Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

Landscaping Accessories: Rocks And Stones

Rocks can be a great material to use in your landscaping project. They can also be a very useful accessory for that designer-touch finishing touch!

Using Rocks In A Landscaping Project
If you look around you will see that a lot of gardens the world over follow the same basic pattern: a lawn, some trees and flowerbeds around the house. It doesn't have to be that way and you can come up with a more individual design for your backyard by creating a stylish and beautiful effect with rocks.

Smarten Up Your Garden
The fist thing to consider when looking at ways to spice up your design scheme is to examine your lawn. If you do not get much use out of it, then it's probably not necessary to keep it: you can remove it and prepare the soil for more visually stimulating plants with simple tools. When you start digging to prepare for planting make sure you remove any stones that would be in the way, and take this opportunity to add a watering system.

The Ideal Footpath
It is always worth considering adding a proper path for visitors coming to your house so they do not have to use the driveway or walk through the lawn. If you ensure it is kept neat you will avoid dragging muck into the house. It is worth considering using stone paving or rocks to achieve this: just make sure that all the stones you use are standing firm on the ground and do not move about when stepped on. You can easily create more visual interest by adding turns and curves to the pathway.

Making Sure The Rocks Stay Firmly In Place
There are a couple of steps you can take to ensure that the rocks you use do not move. Firstly you need to dig the soil underneath each of them, approximately four or five inches deep. Then you want to add a layer of pebbles on the newly dug soil before laying the rocks and stones. With these simple precautions they should be safe to step on and remain stable over time.

Planting Scheme
You can give your new landscape a defined structure with the addition of trees and shrubs. As a rule you should start with planting the larger specimens, and then gradually move down the list until you get to flowers and small plants. It's usually a good idea to introduce perennials to a garden that features rocks as they can lend their vibrant colors and good looks to the d?cor. You can use river pebbles and rocks as a great substitute to mulch in order to keep weeds at bay.

The Icing On The Cake
To finish off your new landscaping scheme you should look at adding climbers around the garden. Climbing vines also add a great finishing touch to porches and woodwork. They will bring an air of Italy to your design! Be creative with the way you use rock features. For instance statues can give play a very decorative role and tie in together your stone scheme.

About The Author:

Andrew Caxton is the consultant for http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com . A website with tips on landscaping, amongst many related topics.