In the world of interior design and landscaping, natural stone pebbles have become the rage. Homeowners are following their lead and completing simple, inexpensive do-it-yourself projects that add greatly to the look of their homes and gardens. I know that when you think of natural stone you’re thinking brown or gray. If you are, you’ll be delighted to know how many colors natural stone pebbles come in. Read on for some ideas of how to use natural stone pebbles to enhance your home.
Japanese Gardens Add an Exotic Touch
You’ve probably seen pictures of lush, serene Japanese Gardens and know what a spectacular addition they can be for your yard. By recreating the exotic effects of traditional gardens, you can create your own oasis using Japanese plants, rock, and water. These areas are usually very small and can easily be incorporated into your landscaping plan.
Liven Up Your Potted Plants
Houseplants can be made to look even more special if you add some color with natural stone pebbles. You’ll see a difference even if you just put some pebbles around a plant you already have. You’ll find yourself more drawn to the display and the plant itself. You can also buy a fancy pot and start a new project from scratch. How simple, and how gorgeous!
Perk up Glass Vases
Adding pebbles to the bottom of a glass vase when arranging flowers can add real zip to your bouquet. Choose a subtle background color or one that will complement the bouquet, and you may be surprised what a difference that small change will make. Besides looking pretty, pebbles also make a base that will help keep flowers from moving around.
Treat Your Yard to a Water Feature
A water feature can be a very lovely addition to any yard. It doesn’t matter whether you build something large and flowing or small and tranquil, you’re going to find people stopping just to take a look. Natural stone can be used in a number of ways to enhance a water feature. You can add larger stones around the edge of the feature to make it look more finished and more rustic. Or, you can use the smaller stone to add color and to cover up the pump mechanisms that operate the water feature. Before buying your stone, however, request to look at a piece of it wet. That’s the real color your stone will look when you put it in water.
Pebbles Look Nice When Used as Mulch
Many homeowners these days are choosing to mulch. By spreading a covering of some material over the soil, you help the water retain moisture. This results in far less watering and expense on watering supplies. Maybe you have a limited water supply, or you might just not be an avid gardener, but you can use pebbles to save you a great deal of time and effort.
Since you aren’t going to want grass and weeds growing in your pebble path, start by laying down a thick layer of newspaper following a sheet of heavy plastic. This will help keep the moisture in the ground. Add a deep layer of pebbles on top of the plastic. Complete the path by adding an edging made of larger natural stones.