DIY flower beds: photo

A beautiful and well-groomed yard is the pride of every owner. To put it in order, you have to spend a lot of time and effort both on restoring order and on arranging the territory. Very often, the choice of many home owners is stone beds that fit into almost any landscape design and do not require too complicated arrangement. It can be quickly done on your own, without even resorting to the help of designers or gardeners, especially if you have experience in planting various plants.

The choice of stone for flower beds

On any site, flower beds made of stones look stylish and organic, combined with plants of various types. Most often, the following rocks are chosen for the equipment of such a base for landing:

• Limestone. It has pleasant natural shades, the palette of which varies from a yellowish-cream color to a pink or blue undertone. Thanks to this, a flower bed made of stones with your own hands using limestone turns out to be beautiful and natural. Due to porosity, the material cracks over time, especially with constant exposure to external factors, but this problem can be solved if you plant your flower garden with ground cover plants or mosses, and also fill the cracks that have appeared with earth;

  

  

• Sandstone. This natural stone also has a porous structure, the destruction of which occurs quite quickly. Its advantages lie in the variety of shades of a natural character, as well as good breathability, but a flower garden made from such a stone will not last too long.

  

  

  When using sandstone, not only beautiful flower beds are obtained, it is also good to use it for arranging paths in the garden or in the garden.

• Volcanic tuff. Unlike the previous ones, this breed is distinguished by high strength and durability, and thanks to a large palette of shades (purple, pink, orange, black, white, etc.), it can harmoniously complement almost any design.

  

  

• Slate. The layered structure and flat shape allow you to choose original design options for a slate flower bed. This durable and strong stone is characterized by high water resistance, plasticity, resistance to various chemicals, fungus and mold.

  

  

  With the help of slate, a stone border is most often made for a raised flower bed, but options are not excluded when it is used as a decorative element.

• Granite. Natural stone, characterized by beauty and nobility, strength and durability, but also relatively high cost. It is used in the design of flower beds, but it should be borne in mind that granite can significantly acidify the soil, so it is used in combination with other species, and a careful selection of plants is also made.

  

  

• Quartzite. This stone is distinguished by a beautiful natural color and brightness of shades, it is practical and durable, and is often used to decorate flower beds in household plots and adjacent areas.

  

  

• Basalt. It is beautiful and durable, although some of its roughness and dark tones add zest to every flowerbed decorated with such a stone.

  

  

• Pebbles It is widely used in landscape design for both stone beds and other decorative needs. It looks beautiful in any exterior, and practicality, durability and strength make it in demand among the owners of country houses and cottages. Stones turned by water, smooth and pleasant to the touch, will please the eye.

  

  

  When arranging a flower bed, the pebbles used are often placed on a cement mortar, especially small pebbles. Large stones can be laid and simply in the ground, or laid out in an embankment.

• Dolomite. A natural mineral that will stylishly accentuate the design of any flower bed, it is used more for decorative purposes.

  

  

Flowerbeds with stones, photos of which are presented in the video, are characterized by the use of a wide variety of types of stones.

In addition to natural stone, brick or other types of artificial material are often used in the design of flower beds, with which you can also make the original design of the local area.

Features of flower beds, in the design of which there is a stone

Among the main features of using stones for a flower bed, their undeniable advantages should be noted, such as:

• Availability. Both natural stone and artificial stone can be both purchased at a fairly low price, and found, and then it will generally cost free, saving money;
• Easy to work with material. Independent construction of a flower bed from a stone does not take much time, and does not require special skills or abilities;
• Originality and originality of design. Each owner of a land plot, engaged in arranging this type of flower bed on his territory, creates a unique style and appearance that is unlike others;
• Durability. Many of the breeds are not subject to destruction for decades, they are not afraid of the effects of chemicals and harmful substances, they are not afraid of temperature changes and the change of seasons;
• Environmental safety for human life. Stone, especially natural, being a natural material, does not have synthetic components in the structure, or any harmful substances, and may even be useful.

The stone looks beautiful in any interior style, standing out for its elegance and respectability, suitable for any landscape and in some cases helps to create masterpieces where space is limited and there is no possibility of complex construction activities.

Design Options

Among flower beds with stones in the structure, there are such basic options for design and arrangement of structures:

• Simple flower bed, regular geometric shape, in which the stone is used to equip a curb or fence. Typically, such a landscape element occupies a small place and can be located in any convenient place on the site.

  

• Raised flower bed. Such a flower garden can become a bright accent of any garden. This structure can be multi-tiered and is often used to design a site with soil unsuitable for planting. On such a plot with covered land, even the most exotic trees or shrubs can be planted, since the soil is selected separately;

  

  A raised flower bed is characterized by such disadvantages as drying out of the soil, which can be eliminated by installing a drip irrigation system.

• Gabion. Such a flower bed is a fence of the most diverse forms, made of mesh. In the case of using natural stone for filling, you can make an interesting pattern if you use material of different shades and colors. The main advantage of the gabion flower bed is an excellent drainage system, which is very important for the optimal conditions in which the plants will grow.

  

• Rockery. It is an artificial imitation of a mountain meadow, along the plane of which small pebbles (pebbles or limestone) are scattered, along the perimeter or edging of such a flower bed, large boulders are most often located, which can be dug into the ground for greater stability.

  

• Alpine slide – also one of the popular ways to arrange flower beds on the site, using stone. Outwardly, such a creation resembles, as it were, a rocky slope created by nature. For planting in such a flower bed, mountain plants are chosen, which are distinguished by a developed root system;

  

• Terrace or multi-level slope is also popular not only with designers, but also with those who create beautiful flower beds in their yard. The walls of such a slope are usually finished with granite or basalt, which are distinguished by high strength.

  

• Japanese garden. The style of such a flower bed is distinguished by a small amount of vegetation and the presence of moss. The space between the stones covered with moss is filled with small pebbles, and the flower bed itself is usually arranged in a shady place in the yard.

  

DIY flower beds, the photos of which are presented in the video, look stylish and beautiful.

Location rules

A competent choice of the location of the flower bed will largely help to avoid unpleasant moments, as well as create harmony in the landscape design of the site:

• The convenience of the location implies free access to the flower bed, as well as a comfortable organization of irrigation. In the case of arranging a massive structure, it should be assumed that it will be quite difficult to move it without dismantling;
• Depending on the type of site and the location of the soil, the following features of some flower beds should be taken into account: it is more preferable to place the gabion along the wall, the alpine slide looks pretty on the open lawn, the raised flower bed will help decorate the central part of the large lawn in an original way, rockeries are demanding on a flat surface;
• You should carefully select the plants that will be planted in the flower bed so that they blend well with each other, and also have similar care rules.

Do not forget that it is easier to equip one large flower bed than to create several small ones, and it is also necessary to take into account the compatibility of such a structure with the overall design of the yard or plot.

The sequence of work in self-production

How to make a flower bed of stones is shown in the video using the example of arranging rockeries:

Self-production of flower beds with the use of stone requires the following activities:

• A sketch of the future flower garden drawn on paper. This will help to present live what should be the end result, as well as choose the best place for the location of the flower garden, and help in calculating the necessary material;
• Further, the marking of the territory of the flower bed is carried out, and the perimeter of its borders is outlined in a convenient way;
• The selected place is cleaned of dust and debris (depending on the type of flower bed, it may be necessary to remove the top layer of soil);
• To equip a border of stones around the perimeter of the flower bed, where it is supposed to be, a trench about 25 cm deep is dug, and a sand and gravel cushion is laid on the bottom of it, which is poured with concrete, with the condition that the formwork rises above the ground by about 10 cm;
• After the mortar has hardened, you can proceed with the installation of the ground part of the structure – the first row of stones is fixed with cement mortar, and, depending on the need, is laid in one or more layers (the thickness is chosen independently), the rows should be laid until the required height of the flower bed is reached;
• In the inner space of the flower bed, a drainage system is made, on which the finished soil is laid, in accordance with the type of planted plants;
• Several days are allotted for subsidence of the soil, after which they begin to plant green pets.

Interesting options for self-manufacturing stone flower beds are shown in the video:

Each flower bed made of stone is unique and original, and the complexity of its installation and arrangement depends on the type of construction, as well as the plants chosen for planting and the area on which it is installed. If you are going to build a stone flower bed on your territory, it is quite possible to do without the services of a landscape designer, knowing all the nuances and rules of arrangement, as well as the features of such an element of the yard. A self-made flower bed will bring a lot of joy and become an indispensable source of pride, confirming the taste and abilities of the owner.