Eco-friendly landscaping is an increasingly popular gardening practice. It reduces maintenance with less lawn to care for and minimizes the negative impact on the environment. A good eco-friendly material that compliments every landscape is stone.
Adding stone into your landscape doesn’t mean you have to create a desert-style landscape or completely replace your grass with hardscaping. Here are a few tips and ideas to create a beautiful, eco-friendly landscape that incorporates stone:
- Limit the space dedicated to natural grass lawns or avoid a conventional lawn completely by adding low maintenance plants mixed with pathways. With less lawn, you reduce the need for watering and thus decrease the amount of stormwater runoff. In addition, plantings help to create wildlife habitats while the pathways provide access to enjoy it.
- Install stone pavers for sidewalks, driveways, and patios as an alternative to asphalt or cement. Flagstone pavers are a low maintenance, natural, and durable option that is both decorative and functional. When using stone in your landscape, you are using a low-impact, low-input material. It is a great environmental alternative to concrete (cement) or asphalt, which has petroleum toxins.
- Add a side path of stepping stones or separate pavers with mulch or plants along a pathway. This adds charm and a rustic look to your space while helping the rainwater to drain naturally back into the ground.
- Add a drywall stone or cobblestone wall to help maintain a slope. The wall will help control erosion and will look lovely with low maintenance plants such as azaleas or daylilies growing along the slope.
- Create a stone edging or border along plant beds. Layering stone along an edge can be visually appeal. It also decreases maintenance because it provides a natural barrier for grasses while helping to control invasive plants.
- Take up space with attractive stone features, such as rock gardens, fountains, benches, and a good sized patio. Stone features help to reduce the surface area that requires watering, decrease your garden’s maintenance requirements, and reduce the need to buy landscaping products. Stone water features or statues interspersed in your garden beds also help to take up space while adding beauty to your garden.
If you would like more tips and ideas about how to create an eco-friendly landscape using stone, contact Fieldstone Center at 770-385-7708. We can help you select the right stone products for a good design in your eco-friendly landscape.