There are many ways you can use decorative gravel and combining some together can be a nice way to define a consistent theme in your garden and make it look delightful with minimal effort and maintenance required.
Paths
Create a garden path using decorative gravel to guide visitors through your outdoor space, connecting a shed to a patio or your back door to your back gate. This can be a great way to enhance your back garden and separate areas using an inexpensive method. Adding an edging to keep the loose gravel from mixing with the surrounding grass or soil will help to insure that the path has a smart and sophisticated look and finish.
Garden Borders
Another way to use the material is to add it on top of topsoil in garden borders. It can happily sit on top of top soil around larger trees and shrubs without disrupting the plants. A good quality weed membrane is always advisable, it allows rain water can drain through and it helps prevent weed growth. Weed membrane can be purchased from Stones4Homes along with your chosen gravel or chippings. Using gravel can be a really good way to cut down on weeding and it can make a nice contrast with plants.
Fountains and Ponds
Using gravel at the bottom of a garden pond can provide an eye-pleasing addition to this water feature. It can create a more natural-looking pond, covering the plain black plastic lining that it may have when installed. Look out for the Fish Friendly sign on the Stones4Homes gravels and chippings or pebbles and cobbles.
Planting in Gravel
It is easy to add plants to gravel, with many plants flourishing in an environment that is less welcoming to weeds then basic topsoil. Lavender is a good option for a gravel garden, as it can easily grow in these conditions. Other popular options include euphorbias, cistus, santolina and phlomis. They provide plenty of nectar and pollen for visiting insects and are a beautiful addition to any garden.
Using shrubbery to define gravel borders can also create definition and structure. A mound-forming Spanish gorse called Genista hispanica or the spiky-leaved, red-blossomed Grevillea 'Canberra Gem' are good options when considering a suitable shrub for this purpose. It is also easy to plant bulbs in a gravel garden, with self-seeding plants such as Anemone Pavonina, crocuses and grape hyacinths popular choices.
You could also replace the decorative gravel with decorative pebbles or choose other decorative aggregates options such as slate chippings. Why not take a look at the options available at Stones4Homes and choose the one most suited to your garden and tastes?