Today's attachment of people to everything beautiful pushes them to decorate their garden plots. Moreover, regardless of whether they are located near a luxurious country cottage or a small country house. In addition, lately, any design idea tends to emphasized minimalism, or at least to simple brevity. For this reason, from the point of view of application, decorative gabions have experienced a real boom lately.
Gabions are a fairly budgetary way to decorate the landscape compared to many other options.
The main qualities of gabions in landscape design
Content
- The main qualities of gabions in landscape design
- Varieties of gabions and their scope
- Interesting ideas for the use of gabions in landscape design
- Video: Assembling an outdoor oven from gabions with your own hands
- Photos of examples of the original design of decorative gabions
No matter how strange it may seem, the history of the origin of gabions is associated with the French emperor Napoleon. Structures of this kind were used at this historical stage in order to protect military weapons and trenches. Later, practice has shown that by creating such a mesh structure, it is possible to effectively strengthen the slope, protecting it from landslides or loss of shape. And only not so long ago, landscape designers and architects began to use gabions to create original walls on a site or in a public space.
Nowadays, these mesh containers have become an expressive means for creating large and small architectural forms.
Today, gabion is understood as a frame structure made of mesh, inside which stones of different shapes, colors and textures are laid. They can be compact or large, functional or purely decorative. It all depends on the goal that the designer pursues, creating flower beds from gabions or making them elements of garden furniture, harmoniously fitting them into the landscape of the site.
Structurally, the gabion is a cellular container filled with natural stone
Gabions in the country have the following advantages:
- Due to their strength, they are able to stand for a long period of time without changing their basic qualities and without losing their appearance. This makes them very convenient from the point of view of operation on the local landscape. Since having created such a structure once, in the future you can forget about updating it for a long time.
- Hence the durability. It is necessary to clearly understand that the mesh and stone filling are quite wear-resistant materials.
- Resistance to humid climates is a valuable parameter, especially in the area where the erosion zone is located.
- The welded mesh construction provides flexibility. And this is very necessary in the case when there is intense soil erosion. In this case, there is no negative impact on the base of the gabion support.
- The modern trend towards eco-orientation completely allows the use of gabions, which consist exclusively of natural materials.
- Despite the fact that they seem to be rather monolithic and deaf, the stone layers are very efficient at letting in air.
- Due to the fact that a sufficiently catchy texture is formed, such a product has a high aesthetic value. It is always appropriate and will make the garden interesting and unique.
- Well, what, perhaps, is the most important and interesting thing, this is the moment when, sooner or later, the supporting mesh will disintegrate. The fact is that if the gabion is installed correctly and it was performed by a specialist with knowledge of the matter, then after the metal structure crumbles, the masonry remains standing. The fact is that properly laid out rocky rocks can be compressed over time. Therefore, they remain standing further.
Naturally, considering the positive aspects, one should not expect that they are devoid of disadvantages. These are also available and include:
- The complexity of the installation, which is especially pronounced in relation to large-sized products.
- The use of poor quality mesh can lead to rapid rusting, especially when exposed to cold and moisture. Therefore, if you want it to serve for a very long time and not lose its attractive appearance, you should use high-quality metal bases.
In order for the gabion to stand firmly, it is better to attract specialists who will do all the work correctly.
For the manufacture of gabions, simple and affordable materials are used.
Subject to building codes, such structures do not require maintenance and restoration.
Varieties of gabions and their scope
But, based on their historical development, they still carry 2 functions:
- Decorative.
- Firming.
As for the form, the most diverse gabions in landscape design can be used. Meet here:
- Spherical.
- Cylindrical.
- Ellipsoidal.
- Conical.
- Flat.
- Trapezoidal.
Any shape can be made from a flexible wire base
Moreover, the shape does not affect the size in any way. Dimensions depend on those needs and goals that are needed at the summer cottage.
In addition, the classification can be carried out depending on the content that will fill the mesh base:
- Large stones.
- Small to medium-sized pebbles.
- Wooden shanks - looks very impressive and organic, especially when creating elements of garden furniture.
- Glass blocks and bulky shards. They look very impressive if done correctly.
Stones of various sizes - classic gabion filling
In addition to stones, you can use saw cuts, logs or wood trimmings for filling.
And of course, the color scheme can be the most unimaginable from beige-sandy to almost black. Some designers prefer to paint over specific areas in order to achieve a specific coloristic goal.
A variety of ceramic elements will fit to fill the gabion
It will look interesting gabions interspersed with lumpy glass, especially if you install decorative lighting inside
Interesting ideas for the use of gabions in landscape design
Here's how you can use gabions to create unique landscaping:
- Form a fence. Moreover, this can be done as a solid wall of stones, or only support posts for wooden or metal sections.
The most durable will be a fence with a stainless steel frame
- Base for garden furniture. In this case, massive bases are made from gabions, and wooden boards are laid on top of them. They will serve directly as seats.
A bench based on gabions will serve for decades, requiring only periodic renewal of the wooden part of the product
- A combination of a fence and a flower bed. This option is very original and, moreover, the most functional. In this case, part of the gabion is covered with stones, while the other is filled with soil. So that he does not wake up through, special reinforcements are made on the end sides. The plane is left uncovered from above. Plants are planted, which, growing, form an attractive flower bed on top of the gabion. At the same time, from what plants will be used, there is a completely different effect.
Such a fence is suitable both for the outer perimeter of the site and for the internal zoning of the territory.
Do not think that this is the only limitation of the use of such original elements. They fit perfectly into the exteriors and interiors of buildings and premises. They decorate the facades of low-rise buildings, make columns or sheathe part of the wall. The effect is simply indescribable. In addition to the fact that in this way you can decorate the wall, it is also strengthened in this way. Therefore, this moment must be taken into account where it is necessary to strengthen the retaining wall. But at the same time, it is very important to perform well-performed work and correctly performed preliminary calculations.
The facade made of gabions does not need cosmetic repairs - it does not need to be painted and putty
The photo shows an example of finishing with mesh structures of the basement of a residential building
Also, the stone finish of the basement is performed in this way. In this case, if you use similar techniques in the garden, you can achieve the perfect design solution and the complete fusion of the entire space into a single harmonious whole.
Lining the bottom and side walls of artificial reservoirs is an ideal place to use the gabion and achieve naturalness and naturalness.
Gabions are great for building a backing wall for a garden pond or pool
You can also use them as pots. In this case, they are cubic in shape. A hole is made inside, in which you can put a pot or immediately fill in the soil and then plant the plants.
A container of gabions with flowers is a great idea for decorating a garden plot
If you wish, you can make a complex structure in the form of some kind of landscape decoration. In this case, it will be necessary to install not a simple metering grid, but to make a welded complex structure. These can be figures of animals or fairy-tale heroes.
Garden arch made of gabions with stone filling
The fountains, the base of which are made of gabion, look very original.
A fountain made of gabions will become a striking element of the landscape of the garden plot
Great for grilling.
Using gabions, you can make a grill, barbecue or barbecue
Naturally, these are not all options. And how you can use them, you can find out by looking at the photo gabions in the country.
The gabion border will serve as a worthy decoration of the front part of the site
Small gabions are great as beautiful architectural objects
If you are tormented by doubts about how to still use such a structure on your site, it is necessary, before proceeding with its manufacture, to think over all possible options. Only in this case, you can get the perfect result, which will then delight you for many years. They will be able to help make the right choice of how to use gabions in landscape design photos, which are presented in a wide variety below. Here, not only elegant plots of country cottages have been specially selected, but also small backyard meters in ordinary dachas.
Combined gabion fence on a solid frame
Gabion fence with wooden bench
Retaining wall made of gabions in an area with relief
Even a small area is not a reason to deny yourself an attractive plot that will delight and decorate.
Video: Assembling an outdoor oven from gabions with your own hands
Photos of examples of the original design of decorative gabions
