If you’re hoping to make a change to your current landscaping and spiff up your yard, using rocks is a great way to make a big impact with little effort. Whether you utilize smaller river rocks or larger boulders, including rocks in your landscaping ensures a long-lasting investment along with low-cost, easy maintenance (without using any water!).
Depending upon your existing landscaping, or vision for a new design, rocks can be used in a variety of ways:
Use rocks around your pool. Larger rocks around your pool area can add a great decorative aspect to an area that might otherwise look plain. If you’ve ever been in a backyard with a hastily-added pool, you know what we mean. A pool can either add to or detract from the overall appearance of your yard, and adding decorative elements around it can make all the difference. If you don’t have a pool, this idea also applies to koi ponds or other water features like waterfalls.
Use rocks to build a wall. You often see stone retaining walls, which are a beautiful landscaping addition. However, a retaining wall serves a particular purpose. If you don’t actually need a retaining wall, you can still achieve a similar look by using rocks to build a low decorative sitting wall or border around a garden.
Use rocks for walkways. Flat flagstone pieces can be used to making a “stepping stones” type of pathway, or you can use small rocks as a border along other walkways made of decomposed granite or crushed gravel. These are often incorporated with flowers or other plants to complete the look.
Use large boulders to accent areas of your yard. If you have an area of your yard that seems plain and uninteresting, a few large boulders might be just the decorative accent you need. Or, you may choose to highlight an existing ornamental grass or sword shaped plant by placing a rock near it. Having plants trail in front of a rock or pop up behind one is an excellent way to create a memorable garden.
Use rocks in low-water landscaping. If you’ve opted against an expensive and time-consuming grassy lawn, rocks are practically a necessity in low-water landscaping. With careful design work and material selection, rock gardens with low water plantings can be beautiful! This is an especially good option given our current state of drought ((link to drought blog)).
We have extensive experience using rocks in landscaping projects, and we’d be happy to help you spruce up your yard. Please give us a call for a consultation, and we’ll be happy to give you some great ideas to match the needs of your landscaping project.
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