Stone that is carefully placed brings life to a yard giving it a sense of elegance, beauty and functionality. However, carefully placing stone in your backyard to create a deck, steps, poolside or even a waterfall can be quite the tedious task and may be a task that it is too difficult for the standard homeowner. Yes, stone can be a DIY project, but if you want to ensure that you have a natural look, it is important to hire a professional in stonework to ensure that the project from start to finish is executed properly and the stonework is laid out accurately for a natural, elegant look.
Creating a Natural Look
For a natural look, stone should be used so that it does not appear out of the ordinary and instead as if it belongs there. This can be rather hard for a do-it-yourselfer to accomplish due to the fact that you are not equipped with the sufficient knowledge to lay stones in a way that they don’t just look like a pile of rocks.
In addition, in the creation of waterfalls, it is important that it is not just built from out of the ground. The reason for this is that it looks awkward – there doesn’t appear to be anywhere for the water to come from so it needs to look as though it is coming from a type of hillside in a sense.
Another way to create a more natural look and feel in the backyard is by bringing in ferns and plants to place around the placed stone. Approximately 25 to 30 percent of the backyard stone should be overlapped with plants, ferns, palm, etc. to bring all the landscaping materials together for a sense of beauty and authenticity.
Different Types of Stone
There are a number of different forms of stone available and each stone type has its own purpose. For example, when choosing stone for your backyard, you must consider all parallels such as the ability to withstand erosion and constant running water as well as the hardness of the stone and the ease of cut.
Granite is generally used as decorative stone and waterfalls due to the fact that it is hard to cut and shape, dense and durable. Sandstone can be created into flat, shallow slabs often known as flagstones due to its softer material, which can then be used poolside, pathways, steps, etc. Lower porosity varieties of sandstone may be used as water features. Limestone is soft, easy to cut, can resist erosion and is generally used in retaining walls and copings. Harder varieties of limestone can be used with waterfalls.