Rock Gardens: Find the Best Stone for Your Rock Garden
Before you landscape with rocks, it pays to learn where your stones come from and how they were gathered.
March/April 2004
By Wendy Underhill
 |
“Rocks are the bones of the garden,” says Martin Mosko, founder of Marpa and Associates in Boulder, Colorado. “Like bone, rock doesn’t change, but when you place ephemeral elements such as plants or water next to the unchanging structure of stone, it creates magic in the garden.”
Photography By Martin Mosko and Axle Noden
|
What could be a more appropriate landscape material than rock? It looks natural in any environment—from the Arizona desert, where it can be the focal point of a dry garden, to the Northeast, where stacked fieldstone walls and blocky granite steps are visual treats, to the Rocky Mountain West, where boulders hint of the surrounding grandeur.
RELATED CONTENT
Using rock from their property in rural upstate New York, an architect and his wife hand build a ti...
A Colorado couple created a serene Asian-inspred garden as a place of solitude and renewal....
Whether it's one tomato plant in a pot or a year-round supply of greenhouse vegetables, growing you...
Working with natural systems and patterns, permaculture experts transform a forest-edge hillside in...
Stone (the preferred term in the trade) is used in landscapes for both aesthetic and functional reasons. Functionally, stone defines a structure with walkways, walls, patios, and even water features. Aesthetically, stone anchors the landscape and provides year-round interest. And, wherever you are, attractive and serviceable stone is readily available. Sandstone, granite, limestone, and slate are common in landscapes, but even marble and volcanic scoria—lava cinders—can be used for a home’s exterior. The only stone no-no is alabaster; it wears away too quickly in the rain.
In areas where drought is a problem—and almost no region of the country seems to be immune these days—landscaping stones reduce the amount of irrigation required. Whether stone is used as a gravel mulch, to build a patio, or in a cluster of large boulders, less mowing and trimming are required—a savings on fuel and fumes.
That’s a lot of rock-solid pluses. Even so, there are a few environmental issues you’ll want to consider before getting started. Is there enough of the stone left in nature? How is it harvested? And, most important, how far was it transported?
Get to know your stone
When you’re scouting for landscape rock, visit local stone yards (look under “Stone-Natural” in the Yellow Pages). You’ll quickly learn that “a rock is a rock is a rock” just isn’t true; the array of choices is mind-boggling. While your decision will be guided by your home’s look and the stone’s purpose, you’ll also want to ask these questions.
• Where was the stone quarried and how far has it been shipped? Fossil fuels are used to quarry, mill, and ship stone—and with a material as heavy as stone, that’s no small concern. The closer the stone is to home, the better.
• What is the quarry’s track record on reclamation? Quarrying is permitted only after a reclamation plan has been approved. To reclaim the land, any leftover scraps are pushed back into the hole, followed by dirt removed from the next hole. Topsoil and seed complete the job. The end result may be a change to the terrain, but there should be no gaping holes or barren patches.
Page: 1 |
2 |
3 |
Next >>