Landscaping stones 50 photo examples

To make a dacha inexpensively prudent owners use the materials at hand. Some lucky: on the territory of the hacienda there are stones of different sizes. How to implement the existing wealth? Use natural potential to make the garden special, unique and memorable.

Varieties of stone: main features

To decorate the area around the farmhouse, designers offer combine four natural elements - earth, water, wood (live plants) and stone. Decorative landscaping stones are selected based on the appearance of the main building.

Garden styles, using stone decor:

• castle;
• Japanese minimalism (rock garden);
• rural;
• classicism;
• antique.

Selected style dictates the use of a particular material. Wild stone varies according to the degree of strength (greater has granite), the dimension, color, ease of processing. Artificial material is the way it wants to see the customer. Special additives increase strength, extend coloristic palette structure create, enhance dirt and moisture repellent properties, regulate weight. In addition, concrete stones can be made with their own hands through the forms for garden paths.

Natural stone - a gift of nature

The variety of natural (natural) stone so large that to find a suitable option, taking into account the required characteristics is easy.

Material	Granite	Basalt	Sandstone	slate	Limestone	Marble	tufa
Characteristics	Solid, blue-red tones	Resistant to adverse atmospheric influences, from dark gray to black and green	High porosity, shades of gray and yellow	Layered, poignant	Gray, changing color depending on impurities	Solid, fine-grained, with a wide range of colors	Tough, resistant to adverse weather resistant, porous, yellow-pink shades
POSSIBILITY OF prima neniya	Paving, rubble stone, rubble	Paving stone, exterior cladding material for sculptures, rubble	Lining material, rubble	Exterior finishing material for roofing of small architectural forms	Material for a sculptural form, rubble	Banding, sculptural forms, mosaics	Wall construction of small architectural forms, lining

Artificial stone: the infinite variability

The use of natural stone as the main material to create a beautiful landscape around the country house is practiced for a long time. However, modern technology offers a decent alternative to the natural material - artificial stone. He is not inferior brother in qualitative characteristics, in addition, having these advantages:

• Widest color gamut;
• Extended size range;
• Significant weight loss;
• The ability to create complex configuration elements (pommel fence posts, alloy columns, balusters, inlays);
• The ability to mimic any texture.

By types of artificial stone are brick, clinker, concrete products on the basis of synthetic options with natural stone chips. The main point in the selection of artificial stone - it is confidence in compliance with all technological conditions for its production.

Size matters

Simple dimensional classification of natural stone is an option where the diversity is divided into categories:

1. 1. Lump - stone formation of a large volume with sharp edges;
   2. Boulder - stone of a large amount of rounded shape;
   3. Cobblestone - rounded formation of medium size (30 cm);
   4. Rubble - the result of the crushing of large stones, has sharp edges, 5-15 cm;
   5. Pebbles - stones flat-round shape of 10 cm;
   6. Crumb - the smallest fraction of crushed natural stone.

The landscape design of your own home, you can use any size. A huge boulder will be the focus of an alpine slide, crushed stone - laying the foundation of a ground floor, cobblestones will go to the construction of the fence. Rounded stones will average edging flower beds, retaining walls on terraced area. Flattened pebble, set on edge, forming a spiral pattern, decorate garden paths. Crushed the smallest fraction of mulch will provide groups of evergreens.

stone powder color should complement harmonious shades of green conifers - gray-tone graphite successfully set off a bluish needles, red-brown - a traditional greens.

Granite: the use in landscape design

Durability, weather resistance, inconspicuous colors, availability - are the main advantages of this material. The disadvantages include the weight and complexity of processing.
Examples of the use of granite:

• Granite block - a great vertical arrangement for sitting areas with sun loungers. On sunny days, the stone is strong enough heated, so by closing the other side of the hedge, owners suburban area will have a zone with a unique microclimate, where you can even sunbath early spring.
• Granite cobbles - almost eternal material. Garden path of paving stones (small cobblestone) will serve even great-grandchildren, and her styling is comparable in simplicity with the game in the children's blocks.
• Granite gravel or screenings - is filling the space between the individual stones rockeries, Alpine hills, emphasizing "stony" man-made compositions.

Sandstone - light, beautiful, smooth

Sandstone allows to obtain the desired thickness of the flat plate with ragged edges, it is widely used to create garden paths, finishing cap at home, they frame the contours of the raised flower beds, creating the necessary height.

If not held together by sandstone slabs with a solution, the inside of the flower beds duplicate thick geotextile to prevent washout of fertile soil through the cracks when watering.

When filling the bed garden path geometrically correct sandstone tiles allow to leave the minimum clearances. It is optimal as a material for the construction of retaining walls: smooth surface facilitates the clutch. Planar faces can fit so well to each other, that is sometimes used method "drywall", excluding the binder mixture. Plates reduced thickness advantageously suitable for decorating vertical surfaces facing small architectural forms.

Limestone (coquina): exploring the pros

Airy, porous, but strong enough stone interspersed with the remains of biological organisms for construction of wall structures of light structures (pergolas, gazebo, arches, ruins psevdoantichnye) facing thorough buildings. To prolong the life recommended to treat water-repellent compositions.

limestone color adds warmth to the atmosphere of country life. Shell rock is the creation of garden furniture (benches, beds), the construction of barrier wall separating the vegetable from the main space. Such a fence looks like a picture from a glossy magazine and the garden has 2 large plus:

• garden plants area warms better, walls protect from the effects of the winds;
• under natural weathering rock enriches ground calcium compounds which are transmitted "tenants vegetable garden".

If there is a boulder in the garden

Huge stone at their summer cottage - an insurmountable problem or opportunity to a successful garden space unique? It all depends on a campaign to address the issue. If you can not fix what's stopping you, make stone design accent.

Clumps of considerable height can be central in the construction stones alpine, less high, stretched horizontally - rockeries base. The space between them is filled with cobbles, voluminous horizontal plane sleep off gravel or pebbles. Detached expressive stone can play the role of a modern conceptual sculpture, acquired for the "big money."

In order not to get into trouble when you have completed the layout, we started to dig a trench under the foundation, and suddenly it turned out that in one of its corners is a huge boulder, make a point test drilling. Making sure there are no obstacles, start ground works.

Decorate a stone country site

Creating a landscape design project, to determine the objects that are to be translated into the stone, you must decide what material is best to use.

Fake diamond	Natural stone
applications	The outer cladding of buildings, fences, garden paths device framing beds, decorative elements (sculptures, flowerpots, stone-scenery)	External facing of buildings, the construction of the IAF, the creation of garden paths, construction of fences, retaining walls, changing the landscape (hills, rockeries, ponds), decorative elements

Artificial stone (concrete with the addition of plasticizers) can be used to create a garden autographic art objects. As used large-forms plants (rhubarb, burdock), and the result obtained by the original drinking bowls for birds, flower beds framing elements. Master cut of his sculpture, mimicking interweaving of tree branches, reproducing the texture of tree bark.

Stone stairs and paths: Highlights

Garden paths, stairs, hills - the objects of landscape design, experiencing the greatest load. The materials to create them are increased strength requirements. When performed qualitatively based facial surface can serve as natural and artificial stone dimension. Using limestone complicated by the necessity of selection of fragments, the calculation takes a long time cobblestone, pebble mosaics arrangement requires artistic taste, great patience. Application of artificial analogues puts the work on the construction of the pedestrian walkway on the stream: all units ideally suited to each other, the amount of waste is reduced to zero, the coating variants - a bunch of. Concrete stone with wood texture creates the illusion of a track made of wooden timbers. Concrete pavers can be ordered in the main color of the house, in order to maintain the unity of the building and surrounding area.

Natural Harmony - an alliance of water and stone

Holders of old stone fountains can only envy. Today, these design objects usually made of molded concrete. But you can make them yourself using various clichés, arrange elements cascade and providing for the installation of light sources to get a glowing waterfall. Creating a stepped fountain made of stone is also easy to implement: using limestone, through which water flows. But the pond device it is advisable to only using natural stone.

Pond - natural body of water, even if it is man-made, so there are few artificial analogue appropriate. pond mirror framed with stone, resistant to moisture: it can be both slab and rounded shapes. The main thing - to make the stone edging as naturally as possible. The upper level of the pond, bio-plateau, where the plants are planted, in addition to the land is filled with large pebbles, small cobblestones to base is firmly kept the roots.

Stone beds: frame the beds according to the style portion

In the design of flower beds is a model country house style. Accordingly, it matched the size, shape and material going to the guard beds:

• Classical style involves the creation of geometric flowerbeds (round, square, rectangular). For them suitable edging granite curbs, or analogues of artificial stone, highlighting the clean lines.
• Rustic style cottages support lush flower gardens with flowing forms, their contours allocate raised above ground level low wall cobblestone, flagstone, artificial bricks "antique".
• Plaque antiquity to add garden fence for a bed formed of limestone blocks weathered surface.

Small, but removed: rubble, pebbles, grit

Most truckers want to rest on suburban areas, spending minimal time on garden work. Therefore, modern garden dictate specific requirements for the arrangement of space: to be done once, not to dig, not weeding. Provide a solution to a difficult problem is capable of crushed rock. When planning a vegetable composition necessary to provide for their mulching stone chips. For this purpose the best suited gravel with a grain size of the lower limit. Using different colors dumping can enhance the visual effect - horizontal surface beds itself becomes an element of garden decoration. Filling with small stones between major boulders rockeries allow creeping plants (sedum, young, saxifrage) freely expand, and display of small pebbles under plants in pots volumetric eliminate appearance weeds. An interesting element of the garden can become a "dry creek" - inlaid pebbles riverbed with forged bridge will add a touch of romanticism in country life.

What we should not forget

The mother's choice, the implementation of their own fantasies - is the prerogative of the host country site. The main thing in the use of stone in landscape design - its relevance, corresponds to the chosen architectural style, as well as the size of holdings. Marble Hercules on 6 acres with a wooden house will cause bewilderment, a miniature alpine garden will look strange ship among the pines. But quality made the object corresponding to the general concept, will be pleasing to the eye every day.