Figures, topiaries, lights - all great elements to enhance a garden. But that also works with decorative gravel. Here are our tips for choosing the right type of gravel.
A garden is a place of rest and relaxation and should be well cared for and designed accordingly. As far as the latter is concerned, you can give your creativity free rein here and design your garden according to your own ideas. For example with decorative gravel. This is now offered in a wide variety of colors and grain sizes in well-stocked garden stores, which opens up a whole new design option within the garden beds.
You can use ornamental gravel to create beautiful motifs and/or ornaments in the garden bed, although this work requires a little artistic skill and of course a lot of stamina. But this is only one advantage of decorative gravel. The spreading of decorative gravel in the garden bed also keeps the growth of fine weeds in check, or makes them less visible.
So here are a few tips for choosing the right variety, color and grain size.
Tips for choosing the type of gravel
➤ Tip 1 - choose the right color:
Decorative gravel looks particularly neat in its natural coloring and is therefore often offered in shades of red, white and black (including shades of grey). However, colored ornamental gravel varieties can also be purchased more and more frequently. The decorative gravel is offered, for example, in the colors green, blue, orange, purple, etc. and sometimes even with a glitter effect.
We even offer colorful mixtures in natural as well as special color nuances. Some suppliers even allow you to mix ornamental gravel yourself within their range. Billing is then based on weight, variety or size.
The color you should choose now always depends on the style in which you have laid out your garden. For example, orange decorative gravel goes well with a Western-style garden, black decorative gravel with a Japanese style and white decorative gravel with a cottage garden.
➤ Tip 2 - choose the right variety:
Quartz and river gravel are certainly among the most common types and are offered relatively inexpensively. On the other hand, ornamental gravel mixtures made of, for example, granite stones, shell limestone, gneiss, slate or the like are more expensive.
In the open field, you should always avoid using broken glass on paths, as there is a risk of injury if they break. For flower beds, bowls, etc., this decorative pebble, which glitters attractively when the light hits it, is absolutely recommendable. In addition, phosphorescent ornamental pebbles are increasingly being offered (partly made of plastic), which spread an almost magical light magic in the garden at night.
➤ Tip 3 - choose the right diameter:
The sizes of individual ornamental gravel mixtures are usually based on the diameter of the stones contained and their shape (round gravel, chippings, etc.). The diameters for fine mixtures are between around 8 and 30 millimeters and for coarse mixtures between around 30 and 80 millimeters and larger. Depending on the manufacturer, more precise size information is of course also available (better sorting) and sometimes different sizes are even offered within the same varieties.
So it's best to think about which grain sizes would work best in your garden. When designing beds (e.g. on a slope), the deliberate arrangement of different stone sizes can become a great eye-catcher.
➤ Tip 4 - Lay out stabilization mats:
Special stabilizing mats are available from specialist retailers, which you can lay out directly under the gravel fill. The advantage of these stabilization mats is that weeds can no longer grow through them and the decorative gravel fills are kept clean for an immensely long time. Stabilization mats are therefore a kind of garden fleece or weed fleece.