Choosing the Best Stone for Your Landscape

The right decorative rock adds character and flair to your home, yard or garden. Large rocks like boulders make effective accents and draw the eye, mimicking natural geography and adding drama. Small rocks in landscaping, like pebbles and gravels can be used to create paths, mulch flower beds and to accentuate features. Accent rocks come in a wide variety of colors and textures, from the subtle to the dramatic, and can be mixed together to produce interesting color effects and visual interest.

Choosing the best stone for your project depends on your personal taste, landscape and building requirements. The color of the stone can be important as well, with lighter shades highlighting your plants and darker ones drawing attention to walkways or driveways. There are a number of different types of decorative rock near me to choose from, including river rock, lava rock and mulching rock. River rock is sturdy and affordable, perfect for paving or a simple mulch, while lava rock landscaping provides rich color and a great choice for water features. Lava rock also helps discourage weed growth, making it a favorite of many gardeners.

Stone veneer can be a great way to highlight architectural features of your home, such as fireplaces, retaining walls and other outdoor living spaces. Surface Shop has a broad selection of fieldstone and granite stone veneer, in a range of sizes, that can be adapted to a number of projects. You can also create a more natural look by using loose rock that has been collected or harvested from old stone walls or farmland, giving your home an authentic New England look.

Building stone and boulders are an excellent way to add structure to your landscaping, forming boundaries or creating unique accents in the garden or lawn. Many people use these stones to create raised planters or to build a garden wall that will help keep the soil in place. The size of the stone can be important, with smaller boulders being better for accent pieces and larger ones used to form retaining walls or foundations for a fire pit or water feature.

There are also a number of other types of rock that can be used in landscaping, from the coarse lava rock to give your yard an exotic flair, to the smooth pebbles and sand that are popular for mulching and making walkways. The color of the rock can be important as well, with the soft hues of tan and brown complementing most homes, while the bright, bold reds of lava rock and the white of marble landscape rock are more dramatic and eye-catching.