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Whether you are a landscape enthusiast or just want to make your garden more appealing to the eye, you know that pebbles and rocks of all types are your friends! We want to give you some easy tricks to make the most out of your rubble!
Here are 4 expert tips for decorating your garden with pebbles:
- Choose the right size.
- Choose a good color or colors.
- Plot out where you want the pebbles before implementation.
- Buy the right amount of pebbles.
Planning the perfect garden takes a lot of thought and preparation, and we are eager to help you start your journey. Let’s dive in!
1. Choose the Right Size
The size of the pebbles you put in your garden is entirely a matter of personal preference.
You may be thinking of itty-bitty stones or larger, more river-like pebbles. But if you plan to put the rocks near (or around) flowers and plants, you will have to take the size of the plant into consideration.
If you have primarily large plants in your garden, tiny pebbles might look tacky or out of place. Similarly, large stones will almost certainly overpower smaller plants and make them look scraggly.
To maintain the overall uniformity of the garden, you will want to pick a pebble size that brings more attention to your flowers, not less.
If you don’t intend to place the pebbles right next to your plants, you might have more size options. But if the plan is to have the rocks act as a separate display running parallel to the plants, then you can play around with the size however you please.
Once you have a visualized size in mind, you can begin to think about color!
2. Choose a Good Color or Colors
The color of the pebbles you choose is critical. Bright colors can take away from your flowers’ display or add a bit of playfulness to a bunch of greenery, whereas dark colors can add elegance or bring down the mood.
You will need to take stock of the colors that naturally occur in your garden and then decide which colors best compliment your preferred ambiance!
Most gardens have some mix of earth-toned rocks: gray, brown, tan, etc. Earth tones are always a safe bet because they add a touch of elegance and won’t divert attention from your greenery’s beauty.
If you want your pebbles to make more of an impression and not just become part of the background, you can think about adding white rocks in various places. It is essential to be careful with white stones since their brightness can easily overpower the garden.
You have a few options if you want to make your pebbles noticeable without going full white! One alternative is blending some white stones with other pebbles or adding a delicately painted rock or two around the leaves of your favorite plants! A ladybug, a sun, or a little message can be a cute addition to your display.
The whole idea is to play around with different colors until you find the perfect combination for your concept or garden design.
3. Plot Out Where You Want The Pebbles Before Implementation
Pebbles can go anywhere in your garden, but you will want to make a solid map of their placement so you can weigh the pros and cons of your intended concept.
No matter where you place them, you will have to clean up the area of loose rubble or dead leaves. While this can take some time, it is worth doing right!
Placing pebbles around your plants is always a classy choice, but you can also make little “rock rivers” next to the plants or the garden path.
It is best to draw a map of your garden on a piece of paper and experiment with different rock placements. You can also search for pictures of what other landscapers have done and model your garden off of their work.
The final decision is whether or not you want to place your rocks directly on top of the soil or have a small cloth divider. Stones can be very good for your ground – they can help lessen the effects of erosion, streamline drainage, and keep the soil safe from too much sunlight (source).
That said, it is absolutely fine if you want to lay down a cloth divider between your rocks and the earth.
4. Buy the Right Amount of Pebbles
Once you know how much square footage you want your pebbles to cover, it is time to think about how many rocks to buy.
You will want to do your best to purchase the stones in one batch since slight color or size differences can take away from your intended design. You also do not want to be stuck with a half-finished garden if the store runs out of your rock variety.
General consensus says you will need approximately 154-176 lbs (70-80 kg) of pebbles for minimum coverage of a one square meter area (source). You will probably want to buy a few more than this, though, since you want the pebbles to be more than just a thin layer.
Piled rocks are always lovely, so if you end up buying too few, it is better to lessen the overall area covered by pebbles in favor of shoring up a few key places.
The cheapest place to buy pebbles in bulk is probably Amazon, though you should check your local suppliers before making a final decision. If you end up with extra stones, you can always add them to your potted plants to spruce up their overall appeal!
Final Words
Though we give you general ideas for how to start putting in pebbles and where to go after, this garden is your own. You ought to decorate it however your heart desires! Light, dark, elegant, playful – do not let other people’s decisions change what you want to do.
At the end of the day, your garden will be healthier and prettier because of the pebbles you add as decorations. We hope this article has given you the knowledge and confidence to recreate your garden as you want it!
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