Natural stone is beautiful, with its range of organic colours and textures. In its compact form, as gravel and pebbles, it provides extra opportunities for you to enhance the landscape. Here are several ways to go about this.

Pathways

Rather than spreading concrete over your garden paths, create a classic and timeless look with gravel or river pebbles. Pick from dark multi-tone greys, earthy reds and tans or blues and creams. By selectively mixing the stones, you can customise the path, making it more uniform or contrasting.  

Round river pebbles, smoothed by running water, are softer on bare feet, or you could cover the trail with angular crushed stone that has been pulverised by a machine. Wandering along a gravel pathway and admiring your garden will be that much more enjoyable against a background scrunching sound underneath your feet.

Mulch

You can also scatter gravel or pebbles across your garden beds, picking hues and shades to beautify the flowers and foliage. The advantage of stones is that they won't disintegrate into the soil and thus won't need to be replaced as frequently as organic mulches. The rocks will help the earth to retain moisture, so your watering and the rain won't go to waste. By placing a weed mat underneath, you'll discourage weeds from springing up in between the stones. A mat will also make it easier if you want to change the pebbles at some point as it will stop them from settling down into the soil.

Patios

A patio creates a relaxing outdoor area where you can place tables and chairs to sit in the sunshine and enjoy a drink and read or socialise with family and friends. Gravel creates an ideal flooring, and it is relatively straightforward to install. Make sure to spread pebbles or gravel that match your outdoor furniture and the landscape. You won't have to worry about puddles when it rains, as the water will drain between the stones. You could put down a layer of one stone mix to form a strong base and then cover that with another layer of purely decorative rock. Ask your landscape supplies provider for advice. 

Driveways

You can place stones across your driveway for an even more pleasing crunch as your vehicle's wheels roll across the surface. Angular gravel will fit together more firmly and move less than rounded pebbles that don't interlock in the same way though you can use both gravel and pebbles on a driveway. Pebbles commonly come in sizes from 10 to 20 millimetres — the larger ones being a bit more robust and durable for carrying traffic.

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