Have you seen the Capitol building recently, did you notice the front yard landscape? It looks amazing, doesn’t it?
Rocks are common but you might not have considered using them until now. I want to show you how to bring the Capitol-version of the front landscape to your house without spending a fortune.
And you can do it with rocks that you can find all around. All you need is to bring in creative ideas that’ll make your landscape uniquely different from others.
Landscapes with rocks are not just for beautification but they are also used to control erosion.
Let’s get started.
Why Landscape With Rocks?
Unlike lawns that don’t have the capacity to withstand weather conditions, Rocks have the capacity to withstand any weather conditions.
Conventional landscape with lawns is not cost effective. But the staggering cost to keep lawns alive, especially during mid-spring is usually on the high side.
Most homeowners look for cost-effective means to landscape their yard in a very unique way. Because the cost of fertilizing, spraying insecticide and pesticides, dealing with plant diseases, and reviving your lawn with an occasional reseeding is quite expensive to run yearly and it is time consuming.
Landscaping with rocks is cost-effective and saves you time. The cost of maintaining rocks is low and some rockscapes don’t require any maintenance after installation.
According to research by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, found that homeowners in America spend over 70 hours mowing lawns annually, pouring over 9 billion gallons of water on their lawns.
Going by the findings by the United State Environmental Protection Agency, conventional landscapes are quite expensive considering the cost of water and the quality time it takes to keep them alive.
It consumes much time to care for. During spring time you need to water lawns at least once in a week to remain healthy.
For you to keep 1,000 sq feet of turf healthy, you need 35,000 gallons of water per year. When most people consider the cost of 35,000 gallons of water they are left with one option to seek an alternative way.
Conventional lawns use pesticides that are not eco-friendly, while rocks don’t need any chemical.
For lawns to remain beautiful and look greenish, you need to reseed the environment from time to time. Wherefor, you can only change when you need a different design.
How To Landscape With Rocks
I want to share with you my experience about landscapes with rocks. The result I got the first time I landscape my yard with rocks was not so interesting and the designs were not eye-catching.
Part of the result that was not interesting is that weeds were coming out from the rocks walkway. Because I didn’t follow the right procedure, until I discovered the tips on how to best landscape with rocks.
Landscape with rocks is not difficult. But you need to follow the procedures and guides otherwise your designs will not look beautiful.
First, choose the area you want to landscape with rocks. Then make a pictorial plan of how you want the design to be on a paper.
Now you have mapped out an area and you know the designs, then you need to decide the type of rocks you’ll use.
If you don’t have rocks, precious stones, paved stones, gravel, and granite you need to buy from any local shops close to you.
Get to work once the materials are ready. Different designs and styles of landscape with rocks come with separate methods of work.
So, I will show different styles of landscape with rocks and designs that’ll guide you and as well show you how to carry it out.
Let’s dive in
Use Rocks To Create Border Between Flowers And Lawns
The easy way to create a distinctive border between flowers and lawns at your front yard is to landscape it with rocks.
Rocks are used to create clear and distinctive demarcation between your lawns and flowers.
Perharp, you don’t want weeds to grow out from the rocks. Mow the area you mark out — mowing it before mulching will prevent grass from growing out from the rocks.
Mulch the area with saw-dust or rubber mulch after you remove weeds. The purpose of mawn and mulch is to prevent weeds from coming out in between the rocks.
How wide you want the border to be will determine the size and shape of the rocks you’ll use. Likewise, the height also is another determinant factor for the size and shape of rocks you’ll use.
After mowing and mulching the area, you need to carefully arrange the rocks or the precious stone in a manner you want them to look.
It must not necessarily be the pattern you see in the picture above, You can choose V-shape outlook design or U-shape outlook designs or you may adopt the design in the pictures above.
Precious stones with different colors are best for creating these types of borders. gravel or granite will not produce the best design you desire.
Choosing rocks to construct a short wall in between your lawns and flowers is not only very practical but also creates a pleasant atmosphere to look at.
Create Amazing Rocks Water Scenery
Landscapes with rocks to create water scenery have a lot of styles. You’re the one to choose the one that best fits your desires.
You can use rocks, gravel, and short shrubs to build an eye-catching lake into your front yard. This design doesn’t require much rocks but gravel.
What matters here is how creative you are to make the scene aesthetic. Bringing a version of miniature world into your home will add value to your property.
Using rocks to create an abstract environment to beautify the outer space in your home is something that’s not common with most homeowners.
You don’t need to break your bank account before having an amazing rocks water scenery in your front yard.
Take advantage of rocks around you to construct an excellent miniature world of your choice.
Depending on the size of scenery, 3 – 5 big rocks of different shape, gravel, short shrubs will be enough for you to have the beautiful scene of your choice.
How to landscape with rocks to create an amazing rocks water scene?
The first step is to get the place ready and cover it with gravel. Then, place the rock into a strategic position around the area you cover with gravel.
Get short shrubs and place them into different positions of 1 – 2 inches distance from each other. Then at the centre place any animal heron designs to complete the design.
Creating an artificial lake with precious stone, rocks, and heron will call for attention. Most importantly, the heron doesn’t hurt as many people think.
The lake or swamp illusion is a beautiful sight you need to make your front yard look excellent.
Use Precious Stones Around Trees To Landscape Your Yard
Precious stones can be used to create any designs of your imagination. If you can imagine it you can get it done.
Conventional way of landscape doesn’t have much creativity like rocks. You can use rocks to bring any designs of your choice into your home.
This landscape may look simple but beautiful when it well lay out around trees and flowers. Precious stone or gravel around trees and flowers provide a unique sight.
You can create round designs or rectangular shapes. Use gravel and cements to create boundaries between the stones and the lawns.
Paint the trees with 2 different colors for the area to become obvious and attractive.
The height of the boundary that separates the gravel from the lawns should be 1 inch high above the ground floor.
Use the same 2 different colors of paints on the trees to paint the boundary. The pebble or stones that cover the ground floor can also be painted with the same 2 colors of paint.
You don’t need to worry about dirt. Once the precious stones or pebbles that’s on the ground are 1 inch above the ground floor, then it will be difficult for the area to get dirt or stain.
Pebbles or gravel are affordable materials you can use to add value to your home and make it extremely beautiful with unique styles.
You wouldn’t know how beautiful it will look when you cover your ground floor with stones or pebbles, until you try it.
Pebbles or precious stones around trees or flowers help to preserve the ground water from drying up easily.
Unlike other landscapes with rocks with low cost of maintenance but this design is maintenance cost free.
Pebble or precious stones around the ground floor doesn’t require any maintenance. But then, you can choose to repaint the boundary in between the gravel and lawns after 2- 3 years depending on how you want it to be.
Combine Artistic Rocks And Water Pool To Landscape
Using rockscape to create a patio in your front yard is something that is not common because of the creativity that is involved.
You can do it. Read on let me show you how simple it is.
Rockscape is a distinct design that doesn’t require much creativity rather than a perfect lay out of the stones.
The larger stones are used to demarcate the pool from the patio. Rockscape helps you have a pool of water in between your rockspace patio.
When building the rockspace patio, use different types of precious stones to beautify the area and make it unique.
However, the design is quite expensive because each footage square layout cost $5 – $10. Though, you can only consider carrying out maintenance on the landscape after 3 to 5 years.
Landscape your yard with artistic rocks and water in an hour.
Get the area set, by removing weeds or lawns if there are any. After that level the ground to have a plain level area.
Choose at least 3 different colors of stones and artistic rocks. Dig a 2 inches hole and get the hole cemented so that when you pour water it will hold it.
Arrange the artistic rocks and the precious stones in a way that you want them to be. Then use cement to hold the edges and some part of the center. The cement will make the stones unit together.
At the middle of the designs you can plant flowers to make the designs look aesthetics and amazing.
You need flat precious stones in a particular shape or pattern to fill the walkway gaps with colorful rock granules.
Landscape your floor with different designs and styles in such a way that it becomes the center of attraction in your home.
Carefully lay out the smaller stones in a creative manner or pattern based on how you want the designs to be.
The colors granules rocks are used in between the designs to make the place eye catching. The only maintenance you require to carry on the designs is changing of water.
You can either build it around trees to create shade where you can hang out with friends, family, and have quiet time.
Use Rocks To Build Retaining Wall cape
This is a simple and easy landscape with rocks that you can use to make your front yard stand out.
Not only will it increase the value but also used to create boulder retaining walls for houses on unlevel ground.
This landscape is used to also control erosion and make unlevel plain ground level. It is used to wage soil around buildings.
Rocks have the capacity to withstand any weather conditions. Rocks don’t reduce in shape or size when used for landscape.
Instead of using mulch at your front yards, why not use rocks? Rocks are more natural than mulch and add a unique touch to the landscape.
If you live in a sloping area, the rocks landscape is more attractive because you can add succulents and grassy plants to the rock garden, which already grows naturally in the region.
You can easily create the unique designs by scattering different sizes and shapes of rocks in between flowers.
Rockscapes are attractive especially when different colors of flowers are in between to create excellent views.
Most importantly, you can paint the rocks with different colors for you to achieve the look and get the desired feelings.
For you to get an amazing outlook, you need 5 – 10 different shapes of rocks and different sizes as well. The different shapes of rocks are what will make the design look beautiful.
To achieve great design with scatter rocks in between flowers, you don’t have to use any rocks.
River rocks will better make the design attractive and increase the views. Also river rocks produce warm especially during spring time. If you are going for the design above, choose river rocks to get the best design you desire for your front yard.
Create Rocks Pyramid
Take advantage of rocks around you to build decorative hilltop gardens. You need lots of rocks and larger ones for you to achieve an attractive decorative garden.
Use cement to unite the rocks together to get the exact view you want. Rocks gardens are naturally attractive because of the height.
The larger rocks don’t require cement when placing them on each other. Once the rocks have a nice shape they definitely stay on top of each other with proper arrangement.
You need flat rocks that are smooth to make the designs look amazing and wonderful.
The flat large rocks will be on top of each other to create the hilltop decorative garden. When placing each rocks on top of each other ensure the rocks are balanced. Rocks that are well placed will hardly fall out when there is breeze.
Rocks garden is one of the first features people see when they walk into your house. Rocks’ decorative hilltop garden needs to be beautiful because all eyes are on it starting from the gate.
You need a little bit of art work to make these designs appealing to the eyes. Carefully select rocks with good shapes and build a decorative rocks garden.
Flowers and lawns are important when crafting out decorative hilltop gardens. Flowers and lawns will make the area beautiful.
Also, lawns around the decorative hilltop garden will make the designs look natural and astonishing.
You can put steps on the garden hilltop to make it look natural and artificially designed. Rocks help to bring different styles and designs into the landscape.
Use Rocks To Create Staircase
Have you thought of bringing a staircase into your landscape you may not have because traditional landscapes make it look difficult.
You need slope land to step in your landscape. But with rocks, irrespective of the nature of ground you have, you can easily create stairs.
It is a bit crafting for you to build staircases with rocks. However, to make it easy and simple, you need rocks with flat shapes and large enough to contain feet.
You need to carefully select flat and large rocks when you want to build a staircase. The large, flat rocks used to build these landscape steps need to be well balanced to avoid any instability.
What makes most people not consider the landscape staircase is inability to place the rocks on top of each other.
Once the rocks are strong and the top of the staircase rests properly, then the staircase is highly stable and balanced.
How To Create An Attractive Stairs With Rocks
If your front yard is level ground, you can still build eye-catching rock stairs. You don’t need any professional or have any special skill before you can build admiring steps.
Select the position you want the landscape with rocks steps to be. Then, get larger rocks that are of different height size.
The rocks have to be on both sides. When arranging the rocks in ascending order, the first rock should be smaller than the second rock. Arrange the rocks in an ascending order until you get the exact height.
Put flat rocks on top of the 2 rocks you place side by side. However, Before placing the flat rock on top of the two rocks that are on both sides, ensure to fill the inside with soil.
Repeat the same method for each step until you get to the top. Continue placing the flat rocks on top of the side by side rocks.
If you experience any instability, kindly use cement to make it balance. In another way, you can get any small flat rock to place under it. The small flat rocks will make the stable and balance.
Paint rocks stairs are more beautiful and also become more attractive. You can even paint it with different colors of your choice based on the desire of the staircase you want.
Rockscape staircases are beautiful when the staircase leads to a high patio. The patio has to be some distance above the ground floor.
Use Rocks To Create Walkway
Paved stones are not just used in functional walkways but also make a distinctive boundary on lawns.
Paved stones path way are cost effective and require no maintenance. Most times, the only cost is the concrete that you pour in the gaps to maintain a more level surface throughout.
Paved stones walkway are smooth and wonderful.
Using rocks to create a walkway is one of the easy landscapes with rocks. Most of the stone walkway doesn’t require any arrangement of the stones.
Once you get the area ready by removing the weeds, cover the place with stones. You can also use gravel or granite to create stone walkways.
Conclusion
Landscaping with rocks is a gardening aspect most people are going into because of the cost-effectiveness and the time-saving factor.
Rockscaping is simple but it requires little creativity on how to arrange the stones in a unique pattern.
You should give your yard a different look by landscaping with rocks.
