The Use Of Stones In Landscape Architecture

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

The use of stones in landscape architecture: garden paths, terraces, alpine slides

The stone in landscape architecture is the embodiment of the inviolability of the Universe, the philosophical antithesis of the delicate ephemerality of everything "that came to flourish and die." It is on the successfully executed "stone frame" of the garden plot that the main thing that every owner expects from his suburban plot depends - the feeling of harmony of the surrounding garden.

It is difficult to imagine a modern garden in which designers could do without stone. Alpine slides and retaining walls, dry streams and compositions of stones in oriental-style gardens, stone framing for ponds, dumps made of different colors of rubble and gravel, and, of course, garden paths - all this creates the structure of the garden, helps to zone the site and, in the case of competent application, perfectly emphasizes the chosen style.

A huge amount of building material (cobblestone, granite, dolomite, clinker bricks, pebbles, concrete, paving slabs and much, much more), the ability to combine some materials with others, a variety of garden styles, surprises from the geodetic plan of the site (uneven relief, groundwater level, etc.) make life incredibly difficult for those who want to see their site as ideal in terms of landscape architecture. And if we add to this the laws of the now fashionable doctrine of feng shui, it immediately becomes clear that one cannot do without a specialist in this complex matter. But in order to speak with a specialist in the same language, you need at least a little knowledge of the issue both in terms of implementation techniques and in the field of style.

The tracks that we choose

Long forgotten are the days when a garden path could be dully cast from asphalt or concrete, or lined with standard-sized tiles. Today's tracks are varied both in texture and in terms of style; they can be winter, able to endure the test of cold and snow, and summer, intended only for the warm season, complex or exquisitely laconic. Often, at the height of summer, garden paths beckon us to enter the garden no less than the flower jungle surrounding them.

Supporters of the landscape style in garden architecture, giving the garden a kind of abandoned, but at the same time very lively look, should bear in mind that the classics require special attention to themselves. To avoid the boringness that often accompanies the classic options, helps the not quite standard paving of the path, where, for example, grass grows between the slabs - of a wide variety of "styles". Such combinations of stone and flora look unusual and at the same time incredibly cozy. When choosing plants for a garden path, you should be well aware of the load that they will take on throughout the summer. It is imperative to take into account both the illumination throughout the spring-summer season, and the moisture content of the soil. The ideal option is a change of vegetation from spring to summer: say,gentle spring bulbous plants for the summer can be replaced with cereals that are now fashionable everywhere.

In regular gardens, with neatly trimmed topiary forms and very characteristic strict outlines of lawns and flower beds, one should be very careful when choosing the material and shape of the garden path. As a rule, the most significant, front part of the garden is performed in a regular style. The paths in such a garden should be extremely symmetrical, with perfectly straight edges. But even here there is a way to show your individuality and soften the presumptuousness of the garden's business card. To do this, you can use a mosaic ornament, which, on the one hand, does not contradict the canons of regularity, and on the other hand, it always demonstrates the creative taste of the owners who have chosen this one and not any other pattern from the mosaic.

Fans of minimalism, of course, should not get carried away with color, remembering that this style is characterized by a very restrained color scheme: soft, light, natural tones with barely noticeable transitions. Playing with textures and, of course, correctly selected plants, which may accompany such paths, will help to get rid of monotony. An excellent classic example of a path for a minimalist garden: you just need to dig up some of the stones and fill the resulting pits with gravel or any other material appropriate for such paving. The result is a track with a minimum amount of investment and maximum pleasure.

As you know, Japan is the source of minimalism. The lack of straightforwardness, the frankly philosophical meaning of paving, which includes either areas with small stones, or large cobblestones, as if symbolizing turning events of fate, the restraint of the surrounding nature - all this is a style inherent in Japanese gardens. Laconic and expressive, such a path requires a well-thought-out general scheme for solving the space. A common variant of the oriental composition: a dry stream with stones sticking out from under the water. Such a design will tell a lot to someone who is keen on the teachings of the East. But, without even going into the intricacies of the philosophical background, a walk here disposes to concentration and meditation.

The "river" character of such a path can be very subtly emphasized by lawns that look like small islands on the bends of an imaginary river. Suitable as a frame for the eastern garden paths - "streams" moisture-loving plants: sedges, reeds and ferns. If you are bored with the coloristic monotony of the St. Petersburg summer, you can try to create a special, "southern" mood in the garden with the help of paving. Joyful, cheerful paths will run in your garden if you allow yourself to make bright blotches of ultramarine color, which will give the garden a Mediterranean character, or, perhaps, evoke an association with Arabian gardens, where the blue color of mosaic elements in landscape forms is one of the favorite techniques.

The style of the south would be well emphasized by flower beds with bright, lush and fragrant flowers: peonies, roses, spicy shrubs. When arranging a similar option in your garden, it is important not to get carried away too much with the path and correctly place accents in the garden in general. Using different types of paving, combined with varying path widths, is a great way to zoning your garden. Ideally, it would be a good idea to emphasize this unobtrusive zoning with the consonant dynamics of the species list of vegetation along the paths. In addition, the inclusion of old, time-honored slabs into the composition of any new path, even in small numbers, softens the somewhat striking angularity of the remake. Paving is used not only for the arrangement of garden paths.

As a rule, the need for it arises both where there is a garden bench or a gazebo, and where the whole family gathers for a barbecue, and at the entrance to the site. In addition to the traditional solar signs used in paving for a long time, or "carpet options" here you can afford to make mosaic compositions that will emphasize the character of this garden area and at the same time demonstrate the creative scope and tastes of the inhabitants of the house.

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