Because of recurring low rainfall years, many people have started to look for alternatives to large areas of lawn traditionally found around suburban houses. One of the fastest growing landscape trends is the increased use of landscape stones and decorative pebbles.
Sources Of Landscaping Stones
Old river and creek beds yield stones that are quarried, then tumbled to give a smooth rounded edge to add a touch of class. Since they provide low maintenance and low water requirement for the home landscape project, decorative stones are increasingly being used throughout home landscapes today.
Pebbles
Pebbles are an increasingly popular alternative source of decorative landscaping, used in a wide variety of applications to include interior and exterior landscaping, roofscaping and even the latest trend in decorative concrete seeded exposed aggregate.
They are usually produced from stones that are tumbled from quarried rock to the desired size.
Often produced as a by-product to sand mining operations and found in huge stacks covering areas as large as a football field, polished pebbles are hand picked for their color (usually black), then are polished by tumbling, waxed and bagged.
Color Selection
Today landscape architects and designers can finish their landscape design by choosing from over 40 different colored pebbles and over 100 different color oxides available to select from.
In addition to selecting from a variety of colors, landscape designers can incorporate exciting features, such as polystyrene cut-outs set into the concrete during the initial pour and subsequently removed and replaced with a contrasting concrete/pebble combination.
Side borders can vary, from the many decorative bricks and pavers that are available on the market today to hand laid pebble borders using any of the 100-plus colors and sizes.
Functional As Well
When applied over moist soil, these attractive pebbles suppress weeds, retain soil moisture, and don’t break down over time. With the wide range of colors available, they provide a stylish appearance — and functionality — to anyone’s yard.