Mulching and decorative filling. Making a flower bed with crushed stone with your own hands - inexpensive, stylish and reliable Natural stone lawn dumping
Ornamental plants are undoubtedly the main decoration of the garden, but there are also other materials that can be used to decorate the landscape.
These are various stones, fences, small architectural forms, as well as decorative dumping, which has become increasingly popular in recent years.
Its properties are so diverse that there are many ways to use it in the garden.
A variety of types, materials, colors can confuse you when choosing a backfill. Therefore, we will consider in this article all the main points on its selection and use in landscape design.
Characteristics of the main types
Decorative dumping, represented by bulk materials, is used for soil mulching for various purposes. All types are divided into organic and inorganic dumps.
Among the most popular organic ones are the following:
- pine bark. It is very durable, does not rot for a long time, does not fade in the sun, and is also environmentally friendly and safe for humans and the environment. In landscape design it will look natural and harmonious.
- Wood decorative chips, cedar husk. They can be painted in any color (done using eco-friendly paint), so you get a wide palette of colors for experimenting in the garden, but do not overdo it, everything should look harmonious and beautiful. For example, bright saturated colors are inappropriate for a landscape style, but they are perfect for paths and playgrounds.
However, there are also disadvantages of such dumping.- they are light, can be carried by the wind, and also have a short service life compared to inorganic materials. But the disadvantages are replaced by the main advantage - cheapness.
Everyone can afford to buy wood chips, since they are mainly a waste product of the woodworking industry.
It is necessary to use organic dumping with caution, since they are laid immediately on the ground and over time, the lower layer, rotting, can change the acid-base environment of the soil (mostly acidify) and its composition. However, for some plants this is a favorable factor, for example for rhododendrons.
If, nevertheless, you opted for this type of dumping, then it is advisable to add it annually to update the appearance and compensate for the rotted bottom layer.
Inorganic deposits are divided by origin into natural and artificial.
In the first case, the most popular are the following:
- decorative gravel- represented by stones of various shapes of fine fraction, used to form the road surface, driveways, etc.;
- rubble- obtained by crushing a stone of various breeds (marble, granite, slate, limestone, etc.), it looks like a crumb with sharp edges, corners, as well as different colors;
- pebble- has a rounded shape, a smooth small stone, the most popular is sea pebbles, which, in combination with colored pebbles, gives a beautiful effect;
- sand- a very fine fraction, sand from marble, quartz, shells, etc. is used in landscape design.
The advantages of these dumps are their durability, they do not crumble and do not fade, they retain their original appearance for a long time. In addition, they are easy to care for, as well as organic natural dumps keep the soil from excessive heating and do not interfere with water and air exchange.
Of the minuses, they note the difficulty of cleaning debris from their surface, so it is better to use them away from trees. After a couple of seasons, when dust, seeds, soil particles get into them, the dumps become silted and weeds may appear, but they can be easily weeded out or treated with herbicides.
From inorganic deposits of artificial origin, plastic, colored glass are isolated. They are laid on a pre-prepared base made of geotextiles, films, as well as dumping of natural origin.
Application in the garden
Decorative dumping is very popular and widely used in landscape design. With its help, you can significantly transform the site, supplement any composition of plants, and using it you can create a Japanese garden (“dry”), an alpine slide, a sandy garden, (without water, from coarse gravel).
Filling is widely used to create paths, patios, and also as mulch, for decorating tree trunks or as a replacement for a lawn.
Path from decorative backfill can be done by hand fairly quickly. To do this, it is necessary to dig a pit (shallow, 10-15 cm), cover it with geotextiles and pour backfill (7-10 cm).
It is better to strengthen the edges of the path with a stone or a special garden border. By the same principle, you can make any elements of the composition, combining with plants that are planted in a slot in geotextiles, and a lawn.
As an element of decor, you can use decorative dumping when creating stone screes on an alpine hill, in rockeries, when decorating the shore of a reservoir. In order to emphasize a certain plant, a filling is chosen that is contrasting in color.
Organic materials as mulch are a great solution for planting perennials. The backfill will fill the free space until the plants grow and cover the bare soil. It will also help retain moisture in the soil.
For 1 sq. m usually need about 50-100 kg of gravel, and wood chips or bark are half as much.
Time moves inexorably forward, new ideas for the use of various materials appear. Alpine slides, rockeries, once seemed to us something unusual and difficult to implement. Earlier in squares and parks one could see a sculpture, a flower bed or a fountain in the center of the poured gravel. However, now, keeping up with the times, we understand that everything is not so difficult, we begin to experiment.
The use of gravel in the garden is becoming more popular. This material is an integral part of the design. Gravelling is done by dry gardens and garden paths. This is an excellent material with which you can and should work. It has a different shape (angular, oval), color (black, red, yellow, gray, orange, green) and size. Depending on the weather, be it sun, fog or rain, its appearance also changes. Gravel is also often used as drainage when planting or for mulching in hot weather to keep the soil cool. They are added to the foundation to reduce the consumption of cement-sand mortar and increase the life of the building. They are made of gravel, which serve as a dividing border or simply as a spectacular decorative element. 
Translated from French, the word gravel means coarse sand, the particles of which are larger than 1 mm. It is formed during the destruction of a mountain range, and is polished by the water flow of a river, stream or sea. Rounded pebbles always have impurities, which is why their strength depends. Crushing is carried out industrially, depending on the purpose of use, for construction work or for decorative purposes. Fractions can have a size of 1-3 mm, 3-5 mm, 5-10 mm, 10-20 mm, 20-40 mm, 40-70 mm.
To create a gravel garden, stones of the same size are used, or stones of different fractions are selected for greater expressiveness. The smaller the size, the easier and more comfortable it is to walk on it. Usually stones up to 10 mm are combined with larger ones.
Advantages of gravel are undeniable, especially if we take into account such an aspect as the fact that this is an inexpensive environmentally friendly material. When properly laid, it does not interfere with air exchange, due to which the root system of plants under it develops at a normal pace.
A decorative material that is equally beautiful in any weather. They can decorate any problematic area of \u200b\u200bthe garden, where this cannot be done with the help of planting, whether it be swampy, impenetrable shade or scarcity of soil. It looks great paired with wood, glass, moss, metal, which allows you to build a wide variety of compositions.
It does not require skill and is easy to care for.
Gravel Disadvantages
And yet they are - it takes a lot of time and physical strength to work with gravel. However, this is not such a weighty argument to refuse to work with the material. But here are the other nuances that can be the subject of refusal from it:
- it is unpleasant to walk on gravel, especially for older people or small children;
- you can’t ride a bicycle or children’s cars on gravel;
- it is difficult to carry a wheelbarrow;
- it is impossible to clear snow and ice in winter;
- - dangerous for gravel, they will spoil the whole appearance of the garden;
- in autumn, under the trees, a lot of foliage will fall on the gravel, which will complicate cleaning and pollute the stones themselves;
- over time, the gravel becomes clogged and its cleaning will be problematic.
How to make a gravel garden
To create such a corner, you first need to carry out a number of works: clear the place of weeds and debris, make markings. Next, you need to remove the top layer of soil (15-20 cm), lay drainage from sand or fine gravel at the bottom. If the site is sandy or loamy, then you can do without drainage. Pour herbicide-treated soil on top to reduce weed growth. When the preparatory work is completed, correct the relief and leave to rest. If the gravel garden is made on a slope, then the angle of inclination should not exceed 10 °, otherwise the gravel will begin to sink over time. In this case, the site is divided into terraces.
When the earth is compacted, we lay a black permeable film (lutrasil, agril), it will not allow weeds to germinate. If you use a regular thick film, be sure to make holes in it so that water does not accumulate, but goes into the ground. In terms of area, it should take up more space than the relief of the garden itself.
Now we start planting plants by making cruciform holes in the film. We unfold the edges so that we get squares, replace the soil in them with fertile soil and plant plants in the hole.
Suitable for planting in a gravel garden: yarrow, tansy, bergenia, stonecrop, phlox, perennial aster, sedum, hosta, thyme, creeping ground cover and others. From tall:, goldenrod, monarda. From trees and shrubs: juniper, fir, cypress, spirea,. For a shaded gravel garden, moss combined with ferns can be an interesting option. But then such elements of rutaria as must be present. Choose plants depending on their characteristics (moisture-loving, drought-resistant) and your desire to care for them. At the end, fill all the gaps with gravel, starting from the most distant place. The gravel layer should be at least 5 cm. Before backfilling, it is advisable to wash the stones with water to remove the remnants of weeds and pathogens. Don't be alarmed if the gravel garden seems empty by the time you finish the job, over time the plants will grow and you can make adjustments.
How to make a gravel garden path
Outline the boundaries of the future track using pegs and nylon thread. Fill the inner part with a layer of sand (15 cm), lay a layer of building rubble (15 cm) on top and finish filling with a layer of gravel with a fraction of up to 1 cm. creeping gravel on the sides. You need to put it a little higher. At the end of the work, spill the gravel garden path with water, tamp all layers well again and enjoy the work done. The average track width is usually 1 m.
The use of dumps in the landscape - organic mulch, chipped or rounded small stones, sand, etc. - literally transforms the backyard. They can be used very widely - from paving paths and patios to decorating flower beds. Where accuracy is especially in demand, they cannot be dispensed with.
Mulching (namely, this is the name of the use of dumping of any kind) has a long history, its own traditions and laws. Every gardener knows about the beneficial properties of mulch: it helps to almost completely exterminate weeds; protects the soil from night frosts in the spring and autumn and from deep freezing in winter (for example, in places covered with nutshells it will be 10-15 cm, and in uncovered places - 20-25 cm or more); prevents overheating, drying and caking of the surface layers of the earth. In addition, some dumps can serve as a source of necessary substances for the soil (for example, needles can, where necessary, increase its acidity), create a barrier for pests and stimulate the reproduction of beneficial microorganisms.
The principles of using dumps change significantly over time. Their transformation is spurred both by the emergence of innovative materials and the birth of new styles. And if, say, in formal gardens (French, Italian, Moorish styles) they diligently sought to get rid of weeds by mulching large areas, then in naturgarden gardens, on the contrary, they welcome the invasion of wild plants and use dumping in a completely different context and in limited quantities - for example , to bring color to the garden palette.
All mulching materials are divided into organic and inorganic.
Colored decorative dumping is an invariable attribute of the design of alpine slides, rockeries, "dry streams" in Japanese gardens. With the help of bulk stone "mosaics", ornaments and panels, you can exclusively decorate the area of fountains, water cascades, the banks of miniature artificial ponds
organic dumps
These include widely used wood chips and bark, fallen needles, cones, pine nut shells, forest and marsh moss. Peat, hay, straw and rotted leaves are also included here, but the difference is that they are no longer used for decorative purposes, but purely for pine nut shell benefits of the cause - as a fertilizer that simultaneously retains moisture in the soil and eliminates the growth of weeds.
Organic dumping is a real find for those who want to save money while creating a beautiful and well-groomed garden. Okorje, technological chips, peat, shells, sphagnum - all these materials are either inexpensive in themselves, or are industrial waste from various industries, which also makes them quite cheap. And coniferous litter, spruce, pine or cedar cones, if possible, are generally easy to pick up on your own while walking through the forest, and in any quantities.
Perhaps the most popular variant of mulch - bark of Siberian pine and larch, so to speak, a by-product of woodworking enterprises. In the process of harvesting, the material is exposed to high-temperature effects, due to which it does not contain pests, microbes, and foreign impurities. It is especially good to use the bark for filling all conifers, heathers, rhododendrons, ferns. The bark rots for a long time and may not lose its decorative properties for two to three years. Sometimes it is dyed using only natural pigments.
Getting chips for dumping
Chips (sawdust, shavings) obtained from the trunks and stumps of trees. Like the bark, it can be dyed with organic dyes (yellow to black in color), although it is quite decorative on its own. This is an environmentally friendly material, most often made from hardwood. If you have a vegetable waste shredder in your arsenal of garden equipment, then you can make your own mulch chips from tree branches cut when thinning crowns.
Mulch from bark and wood chips is poured with a layer of 5-10 cm around the plants, leaving a small distance to the stems free for air circulation. Weeds must first be removed and the soil loosened. If a layer of geotextiles will be used, then you need to remove the sod, select the top layer of soil (to a depth of 10 cm for flower beds, 20-25 cm for trees and 15-20 cm for shrubs) and put complex fertilizers into the loose soil of the bottom. Then the site is leveled, lightly tamped, geotextiles are laid and mulch is laid. It is recommended to install a low but solid border along the backfill border - so it will not spread beyond the trunk circle or mixborder and gradually litter the lawn.
If the site is sunny, the layer of mulch can be quite thick, but in those places where there is always a shadow, it is better to make the filling thinner - otherwise water will stagnate under it for a long time and the roots of the plants will begin to rot
Pine nut shell
Excellent mulch is obtained from shells of pine nuts. Such filling promotes the development of beneficial microflora in the root system of plants, prevents soil erosion, and has good moisture and air permeability. Since the composition of the shell includes substances such as lignin, phytoncides, flavonoids, it does not rot and decompose for a long time and retains its decorative effect for five years, you only need to add a fresh portion of the material from time to time, and gently loosen the surface with a rake in spring.
In flower beds, shells cover the entire space between plants. Sod is removed under shrubs and trees (within a radius of at least 50 and 80-100 cm, respectively), the soil is dug up to a depth of 20-30 cm, compacted a little and covered with mulch with a layer of 7 to 15 cm. After that, so that it is not swept away by the wind, the shell should be spilled with water and lightly trampled.
In the spring, when cleaning the site after winter, decorative dumping should be renewed: they are slightly loosened, leveled and, if necessary, a fresh portion of the material is added. First of all, this is required by organic mulch, since in three to four years its lower layers rot, and it sags.
Decorative filling of the trunk circle
The disadvantage of the shell is that it is an excellent food for rodents, birds, which will attract them to plantings. The decorative properties of dumps of organic origin often make us forget about the caution of their use, and yet they all change the properties of soils in one way or another. For example, peat, needles, pine and especially spruce cones affect the agrochemical characteristics of the soil - as agricultural technicians say, they acidify it. Therefore, they can mulch only those plants that benefit from increased acidity - in particular, these are any conifers, heather, rhododendrons, hydrangea, blueberries - or use them in combination with fallen leaves, hay, ash. In addition, along with coniferous litter and cones, fungal diseases (rust, root rot, etc.) can be brought to the site, and they will easily spread from mulch to garden crops. Pre-treatment of the mulching material with fungicidal preparations will help protect against this.
From the shells, tree bark and wood chips, you can not only make decorative filling in flower beds, beds and tree circles, but also create a soft coating on recreation areas and paths in the depths of the garden. This process is not particularly laborious. It is necessary to remove 10-15 cm of the top layer of soil, compact the base well and cover it with mulch. If the soil moisture is high here, it is better to first arrange drainage in the form of a gravel cushion 5-10 cm thick, and then fill it on top of it.
Properties and approximate price of various organic dumps
inorganic deposits
The most common inorganic deposits are gravel, pebbles, crushed stone (stone chips), sand. Expanded clay, due to its unpretentious "appearance" and literal weightlessness (easily washed off with water), is used more for drainage, and not for decorative purposes, however, if you show imagination, he can contribute to creating the image of the garden.
Options for inorganic backfills
In small quantities, other inert materials may also be present on the site - for example, shells, glass pebbles (artificial soil) popular in the aquarium hobby, plastic granulate, or colored (environmentally friendly paints) bottle caps. True, their use should be limited by considerations of common sense and, above all, safety: it makes sense to make such dumping on high flower beds, be sure to surround it with a fence and assign them the role of certain accents rather than a background cover.
Inorganic dumps are good because they have a long service life, are not blown up by the wind and are not washed away by rains, and do not affect the composition of the soil in any way. However, they also have their drawbacks - it is difficult to remove small debris from such coatings, and besides, they do not accumulate water. The exception here is sand, which perfectly retains moisture, thereby creating a favorable microclimate near the surface of the earth.
Sand- the most accessible material, widely used in the improvement of adjacent territories. In addition to the usual quarry, washed and sifted river sand is sold, quartz (white and tinted with safe polymer dyes in all colors of the rainbow), calcined, intended for children's playgrounds, sandboxes and creating beach areas. A quality product does not contain impurities and has a homogeneous structure with the declared particle fraction (up to 1 or up to 3 mm).
The main advantage of inorganic mulch is durability, appearance and maintenance-free
The size of the stones used as backfills varies from 2 to 70 mm.
Especially popular with buyers is river and sea pebble, but it is relatively expensive and not available everywhere. However, the modern market offers its artificial counterpart. Moreover, this is not a polymer in its pure form, but a material that also contains natural components - quartzite, marble, gypsum. A wide color palette and the ability to imitate rare, and even unprecedented in nature, rock types are achieved thanks to coloring pigments.
Unlike rounded pebbles, gravel can be both smooth, rounded shapes, and angular. Natural shades - pinkish, beige, blue - make it attractive enough to be used in landscape design. Often, gravel filling is included in a composition made from different types of stones.
Even at the design stage, it is necessary to consider: will the planned composition withstand annual climate changes? You can invest a lot of money in a high-quality project and special effects, but, for example, a normal spring flood will mix with the soil or simply wash away expensive stone fill in the coastal zone of a pond or stream. The solution in this case may be the use of a special gravel film. If you lay out the coast with such material, then in the spring all the gravel will remain in the same place, despite the sharp change in the water level.
The widest decorative potential has stone chips, which is produced from a variety of rocks - marble, granite, limestone, quartzite, solar goldite, spotted emerald serpentine, multi-colored felsite, etc. The material is obtained by crushing, so the stones have an irregular shape and sharp chips, however, subjected to mechanical polishing - tumbling, they become completely smooth. In garden plots, tumbled crumb is preferable to untreated gravel, since it cannot injure a child, does not injure a dog's paws, and does not puncture a bicycle tire.
One of the main functions of stone fills is covering the blind area and footpaths, and not only secondary, as in the case of organic mulch, but also lying in the front part of the garden. (For car access, it is better to lay a hard tile or concrete canvas: cars slip on a loose coating, it is difficult to clean it from snow and ice.)
Dumping - fine-grained, mainly rocks, mined separately or obtained as a result of sorting at mining and processing enterprises. The offered breeds are distinguished by their colorful appearance at an affordable cost.
Until quite recently, various types of stone for backfilling were considered predominantly rock working and, accordingly, were used at best as aggregates in various construction works. Over time, everything has changed, because Western fashion for landscape design has come to us, where such materials are highly valued and used to create a variety of compositions.
Today, the crumb and dumping of stones of a number of rocks are widely used by designers in a number of areas. With their help, you can create very interesting, original, and most importantly - practical and durable decors with an emphasis on naturalness, naturalness.
If you need dumping, the Ecostones company offers to buy it. We have an extensive range of products collected from all over Russia. Based on our materials, you can create a variety of compositions with a bias towards the sea, alpine or any other theme.
We are ready to offer all types of materials that are in demand today, in particular:
- marble chips of different colors;
- river and sea pebbles;
- a crumb of jasper;
- a crumb of a coil;
- beautiful Dagestan shells.
The prices for dumping in the assortment vary depending on the breed you choose, but all of them are affordable and allow you to purchase materials in any required quantity without overloading your own budget.
Beautiful natural landscape design element
There are a lot of applications for decorative backfilling. First of all, this is the paving of landscape gardening paths, where such materials show their best side. They look elegant and are very practical at the same time due to ease of care and good moisture permeability. Puddles will never appear on a path paved with small pebbles, it is easy to level it and, if necessary, renew it by simply adding pebbles. Also, decorative filling looks good in landscape decor as a design for flower beds, rose gardens, alpine slides and other similar elements.
The Ecostones company offers to buy crumbs, shells and pebbles for backfilling in any quantity you require. Prices are affordable. There is a possibility of delivery across Moscow and MO. For large customers - preferential terms!
