Landscaping your garden is great way to uplift the façade of your home and increase the value of your property. Whilst taking on a task of this size can feel daunting and expensive, there are always affordable options that can look just as decent as the more expensive alternatives. One affordable material that can be overlooked is crushed rock and we’ve compiled a list for why crushed rock should be on the top of your landscaping list.
Crushed Rock Variations
Crushed rock is available in an array of sizes and colors. With so many variants, there is sure to be crushed rock to suite your style and needs when landscaping your garden. A contrasting crushed rock color to your house can be visually pleasing, emphasizing the anterior of the house. If you have a red brick house, opt for a tan or deep blue crushed rock to help the red pop. Alternatively, a subtler colored house would suite a red lava crushed rock. Remember when using crushed rock for your pathways or driveway to lay a landscaping fabric down to help keep the crushed rock to the surface and to deter weeds.
Less Expensive
The more expensive materials for pathways and driveways are pavers and concrete. Not only are they expensive, the time it takes to lay these materials is substantially longer than your crushed rock alternative. You’ll be saving a large portion of your budget on workers too because crushed rock is much less labor intensive. To extend your savings even further, use locally sourced crushed rock from your local quarry company. This will be considerably cheaper than opting for imported crushed rock varieties.
Be Water Conscious
Storm water runoff is rain and melted snow that falls on roads, parking lots, rooftops and other paved surfaces that don’t allow the water to soak into the ground. After rainfall, plants and soil should absorb storm water but unfortunately due to drought stricken areas we have turned to more ‘hard’ surfaces for our landscaping. Instead of having an abundance of foliage, people have designed their gardens to be more maintainable with the need for less watering. This doesn’t have to be the case if you use a permeable material such as crushed rock, meaning storm water will be absorbed by the crushed rock instead of running off. This allows for the foliage surrounding your pathways or driveways to benefit from the rainwater that has fallen on them.
Summary
Thanks to the affordability and countless variants that crushed rock comes in, there are numerous ways you can use the versatile material to landscape your yard. When it comes to crushed rock for landscaping, it can be used for your driveway, your pathways and even to accentuate water features, outdoor entertaining areas or fire pit. Think outside the box and let your style and needs shine through your landscaping design. The possibilities are endless!