10 Simple Tips to Choose Decorative Stones For Gardening

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Adding the right type of stone will help you achieve an attractive garden. As a gardener, you would love to enhance the beauty of your garden and turn it into your happiest place.

Do you know how many beautiful decorative stones you could add to beautify your garden?

Decorative stones can be scattered all over the garden or in specific patterns. It adds elegance to your green world.  

Choosing the right type of stones from the wide variety available could be challenging. But since you are here, we are going to help you learn about the right kind of stones for your garden.

Broadly, the decorative stones are either whole stones and crushed stones. Whole stones are big slabs that usually have smooth edges, while crushed stones are in the form of broken pieces from different rocks and stones.

1. Stones for styling your garden’s path

Garden styles differ from one part of the word to another. We can see the use of extensive crushed stones in Japanese and Chinese styles of gardening.

If you wish to create a similar style, you must lay the crushed stones to make a small path in your garden.

Laying stones will also create margins for the plants and they grow uniformly. Big rocks are also used in between various plants. They add beauty to the garden as the plants grow around the rocks.

Turning to the English style of gardening, you’ll see how the British choose particular stones for their garden. They always use flagstones for the paths. You can use the flagstone boulders on the planting beds.

The French use small stones that are similar to gravel for the paths. These stones are mostly of the same size, creating a very alluring look for the garden.

You can be as creative as you want when creating the path for your garden. Decide on what best suits your plants. If you have a smaller garden, you could use small stones to build up the path instead of the large ones. 

2. Gravel stones for slopes

Slopes are necessary for any garden. It helps to drain excess water, especially during the rainy season. Your plants shouldn’t be drowned in water. Creating a trench with gravel stones can be very helpful for the plants.

Raising beds is another way of draining excessive water. It’s best to add gravel stones under the topsoil of the raised bed, which should be at least 18 inches high. You can also surround the bed with pebbles or big stones for excellent plant decor.

3. Stones for plant pots

The stones that are placed in plant pots are the most attractive ones. Plants that need to grow in dry soil can be decorated with various kinds of stones.

As these plants need more stones than soil, it will allow you to fill up the pots with smaller stones such as gravel and pebbles. 

These pots will also need proper water drainage. The container needs to have stones at the bottom and soil at the top. This is a great way to drain water. You can also add any natural stones to your containers.

4. Stones to control weeds

Did you know that slate stones work wonderfully to avoid weeds in your garden? Slate stones are an excellent alternative to avoid weeds.

Using chemical remedies might not be very organic for the garden. But luckily, by using pieces of slate stone, you can prevent this problem.

You can add the slate stone pieces that are chipped near the plants. Slatestone comes in gray, blue, and red.

5. Creative pathways for your garden

With the various colored and textured stones available, you can design a creative pathway for your garden.

Crushed pea gravel stone makes a terrific smooth path. You can also use a blended technique to make it more interesting.

Use pieces of slate chips, pea gravel, and small pebbles together to build the path. The different textures of each stone will help you create a unique and beautiful pathway.

If you want a faster and cheaper way to build the path, whole stones could be your answer. You don’t need to cut them out, just add the slabs in the path the way you want.

This requires less labor, since whole stones need no cutting, and you can get them in the sizes you prefer.

Whole stones such as slate, granite, limestone, and flagstones are ideal for this. You can get more creative by blending whole stones with crushed stones too.

6. Sandstones for fire pits

If you wish to add fire pits to your garden, sandstones are the best choice. You can also go for dark rocks that are ideal for the build.  Granite and sandstone are heat-resistant. 

7. Stones for water setup 

Having a small pool amidst your garden could add a sense of calm and elegance. The best stone to use around the water is marble.

You can either surround the water pool with marble or build a marble fountain. The presence of marble will add glory to your garden.

8. Sitting stones 

A sitting arrangement in the garden is a great idea. Building a bench with stones or just laying a big rock with a smooth finish is ideal for sitting.

Marble or granite are great choices. You can also use hard rock after smoothing.

9. Settings up rocks

Rocks and stones add more beauty to your garden. You could just create a setup with the rocks and stones by arranging them amidst your green plants.

You can pile them up, build a tower, or even a rock mountain. Gravel and pebbles are great for decorating. 

10. Gravel and pebbles for surface pathways 

You could use pieces of gravel and pebbles to make a surface pathway. This is different from creating a path specifically for walking as it’s more structured. In contrast, the surface pathway will be laid all over the ground.

Keep in mind that not all stones can be used for this as it could be challenging to walk on some pieces. Gravel and pebbles need to be laid in small pieces; only then will it be ideal for the pathway.

Paddle stones and cobbler stones are a good choice too. But you must be sure that they are smoothened well and are in fine pieces. 

The stones you pick to decorate your garden defines your style. There are numerous ways to decorate your garden and to position the stones.

Today, we have innumerable options for stones, both natural and man-made. Though artificial stones mimic the stone’s natural features, they still add beauty to your garden.

You have easy access to get various types of stones and make your garden livelier than ever.

Artificial stones are easier to set up as their size and shapes are uniform. The texture is similar to the natural types.

It’s terrific how stone could be used as an aesthetic add-on to your garden. You can either imitate traditional styles or create your own.

When you choose to add stones to your garden, it’s going to stay there forever. By nature, rocks and stones are immovable.

So, make these long-time investments worthwhile by being thoughtful and creative.

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