In Central European gardens there is rarely a climate that offers tropical plants an ideal habitat, with a few exceptions. If the garden is to be designed to be easy to care for for health reasons or for reasons of lack of time, stones are usually used.
Stones for the home garden
When thinking about designing their garden with stones, many a garden owner may initially have an inner picture of a stone desert in front of their eyes. But there are not only countless variants of how you can design your garden with stones, there are also many different types of stone. So everyone can design according to their wishes and bring in their individual taste.
Create stone paths in the garden
Depending on the nature of the property, its location and the use Garden paths designed to get dry feet into the farthest corner of the garden. A garden path can be concreted, which is certainly very useful and will be done quickly. The garden path can also be designed individually, there are almost endless varieties. These materials are available for this purpose:
- Pebbles of different sizes
- Wood chips or
- Wooden planks
- Stone slabs
- Natural stone slabs
The shape of the path does not necessarily have to be straight, a slight curve looks more natural and offers a variety of options for planting on the side. It doesn't have to be
a curb is mandatory, especially not if there is lawn growing to the side of the path. Naturalness can be found more and more in the garden, but a certain ease of care is also more and more in the foreground. If a stone path is planned in the garden with loose gravel, the subsurface should also be worked on as in the following part of the text for the garden area. Excavated soil and fleece are also required for a loose stone garden path to prevent weed growth.What is a gravel garden?
If not just a path with stones, but parts of the garden are to be designed with them, there are also a variety of suggestions. Now it comes down to a few important points, such as the laying of slabs or the design of individual groups of stones. A garden design with stones is usually considered to make the garden easier to care for, but the naturalness should still be preserved. Here are some key points to keep in mind:
- It is not enough to simply dump a load of gravel or stones into the garden, the subsurface must be prepared.
- To do this, the topsoil is removed from the intended area up to a depth of 30 cm.
- This excavated soil is covered with gravel in a coarse grain size (e. B. 16-32 mm diameter) mixed.
- This mixture is then returned to the surface and covered with a plastic fleece.
- Wherever plants are to be used, the fleece is cut in a cross shape.
- When the plants have been planted, a 5 cm thick layer of gravel or fine chippings is placed on top of the fleece layer to cover it.
- Above all, this layer ensures that weed growth is prevented.
Tip: White gravel is highly reflective in summer, darker gravel stores heat and promotes growth.
Maintain and plant gravel gardens
Of course a must Gravel garden you don't have to get extra paths again, the open spaces between the plants can be walked unhindered. You can easily get to the plants, which of course also need your attention and care, just like in a "normal" garden. Even if the water requirement of the plants is considerably lower than usual, it is important to control the humidity and the application of fertilizer. However, it should be noted that fertilization should not be carried out at all when it is hot.
Tip: Nevertheless, dryness can occur under the fleece in the heat.
For a rock garden, typical plants are generally selected, which are available under the term “prairie plants”. These beauties also come into their own between the stones:
- Blue rod
- yarrow
- Sun bride
- Buddleia
- Torch lily
- Bladder spar
- Grasses
When a garden is to be redesigned, a lawn is often foregone. Lawns mean mowing work that has to be done for reasons of time, age or age. Health reasons cannot always be carried out. A gravel garden or parts of the garden that are designed with stones are easier to maintain. A small artificial stream or a small ornamental pond for goldfish can even be integrated. A Garden with stones can seem very lively, it is important that everything is laid out in a relaxed and natural way.
Integrate boulders in the garden
When a beautifully grown garden is a new bed, the front yard a new picture or interesting If points are to be inserted in the garden, the so-called "boulders" can also be used come. These are large stones that are often used in the
Be placed in the garden. These are particularly beautiful specimens that can even come from all parts of the world. If boulders are less massive, they can also be used to demarcate paths, driveways or on goal posts. These special stones can also border the garden pond or decorate the edge zones. As you can see, the design of the garden with stones is not at all monotonous and boring, it only depends on your own creativity.Interesting facts about stones in the garden
Gravel is used at the Garden design Often used as a floor covering as it has a number of advantages. Its structure combines hard stone or concrete floors with soft grass surfaces in a harmonious way. When designing the garden, it can serve as a transition between the two areas. Sand areas are also ideal as a boundary or for a smooth transition between the different garden areas. Gravel is weatherproof, practical and very decorative when planted.
- To create a gravel surface, the soil is dug about 8 cm deep, a little more for clay and sand and a little less for rock.
- Then the unwashed gravel or crushed stone is spread 6 cm high on the intended area.
- The gravel surface can be framed and fastened by bricks or stones.
- Round pea gravel is preferably used as the top layer; it is rounded and compacted by the water.
- Well-compacted gravel is a prime surface covering and decorative background for plants with distinct colors and shapes.
- The annual orange gold poppy sows itself in the gravel and harmonizes very well with golden feverfew.
- For a lush planting of the pebble stone surfaces, small recesses are created, which are filled with fertile soil.
Nasturtiums, pansies, horned violets, the shrub or rock rose, many herbs and gray-leaved plants thrive here optimally. In order to give the garden an additional magic, decorative elements made of stone are integrated into the garden. Sculptures made of stone are the optical counterbalance to a particularly decorative plant or a beautiful view. Placed in the right place, they give every garden an extraordinary and special style.
