Garden Design With Stones And Gravel

Stones or gravel define different zones in the garden in no time at all. And walls, terraces, bed borders or garden paths are only the beginning. Tips for garden design with natural stone, gravel and pebbles.

Herb spiral from stones

Do you love Mediterranean herbs? Then you should use stones to build a wall or spiral in which you can plant your favorite herbs. Thanks to the stones, the soil warms up and allows excess water to drain away quickly, creating the perfect feel-good climate for thyme, rosemary, sage, lavender & co. Choose a sunny spot for your herb spiral to mimic the Mediterranean climate. And another tip: so that you don’t have to plant new herbs every year, you can use perennial varieties.

Garden design with stones: tips for a harmonious overall picture.
Whether you want to sharpen your garden image stylistically or redefine individual areas – stones are extremely robust and a lively design element for your garden. The pool of stone types you can choose from for this purpose is immense: from sandstone as a budget solution to expensive marble, every gardener will find the right sparring partner.

With these ideas, stones will easily blend into the overall look of your garden:

As a natural embedding for beds and garden ponds.
Large, shapely stones as a resting point and eye-catcher
As stabilizing garden decoration for slopes
Ideal material for building privacy walls and garden walls
In addition to stones, gravel or pebbles also offer a wide range of uses. Gravel has the advantage of being relatively inexpensive, keeps the soil moist longer and can compensate for temperature fluctuations in flower beds. Don’t let its plain appearance fool you, gravel can serve very different functions in garden design:

As a substrate for Asian and Mediterranean gardens and stone beds.
As a formal structure provider of different garden areas
As a ground covering for garden paths through box and cottage gardens
For securing fireplaces
Plants that harmonize with stones and gravel
From Japanese garden art we know: Where gorgeous plants and stony barrenness meet, stunning images can emerge. The right selection from these two worlds conditions each other – because only drought-loving plants will feel comfortable between large stones and unfold their floral splendor. With these plants, the balancing act succeeds:

Shrubs

Dwarf berry (Gaultheria miqueliana)
Dwarf barberry (Berberis thunbergii)
Rocket juniper (Juniperus scopulorum ‘Skyrocket’)
Bell heather (Erica tetralix)
Bearded flower (Caryopteris)
Spanish broom (Spartium junceum)
Grasses

Heron feather grass (Stipa pulcherrima)
Quaking grass (Briza media)
Chinese reed (Miscanthus sinensis)
Bearfell Grass (Festuca gautieri)
Blue-green iris grass (Koeleria glauca)
Lamp’s wiper grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides)

Perennials

Creeping sage (Salvia nemorosa)
Mullein (Verbascum nigrum ‘Album)
Catmint (Nepata spec)
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
Cranesbill (Geranium)
Ground cover

Silver bugleweed (Cerastium tomentosum var. columnae)
Sunflower (Helianthemum nummularium)
Wall pepper (Sedum acre)
Carpet phlox (Phlox subulata)