Whether made of concrete, stone, tile, or some other hardscape material, patios are a wonderful way to tie the indoors with the outdoors. An interesting alternative to lawns is the extended patio—an enlarged patio that takes up space where lawn grass would otherwise be planted. Such a patio minimizes yard maintenance and cuts down on your watering needs.
Separating the street from your lawn Lining the sides of a driveway Marking property corners or boundary lines Enclosing vegetable gardens or flower beds Preventing erosion or terracing a slope with retaining walls
These ideas only hint at the possible choices and challenges when planning stone walls. One of the most obvious of your initial decisions is whether or not to use mortar to hold the rocks in place. If you are using round rocks, you have little choice but to use mortar. Round rocks are not as stable as flat rocks, and mortar is needed to keep them from moving. On the other hand, do not over-do the use of rocks in landscape design, no matter how stable they are. Make sure that you use plenty of plants in your design in order to soften the look of the rocks, which can be a bit harsh if there are no plants around. There are many factors to keep in mind when building retaining walls. If the wall will be small and simple (with no tricky angles), it may be doable as a DIY project. But large and complex walls should be left to professionals. Examples of short plants that can serve in this role include:
Moss Creeping thyme Miniclover white clover
By contrast, flagstone is a building material that has a lot of variety to it. The stones are irregular in shape and come in different colors. When building flagstone walkways, there is no need to install plant material in the cracks between the flagstones.
