Stone and rocks are integral to any landscape and garden design effort. When selected appropriately, they enhance and improve the style, appearance and functionality of your outdoor spaces—but it can be daunting to decide what the best option is!
You can use landscaping stones in a whole host of different techniques and modalities like creek beds, pathways, decks, gazebos, edging, steps and decorative accents. However, not all landscape stones make sense in all projects. We hope this breakdown helps you decide how to pick suitable stones for your particular project.
If you’ve ever considered installing a gravel pathway in your yard, say, to connect your gardens, then you have likely faced the decision between crushed gravel or pea gravel; but what’s the difference?
Crushed gravel is as it sounds—it is literally crushed stone, so it does not have much consistency in the shape of each piece of stone, and it tends to be a bit rough around the edges.
Pea gravel has rounded, smooth sides that are naturally weathered and about the size of a pea. It is softer to the touch and naturally weathered.
Contractors often use crushed gravel for road shoulders, backfill and pipe bedding projects. It is pretty easy to tamp down, so it is an excellent stone choice for projects like gravel driveways.
However, if you are creating a gravel pathway that you anticipate walking on with bare feet, you may want to opt for pea gravel instead. Pea gravel works excellent for projects with high foot traffic like walkways, patios or playgrounds.
Expert Tip: Due to its size, small gravel needs edging; otherwise, it will move around and scatter into your lawn or garden.
Medium landscape stones tend to be about 1-2″ in size and come in a few different varieties, including crushed stone, river rock, and lava rock.
Crushed landscape stone is just like crushed gravel but bigger, while river rock is more similar to pea gravel with soft edges. River rock comes in a wider variety of colors than crushed landscape stone.
Lava rock is another medium-sized landscape stone option derived from old volcanoes—cool, right? It is pretty rough, relatively lightweight, and looks like it came from a volcano! Its color ranges from gray to black to a sort of reddish-brown.
Medium-sized landscape rocks are great for lining garden pathways, and you can even use them as an alternative to mulch in garden beds.
River rocks look beautiful to accent landscape features like fences and boulders. They also work wonderfully in drainage areas like creek beds or basins around a fountain. Because they are larger than gravel, they won’t spread or move around, so they are a little easier to maintain.
These rocks are not recommended for places where there will be foot traffic, as it may be dangerous to walk on – you don’t want to twist an ankle!
Expert Tip: When laying any medium-sized rock, be sure to place landscape fabric down first as it can be a pain to weed between them. It is also important to note that pushing a lawnmower or dragging garbage bins on wheels through medium-sized landscape stones can be challenging.
Large stones are primarily boulders and flagstones. Boulders are naturally weathered, huge rocks, while flagstone is a substantially sized, flat piece of natural stone.
You can use boulders for carefully curated decorative pieces that accent other types of landscape stones and softscaping in a landscape design. You can use them as a bench, as part of a retaining wall or other structural projects, or as a centerpiece all on their own!
On the other hand, you can use pieces of flagstone as stepping stones in a walkway, pool deck, patio, or even as a border to a water feature.
Expert Tip: When utilizing large landscape stones like boulders and flagstone, make sure you have a plan! Due to their sheer size, they are challenging to move, so you want to be reasonably sure of their placement. They look best when placed ‘naturally,’ so try to avoid using a bunch of boulders in a straight line. If you do have several large rocks or boulders, try to select a variety of shapes and colors.
If you’re looking for beautiful landscape stones in Alexandria, Belle Haven, or Lothian, be sure to stop by Greenstreet Gardens. Our friendly staff will be more than happy to choose the perfect rocks for your landscape. Our in-house landscaping service can also do all of the heavy lifting and design work!
At Greenstreet Gardens, we take pride in the fact that our number one goal is to make our customers successful.
Equipped with a diverse wealth of information and a knowledgeable staff, we are confident that we are able to provide all of the right tools and plant material necessary to help make your gardening ideas become reality.
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