Landscaping Rocks Blog

There are a number of different ways to create focal points on your property.  These focal points can be practical or purely to create interest. By following the natural contours of your property you can create functional and fun focal points in your family’s backyard for relaxing, entertaining or any type of fun.

A stone fire pit recalls childhood campfire memories and makes for a perfect weekend project. Today there are many design & style choices for your backyard fireplace projects, no longer are outdoor fire pits just round piles of stone. You could try a stacked stone fireplace, and if you incorporate a natural stone patio to surround your new fire pit you have the perfect place to relax while enjoying a fire in the evening.  With the popularity of stone fire pits steadily increasing, not only are you building memories with your fire pit, you are creating a conversational piece to last for many years to come.

Speaking of conversational pieces, did you know that stone can also be chiselled to create a bowl-shaped hollow? The hollow in the stone then collects rainwater and serves as both a reflecting pool and ground-level birdbath. What a great natural stone piece to add to your landscaping plans.

Why not create interest on your property with standing stone at the entrance of a garden? The standing stone can be placed together in groups of threes, or left as single stand alone pieces. Standing Stone wherever they are placed, will surely be a focal point and enhance your landscaping design. Careful planning and consideration should be given to the stones size, placement and design.

Landscaping Stone slabs can be used to make practical exterior furniture such as tables and benches. For a new stunning talked about table, why not create your own? For simplicity sake (as we know it may be more challenging than it sounds) - perch a stone slab on top of stone bases or for a different look try natural wood bases. You can create other outdoor seating in the same fashion. Chair shaped Boulders would be a nice landscaping accent too.

Natural Stone & Rock can add stories, themes and new memories to your landscaping, so use your imagination in creating your landscaping focal points.

Tags: English, Flagstones, Landscaping Rocks, Natural stone, natural stone by mike
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At Stone Haven, Inc. we’re a flagstone wholesaler, so we welcome pros and do it yourself landscapers. If you’re just starting out, all the fun and excitement of choosing beautiful flagstones can take your mind away from the practical aspects of actually turning them into a comfortable, durable patio.

Let’s break that task down into 10 basic steps. This is a checklist to help you work after you do some thorough research; it’s not a full instructional. Plus, the most important rule is that whenever you’re cutting stone you should wear safety goggles, work gloves and steel toed work boots.

Once you’re well-read and dressed for safety, here’s what to do:

1. Excavate 12″ deep.
2. 6 inches larger in all directions
3. Make sure to slope the base of excavated area away from buildings.
4. Start by filling in area with 3 inches of 3/4inch clean crush stone and compact it with a plate compactor. Fill in area with another 3 inches of the same crush stone and compact again.
5. Place a layer of membrane on top of the crush stone. Make sure to place some small rocks at corners and center of area .
6. Fill in area on top of the membrane with 3inches of 0-1/4 inch stone dust. DO NOT COMPACT THE STONE DUST!
7. Start laying stone at the highest elevation, making sure to remember to slope away from buildings.
8. Place the stone onto the stone dust at the desired slope and compact the stone into the stone dust with a rubber hammer or by placing a 2×4 with a length of about 18 inches onto the stone and hitting it (the 2×4) with a hammer (Min 16 oz.).
9. Try to find the next stone to be laid that won’t need a lot of cutting to fit next to the stone you have previously laid.
10. The joints between the stone can vary between ¾inch to 2 ½ inches. They can be filled with stone dust, river stone 3/8” –5/8” or topsoil. Try seeding the topsoil (you could plant thyme in the joints, for instance — it looks great).

The stones are going to be loose for a few weeks until they set properly, so don’t worry if they seem to move. Once they feel firm under your feet, it’s time for the most important “step” of all: Get a chair out there, pop open a drink and enjoy your patio!

Stone Haven is now giving courses by appointment only. These draw on Mike Stone’s 40 years of landscaping experience.  Please call 450.242.0255 or email Mike at mike@stonehaveninc.ca to have your name included in our 2009 schedule.

Tags: English, Flagstones, Landscaping Rocks by mike
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