Crushed rock creates a low-maintenance, peaceful style that unifies the yard’s many sections.Though it’s so simple, one of landscape designer Margie Grace’s favorite materials is hardly given any attention. “I’m in love with gravel,” she declares. “It feels so timeless and earthy, and you know the soil is breathing beneath it.” Gravel serves as the design’s base in the yard around her and partner Dawn Close’s ranch home in Montecito, California. Grace developed an area that is drought-tolerant, laidback, and surprisingly soft-looking by blending the cloth with airy grasses and plants. “I really, really wanted to crack the nut on water,” said Grace. (Although there is seldom any rain in her region all year round, drought conditions may arise anyplace in the nation.) “I wanted a rich impression with very little water use.
When Grace moved home, the backyard was a stretch of parched grass; she also wanted to figure out a way to cut it into several garden rooms. Now, to discrete dining and sitting places, gravel walks and barefoot-friendly concrete pavers meander amid the large oak trees, softly undulating grasses, and structural succulents. An outside stone patio reduces the possibility of gravel being tracked into the home.
Grace recognizes the unique qualities of each plant, such as the golden grasses, even if she employs less than many designers may (“A way to use less water is to use less plant material,” she adds). “Right around 5 o’clock there’s a beam of light that comes through the seed heads, and it’s frickin’ magic,” she continues. “The show is over in seven minutes, but it’s worth organizing your day around.”
Grace plants a few water-wise flowers for beauty, but the bulk of her garden is covered in leaves. She particularly like vivid orange California poppies blended with fern leaf lavender, which self-seeds every year. (Get a similar effect by using garden poppies that are appropriate for your growing zone.)
The Gravel’s Dirt
Gravel is a flexible component that works well with many different garden types, including sleekly modern, cozy and informal, and Versailles-level formal. The material acts as calming negative space and attractively unifies various yard sections. Practical uses include driveways, walkways, and mulch planted with hardy grasses, as Grace does. It is less permanent than concrete, versatile, and reasonably priced.
- Select Vibrant Colors
There are many different hues of gravel, such as cold grays and tawny browns. Grace takes all the materials she intends to use to the gravel selection process so the colors blend harmoniously. “I get a chunk of the paving stone I’m going to use into the back of the car,” she continues. For driveways, she suggests crushed gravel, but for locations where leaves would be blown off, she suggests bigger pebbles, at least 3/8 inch.
- Install Safely
Although gardeners in rainier climates should apply a foundation layer of landscaping fabric to keep the gravel out of the muck, Grace puts gravel straight on soil. Firm and level the dirt to get it ready. Gravel that is between half and one inch thick is enough. It’s too deep if you can clearly see footsteps in it. Choose stone pavers or smooth concrete in areas where people will be walking barefoot.
- Preserve the Surface
Gravel is a good mulch, but weeds may still grow through it. Grace pulls them out with a stirrup hoe once a month or so, harvesting them before they go to seed. Raking gravel sometimes maintains it tidy, and blowing leaves a few times a season helps remove fallen leaves. Restock areas that seem thin and get a lot of activity every few years.