How to make a flower bed of stones and decorate a garden with your own hands in style
A stone flower garden is a bright and original decoration of a personal plot, which invariably attracts attention. There are several simple ways to make a flower bed of stones with your own hands. Such affordable and unusual options for decorative design of a flower garden will make the landscape more noble, emphasize its original and individual style.
Material selection
For this purpose, you can use both natural stones and various bricks, concrete blocks, poured with your own hands:
- Limestone - this material has a porous structure, which makes it fragile. But due to the original pearl gray or pink shades, it is often used to decorate flower beds.
- Volcanic tuff - has a wide variety of color shades, high strength and durability.
- Sandstone is one of the most common and affordable materials for arrangement of flower beds in the country. It has an interesting porous structure and a wide color palette.
- Slate - this durable material is often used to make tall stone beds. Slate is distinguished by its reliability and aesthetic appeal; among the disadvantages is its high cost.
- Granite is an outwardly attractive material that is resistant to negative weather conditions. But before making flower beds out of stones, you need to take into account that granite can increase the acidity of the soil, which is undesirable for some plants.
- Quartzite is an interesting option for decorating a flower bed with a glossy surface that reflects the sun's rays and a wide range of colors.
- Pebbles are small stones for a flower bed, which are considered the most affordable and budgetary option for decorating a country flower garden.
Natural and artificial stones for flower beds have their own advantages. Natural materials are distinguished by their strength, reliability, long service life, environmental friendliness, availability and visual appeal.
Artificial materials are somewhat inferior to natural ones - under the influence of precipitation, sunlight and negative weather conditions, they lose their aesthetic appeal and begin to deteriorate.
Varieties of stone beds
Beautiful flower beds in a country house made of stones can be made in various versions. Each of them has its own characteristics and manufacturing techniques.
The easiest and simplest option is a single-level flowerbed, which is a small piece of land surrounded by stones. They can be laid out in layers, in one or more rows. Most often, these flower beds are made in the form of geometric shapes - a circle, oval, square or rhombus.
A high flower bed is a stylish and original design option that is great for small areas. Such a flower garden consists of several levels, which creates an additional area for planting ornamental plants.
This solution is great for areas with poor soil. This makes it possible to grow crops with special requirements for soil quality.But a high flower bed also has several drawbacks - the need for a clear preliminary planning, the complexity of manufacturing and the rapid drying of the soil.
Gabion is a flower bed made of natural stone, covered between two rows of metal mesh. Using this technology, you can create a flower garden of any size and shape, characterized by strength and good air permeability.
Arabesque is the original version of the flower bed, used for low-growing crops. In this case, the stones for the flower garden are laid out in the form of butterflies, flowers, letters, animals or various other figures.
Large stone beds can be complex and multi-level. Various Japanese stone gardens, alpine slides are complex structures that, if properly planned and executed, will become a colorful decoration of any garden or local area.
How to make a flower bed of stones - choosing a place
First of all, before making flower beds of stones, you need to decide on their location. Consider the shape of the flower garden - oval or rectangular compositions are most appropriate in open areas where they can be viewed. Round flower beds look good under the walls of the house.
Gabion is most often arranged along a fence or walls, and an alpine slide or arabesque will become a bright decoration when arranging on an open lawn with a minimum height difference. A high flower bed looks most harmonious in the central part of the site, and the rockery will perfectly fit into the landscape design of a flat, open area.
Arrangement of flower beds from stones
The construction of stone beds begins after thorough cleaning of the territory of the future flower garden, and, if necessary, leveling the site.
Flower garden technique:
- Before creating a rectangular flower bed, a preliminary marking must be done using pegs with a stretched rope.
- If wide curbs are additionally installed, inner and outer edges are also made along the twine.
- When arranging a round or oval flower bed, pull a rope between two pegs, the length of which corresponds to the radius of the future flower garden. Place one peg in the center, and draw the required circle with the second pin.
- After marking the contours, you can start laying the material. The stones are placed deeply along the perimeter of the structure.
- For maximum structural strength, stones are best stacked in several layers.
For strength and stability, all structural elements must be fixed with glue or cement mortar.
How to make a flower bed of stones with a border
To arrange a flower bed with a border, you need to dig a trench for the foundation around the perimeter of the flower garden. Its depth should be at least 28-38 cm - it depends on the size of the boulders that will be installed on it.
After that, line the bottom of the trench with plastic wrap or roofing felt. Pour a layer of sand on top. Fill with roofing material with a cement mixture, and pour sand on top of 1/3 of the trench and compact it thoroughly.
When the concrete base has hardened, place the large blocks on it first and then the smaller ones. Fill the remaining gaps between the elements with concrete. For maximum strength and reliability of the structure, you can add a little gravel or crushed stone. A series of small openings left in the lower level of the structure will provide good ventilation.
The ground part of the structure must be made with a slight inward slope. Small cobblestones of approximately the same size are used for its decoration. To improve the aesthetic appeal of the flower garden, seal the remaining gaps with a solution from the inside. Remove the top layer of soil from the surface of the structure, fill drainage and cover with a layer of fertile soil. 3-4 days after the land subsides, you can start planting plants.
Brick flower bed
Using bricks is the easiest and easiest way to decorate a flower garden.
Arrangement of a flower bed is carried out in several stages.:
- mark the future flower garden with pegs and twine;
- dig a trench 23-25 cm deep along the planned trajectory;
- pour a layer of fine gravel and sand 8-12 cm thick on the bottom of the ditch;
- pour abundantly with water, tamp and level;
- to securely fix the brick, use a cement mortar prepared in a 1: 3 ratio;
- after that, perform the classic brick laying with an overlap of the next row by half of the bottom;
- do not forget to check the angle of inclination and flatness with the building level.
Backfilling with earth is carried out no earlier than 24 hours after laying the brick. This guarantees the strength and reliability of the structure.
A flower bed made of stone is a beautiful and bright accent of any landscape design. You can equip a stone flower garden with your own hands, using simple, reliable and affordable materials. Such a flower bed will surely become a decoration of the personal plot, emphasize its original and individual style.