I work on the design side, and don’t do residential. I’m thinking g about doing something like this for my yard.
First stepping stones: best option would be pour in place right? I see large format porcelain pavers, but can’t imagine that’s the way to go with all the prep involved.
Rock: larger angular rock would work in between rocks and smaller angular rocks bleeding into the landscape. But I would absolutely regret putting in pea gravel going into the landscape and between pavers right? Love the way it looks but know it tends to migrate a lot.
Edging: Would do meadow plantings on either side would a steel edging be needed or just shovel edge it?
Thanks for all your inputs!
by Quercas
13 Comments
I’d do thermal bluestone or granite for the steps.
The gravel is part of the look. This is essentially a dry Mediterranean gravel garden look and doing it without the gravel doesn’t work or just putting an inch of pea gravel on rich loam won’t really work. And you’re right if you just do it at the steps it’ll migrate without edging, which is part of the look.
I’d do steel edging at the perimeter but within the path the plants and path should mingle
We did something similar on the side of our house. We used large pavers (not this large) and then filled with gravel. Do research on how to contain the gravel and if you have a dog going through this area, don’t.
How do you feel about chemicals? A landscape like this probably need herbicide and persistence to stay on top of the weeds. Especially if you have it nestled between two small ecosystems usually full of plants that propogate themselves. Thus creating more weeds. Meadows are usually very dense while the picture is a pretty sterile landscape.
What region of the country are you located? You can replicate this look, but do it within a regional context of materials. As far as the technicalities are concerned, clay soils can migrate up through gravel easily, so a geotextile layer is advisable in most parts of the country. Rain can make things move, so metal edging can help keep gravel from migrating. Managing slopes will be imortsnt as well. There’s a lot of variables to consider in how to pull this look offs. Just like modern houses, there’s more to it than meets the eye.
Sure I you don’t mind paying weekly maintenance of at least$350
Hi nice work
Olive trees look amazing with some uplighting. Also you can bury waterproof led strip under white gravel for a nice subtle path glow.
All your need is Romex. Trass bed system for under the porcelain, and yes, 2×4 porcelain slabs is the way to go. Then, use their Profi-deco stabilizer to keep the aggregate of you’re choosing in place for longer than you’ll need. 🤘
We have a similar setup in our [backyard](https://imgur.com/a/0ShIU19). This is the second summer. So far, the upkeep has been manageable. We put down heavy weed barrier before the gravel. In spring, I spend an hour or less each weekend clearing weeds. Once the rainy season ends, no new weeds. Zone 9b.
I think these stones are real slate stone or similar and anything manmade looks bad in comparison.
I love this look too for a pool or similar type area. A lot of subtle details may be hard to copy.
The movement in the pavers adds a nice natural look like a Japanese tobiishi garden path. But it needs to look natural and meandering not formulaic or random. Also there are a bunch of different sizes of pavers.
Another subtle thing is the way the olive trees have multi trunks and arch toward the path creating a tunnel type effect. It looks “scrubby” but in a good way. You don’t usually see this in American landscapes where everyone plants single trunk trees straight up.
I’ve designed and built a number like this for clients. We’re NW UK but can still do Mediterranean style planting if well chosen. I’ve used Indian sandstone, local uk sandstone, porcelain and Egyptian limestone for this look – cut to size depending on garden size but often 1×2 foot, 1x3ft or 1.5 x 3ft (well, their metric equivalent – 30x60cm etc … standard slab size here is 2x3ft/60x90cm). You need a weed control fabric under gravel, or stronger geotex stabilising fabric if your ground is unstable. If you can’t get any (it’s available everywhere here but different places are .. different) you can cut up old bulk bags. You cut spaces in the fabric to plant through. How you edge the gravel depends on various factors, but if you’re going to a planting area in a similar style then cementing in medium and larger rocks with smaller ones filling the gaps is a handy way. Also bonding plants that like growing through gravel like thymus serpyllum are a useful tool.
I have aggregates of both those sizes on my property, just not together like this. I’m sure they looked this good going in and the designer/installer got amazing photos like this for their portfolios. But I wish people who sell designs like these would come back in five years and retake those photos so their clients could see an honest representation of how they age.
If you live in southern California where it hardly ever rains and you’ve got no nearby trees that will shed some sort of organic matter all over these rocks all year, and you’ve got a gardener that comes twice a week to blow any debris from the olives out, and you’re comfortable with using herbicide, then this design will probably last 8-10 years. If you live anywhere else, this is 3-5 years from being the highest maintenance yard in the neighborhood. I spend more time weeding my fancy white aggregate patio than I do my actual gardens.