you offer your driveways different benefits. For one thing, it gets a natural, organic and modernized look. They are very strong and easy to maintain.
Other materials like concrete or asphalt can crack, break or need a replacement within 20 years, which is different from natural stone pavers, especially stones like granite cobbles and limestone pavers that can last for millions of years, given that they were formed by extreme heat and pressure
On rare occasions when a paver experiences wear and tear, you can easily replace that particular paver that is bad instead of having to worry about the expenses and stress of changing the entire driveway.
There are different types of natural stones to choose from, Travertine, Limestone, Granite, Sandstone, Quartzite etc. You can also find these stones in different colors that can suit both your taste and complement the color of your surroundings.
4. Stone benches
Stone benches serve the same purpose as a couch or chair. However, a stone bench works better outdoors since it will be exposed to different weather conditions. They are used both in the home surroundings or in a commercial park.
Including stone benches in your landscape provides both elegance and a place to sit and relax. You can also add stone treads for a more graceful look.
5. Garden Stepping stones
While it is true that walkways and paths prevent both members of the home and guests from crushing any plant or flower,garden stepping stonesserve that function and also guide steps in an intuitive and interesting manner.
Setting up gardenstepping stonesgives you the pleasure of creating beautiful artwork with different shapes and sizes of stones to give off a beautiful, whimsical, hard and cottage look. Moreover, it offers high gripping even on rainy days.
6. Gravel path
Apart from using landscape pavers to create paths, some people can choose to go with gravel paths. While choosing natural stones for your gravel paths, make sure to use colors that complement your surroundings to highlight your area and the right-sized gravel for comfort when walking.
Gravels come in different types, sizes and colors. Choose a type that compacts well. The different sizes range from 3/4 inches down to a powder. The smaller ones are 3/8 inches in size and larger ones are 3/4 inches and they stay put better during rainstorms.
To avoid pain resulting from stones sticking under your foot, use smaller or finer gravel. Choose pebbles that are smooth in texture and for size, use gravel that is 3/8 inches in size for the most comfortable walking surface.
While setting up a gravel path, add a stone border to complement the path and also contain the gravel. For a more beautiful appearance, choose pebbles with a variety of colors.
The gravel path can last for a very long time if properly maintained. You can maintain it by raking it and pulling weeds on a monthly basis. Every few years, top-dress it with a few buckets of new gravel.
To avoid heavy rainfall washing off the gravel away, avoid making a gravel path on a sloppy or steep landscape and if you want to add steps to the gravel path, you can use timbers or stone.
7. Drainage Systems
Natural stones are a good choice for decorating drains or grates and retaining drainage. For a better flow of water, small stones and gravel are a better option than the water flowing through soil.
For the rooftop drainage system, natural stones can be used to create natural waterways to direct runoff away from the walls of your building, garden, and toward drier spots, or even into more suitable places like a lake or stream.
Apart from rooftop drainage, pebbles can prevent soil erosion if you pour them under or around house drain pipes.
8. Garden retaining walls
Gardening is more than just a hobby, it can also serve as a therapeutic experience, therefore privacy should be considered. Constructing a garden retaining wall can offer both privacy and exterior decor.
Natural stones are a good choice for garden walls because they can create a uniform look with your garden and highlight your landscaping elements. They are also easy to construct, and are strong and durable.
A retaining wall also prevents the soil and mulch from washing out of the garden. A garden wall should not be too small or too tall.
9. Stone Fireplaces
A fireplace, like a patio, is an area to enjoy quality time with family and friends and also entertain guests. A fireplace provides warmth, especially during winter or on crisp autumn evenings. You can create a beautiful fireplace with natural stones.
Using natural stones can give you an appealing, natural, strong and beautiful appearance as well as increasing your home value with the variety of colors, sizes, patterns and shapes they offer. Since most of them are durable, with proper installation and maintenance, your fireplace can last for a very long time.
10. Gazebo and patios
Whether you’re looking forfront yard landscape ideasor particularlyfront yard patio ideas, you can try natural stones. Bothsmall front yard patiosand big ones are a place for relaxation, a place to spend time with the family, or entertain guests.
Natural stones can help you create a beautifulpatio space. Their versatility in designs, shapes, color and sizes can do the magic and give you a beautiful space for barbecuing or any outdoor gathering according to your taste.
In addition, due to the durability of most natural stones, they are suitable options forfront yard patio ideaseither for asmall front yard patioor a big one since they can last for a very long time.
