Wednesday, 29 April 2015

The Benefits Of Adding Landscaping Stones To Your Garden

Landscaping stones do not decay like its organic counterparts. It is a beautiful and cost effective option for your garden.

If you are looking for a new ground cover in your yard, you have a few options. You can choose a synthetic material like landscape fabrics or recycled rubber strips. There are also more organic options like mulch or even inorganic mulch. Rocks are perhaps one of the best and most common ground covers for home or industrial landscaping. Generally, it draws consumers because it is cost effective and aesthetically appealing. The sheer variety of landscaping stones means almost any garden or outdoor set-up can easily incorporate them into the design for a little pop or something extra.

One of the most important benefits of landscaping stones is their relatively low maintenance. Ground cover such as plants, vines and shrubs require constant tending. They must be pruned and trimmed regularly. Additionally, sometimes ground workers will have to replace the plants after harsh weather conditions. However, rocks are not living and as a result, do not need to be monitored as closely. While wood chips and bark must be refreshed as the color fades, rocks usually just need to be washed or combed for debris.

Other ground covers will eventually decompose as they continue in their life cycle. In this case, rocks escape the passage of time. As the stones encounter weather elements, they may becomes more smooth or a bit smaller over time, but this will be undetectable to the human eye for years before it becomes an issue. Mulches and plants on the other hand will create layer after layer of debris as leaves fall off and regrow. While this is ideal for farming land, it may detract from an otherwise beautiful garden.

Durability is an important factor when choosing what materials to work with in your garden. If you have a high traffic area, you probably do not want any living or organic matter in the area. Anything living will be trampled and will not get a chance to grow where people frequently walk or sit. Instead, a gravel or stone walkway will last the years with relatively easy maintenance and only one major purchase of materials.

Bugs can kill a garden as fast as drought. Wood chips and mulch are beautiful, but their natural decomposition will attract all types of insects to your yard. Termite especially love decomposing wood and can travel into other areas of the home. Using gravel or another landscaping stone can minimize the risk of bug issues because it will not decompose.

To learn more about landscaping stones in Morgan Hill, please visit this website.

AT THE WALKER, OSLUND + BLAISSE


The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is getting an overhaul to improve its environmental performance and create new areas for commissioned works of art, thanks to the Walker Art Center and the city’s Park...read more

Monday, 13 April 2015

Understanding Different Types Of Gravel

Various types of gravel can be used for different purposes, from functional to decorative purposes. Consider the pros and cons of each type of gravel to select the material best suited for your project.

Gravel is simply an assortment of loose rocks that have either been worn down by water, or have been pounded until they became their current shape. This aggregate of stones can serve a number of different purposes. Gravel is extremely useful when it comes to paving a driveway, or a small road through a forest or a country side. Gravel can provide an attractive contrast to dirt, grass, or trees when a person is landscaping their home. Because its usages are so diverse, and it is made up of many different types of rocks, there are many different types of gravel. Choosing the best type of gravel for a specific project requires the person completing the project to be knowledgeable about differences in gravel.

Crushed asphalt is used to make one type of gravel. This gravel is ideal for paving a driveway for a number of reasons. First of all, it has an attractive dark look to it. Since it is made from the material that is used to make asphalt roads, the finished product often looks like a professionally paved road. When this type of gravel has been rolled over with a heavy roller that vibrates, it helps the rocks bind together. When this happens the surface looks and feels like it has been paved. The sun can also heat up the surfaces, and bind the rocks together which prevents dust from kicking up when a person drives over the top of this gravel.

One type of gravel is made up of concrete that has been crushed. This type of gravel may not be as attractive as other types of gravel, but it has a couple of qualities that make it ideal to use as a base. Because of the different types of material that can be found in this gravel, it will pack together hard. Gravel that will do this can provide excellent stability. Some people use crushed concrete as the base of a road or a driveway, and then they put more attractive gravel on top to make it look nicer.

Some of the more attractive types of gravel are made from natural rocks such as limestone or dolomite. Gravels that are made up of these types of materials have a beautifully clean look about them. Their appearance is almost white, which can provide a nice rustic beauty to the drive way or road they are paving. This type of gravel will pack together nicely, but it can also be a little dusty.

To learn more about different types of gravel in Gilroy and the ways that it can be used, visit this website

Strategies to Protect Vernal Pools in the Built Environment: Raising Awareness

There are many types of wetlands in our environment, but all of them are declining. Learn more about the special nature of vernal pools, our smallest wetlands...read more

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Choose the Ideal Stepping Stone for Your Pond

A pond adds tranquility and grace to any landscape. Whether you are in the process of constructing your own pond on your property or are thinking of enhancing a pre-existing water feature, adding stepping stones creates both a visual and practical guide to enjoying aquatic attractions. Enjoyed by adults and children alike, a path of stepping stones allows you and your guests to walk across water and pause to enjoy and reflect.

Friday, 13 February 2015

Professional Practice

The idea that spending time in nature can make you feel better is intuitive. We all feel this to be true, and many of us have anecdotes of our own or from friends or family that support that idea. People...read more

Thursday, 12 February 2015

Designing Your Dream Backyard

Eventually, pondering the perfect backyard could move from splendid reverie to reality. What had once been idle musings now require some careful consideration. One way to frame the planning phase for your dream backyard is to organize your thinking from general to specific issues. A methodical approach to choices regarding greenery and hardscape materials can help reduce mistakes and stress.