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5 Steps To A Better Lawn And Garden
If you're lucky enough to have a lawn with a good topsoil base, much of the hard work of keeping a lawn beautiful is already done for you. But many of us do not have this luxury, and besides, even with a good topsoil base, you still have to work...
Bad First Impressions Will Turn Home Buyers Away
First impressions are very important when you are selling your home. In fact, making a good first impression can make all the difference. So be sure to present your home in its best light right from that very first time your prospective buyers set...
Enhance Your Home
Enhance Your Home By BatSheva Vaknin
Home furnishing can be difficult without the help of an
expensive interior designer. Choosing a style is hard enough,
but knowing how to create that style can be even harder! Use
these tips to create...
Growing Daffodils
In mid-March when winter blues overtake you and it’s hard to find a clear patch in the grey overcast above, I look out my front door and find a spot of sunshine in my newly growing daffodils. Growing daffodils is one way to get a good dose of...
Preserving Flowers From A Potpourri Garden
Fresh cut flowers all spring and summer are one of the bonuses of having a flower garden. Wouldn’t you love to extend that bonus throughout the year? By choosing the right flowers and learning methods of drying and preserving flowers, you can fill...
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7 Natural Stone Pebble Projects For Every Home
Natural stone pebbles are becoming extremely popular in homes
because of their wide range of colors and uses. Here are a few
ideas for use in your own home.
Japanese Gardens
Japanese Gardens and known for their peacefulness and
tranquillity. This style of garden uses specific plants as well
as rocks and water to create this effect. Often these gardens
are small in scale and are incorporated into an overall garden
design rather than being the whole garden.
Decorative Pots
Placing some pebbles around the top of a potted plant can make
indoor plants more attractive. Consider what part of the potted
plant you want to make the focus. You can use a decorative
ceramic pot as well. Decide whether you want matching or
contrasting colors in the pot and the pebbles you choose. The
pebbles and chosen pot should help focus your eye on the plant
you have chosen.
Vases
Pebbles are also very effective used in the bottom of vases.
Glass vases in particular look superb with some colored natural
stone in the bottom. The pebble base also helps hold the
arranged flowers in place. Decorative vases make great table
decorations for dinner parties.
Paths and Drives
Paths and drives become very low maintenance when covered with a
topping of small natural stone pebbles. The pebble size you
choose needs to take into account how the path or drive will be
used. Heavy car traffic or foot traffic areas need smaller
stones as they are more comfortable underfoot and better for
cars to drive over. Gravel drives and paths should have
retaining edging to hold the stones in place. Drives and paths
need to be topped up with extra stone occasionally. They are
very durable and much nicer looking than a plain old concrete
driveway.
Water Features
It seems now that everyone wants a garden water feature. They
can be very small or quite large and bold but always add an
element of tranquillity to any garden. When planning a water
feature you can incorporate
natural stone in a variety of ways.
Larger stones around the edge of the feature can add character.
Pebbles can also be used to cover the base of the water feature
and to cover up any cords or pumps that are used to power it.
Before choosing your stone remember to wet a sample as this is
how it will look in your water feature.
Ponds
The same rule applies with ponds to wet your sample and check
the colour of the stone. Natural stone is normally dusty when
collected and when the dust comes off the real color is
revealed. Ponds look great with built-up edging. You can use a
variety of materials including feature rocks, wood, metal and
many others. You can also mix and match various sized stones for
a more natural look.
Pebbles as Mulch
Mulching is something more gardeners are doing in the garden.
Basically it involves adding a layer of material over the top of
your soil to aid with water retention. This means less watering
which saves time and also water supplies. Not everyone has an
endless supply of water or the enthusiasm to maintain lawns and
pebbles are a great alternative, particularly in naturally dry
areas.
Weeding in garden beds is greatly reduced. It is quite easy to
pull the few weeds that attempt to grow among the pebbles. As
the plants mature and fill up the planting spaces there is less
room for weeds to find a place to grow.
To stop the grass from coming up through the pebble mulch paths
we have found that a heavy layer of newspaper and then a layer
of plastic or weed mat on top works very well. The newspapers
and the plastic help to retain moisture, another important
reason for mulching. On top of this plastic the pebbles that
were recently in the planting holes are spread in a thick layer.
Larger flat rocks are used as edging.
About the author:
Decor Pebble is a natural stone specialist. You can view their
full range of Australian natural stone pebbles at:
http://www.decorpebble.com.au/australian-natural-stone-pebbles.ht
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