Plumbing

Decorative backfill for the garden. Decorative backfill for a garden plot

Ornamental plants are undoubtedly the main decoration of the garden, but there are also other materials that can be used to decorate the landscape.

These are various stones, fences, small architectural forms, as well as decorative dumping, which has become increasingly popular in recent years.

Its properties are so diverse that there are many ways to use it in the garden.

A variety of types, materials, colors can confuse you when choosing a backfill. Therefore, we will consider in this article all the main points on its selection and use in landscape design.

Characteristics of the main types

Decorative dumping, represented by bulk materials, is used for soil mulching for various purposes. All types are divided into organic and inorganic dumps.

Among the most popular organic ones are the following:

pine bark. It is very durable, does not rot for a long time, does not fade in the sun, and is also environmentally friendly and safe for humans and the environment. In landscape design it will look natural and harmonious.
Wood decorative chips, cedar husk. They can be painted in any color (done using eco-friendly paint), so you get a wide palette of colors for experimenting in the garden, but do not overdo it, everything should look harmonious and beautiful. For example, bright saturated colors are inappropriate for a landscape style, but they are perfect for paths and playgrounds.

However, there are also disadvantages of such dumping.- they are light, can be carried by the wind, and also have a short service life compared to inorganic materials. But the disadvantages are replaced by the main advantage - cheapness.

Everyone can afford to buy wood chips, since they are mainly a waste product of the woodworking industry.

It is necessary to use organic dumping with caution, since they are laid immediately on the ground and over time, the lower layer, rotting, can change the acid-base environment of the soil (mostly acidify) and its composition. However, for some plants this is a favorable factor, for example for rhododendrons.

If, nevertheless, you opted for this type of dumping, then it is advisable to add it annually to update the appearance and compensate for the rotted bottom layer.

Inorganic deposits are divided by origin into natural and artificial.

In the first case, the most popular are the following:

decorative gravel- represented by stones of various shapes of fine fraction, used to form the road surface, driveways, etc.;
rubble- obtained by crushing a stone of various breeds (marble, granite, slate, limestone, etc.), it looks like a crumb with sharp edges, corners, as well as different colors;
pebble- has a rounded shape, a smooth small stone, the most popular is sea pebbles, which, in combination with colored pebbles, gives a beautiful effect;
sand- a very fine fraction, sand from marble, quartz, shells, etc. is used in landscape design.

The advantages of these dumps are their durability, they do not crumble and do not fade, they retain their original appearance for a long time. In addition, they are easy to care for, as well as organic natural dumps keep the soil from excessive heating and do not interfere with water and air exchange.

Of the minuses, they note the difficulty of cleaning debris from their surface, so it is better to use them away from trees. After a couple of seasons, when dust, seeds, soil particles get into them, the dumps become silted and weeds may appear, but they can be easily weeded out or treated with herbicides.

From inorganic deposits of artificial origin, plastic, colored glass are isolated. They are laid on a pre-prepared base made of geotextiles, films, as well as dumping of natural origin.

Application in the garden

Decorative dumping is very popular and widely used in landscape design. With its help, you can significantly transform the site, supplement any composition of plants, and using it you can create a Japanese garden (“dry”), an alpine slide, a sandy garden, (without water, from coarse gravel).

Filling is widely used to create paths, patios, and also as mulch, for decorating tree trunks or as a replacement for a lawn.

Path from decorative backfill can be done by hand fairly quickly. To do this, it is necessary to dig a pit (shallow, 10-15 cm), cover it with geotextiles and pour backfill (7-10 cm).

It is better to strengthen the edges of the path with a stone or a special garden border. By the same principle, you can make any elements of the composition, combining with plants that are planted in a slot in geotextiles, and a lawn.

As an element of decor, you can use decorative dumping when creating stone screes on an alpine hill, in rockeries, when decorating the shore of a reservoir. In order to emphasize a certain plant, a filling is chosen that is contrasting in color.

Organic materials as mulch are a great solution for planting perennials. The backfill will fill the free space until the plants grow and cover the bare soil. It will also help retain moisture in the soil.

For 1 sq. m usually need about 50-100 kg of gravel, and wood chips or bark are half as much.

Dumps are various coatings of small stones, artificial materials. They are used to create patios, paths, "dry landscape" (in the Japanese garden), decorating flower beds.

The method of using dumping, otherwise called mulching, is useful for plants in that it helps to get rid of weeds, reduces soil temperature fluctuations during the day, reduces the evaporation of moisture from the soil, and prevents the formation of a crust on its surface. Many types of dumps (of organic origin) enrich the soil with useful substances, some of the dumps can even repel plant pests, for example, needles and sharp stones repel slugs.

Dumps from organic matter

Pine bark is the most commonly used mulching material. Its advantage is that it is environmentally friendly, does not lose its decorative properties for a long time and does not rot.

Also, cedar husks and wood chips, painted in different colors, are used for backfilling. Dumps from these materials are used for paving secondary garden paths, the soil surface in a mixborder. Organic bedding in mixborders should be laid at some distance from the plants. The backfill layer should be approximately 5-8 cm. A layer of geotextile is first laid on the weeded and loosened soil, and then a layer of mulch is poured. The dumping area is fenced off with a curb tape so that it does not spread.

Dumps from inorganic materials

The most popular of inorganic dumps is gravel dumping, consisting of crushed granite gravel of various fractions or sea (river) pebbles. This type of backfill goes well with plants and paving. The advantage of gravel dumping is that it is environmentally friendly, but there are also some disadvantages: weeds grow through it, it is difficult to clear snow in winter, fine gravel clogs the territory. To prevent weeds from sprouting through the backfill, it is necessary to lay geotextiles or polyethylene film with holes under it. To prevent gravel from scattering over the site, the edges of the dump can be strengthened with a curb stone.

With the help of gravel backfill, you can create various patterns using multi-colored gravel. The effect of movement can be achieved using smooth contours and curls.

Using artificial pebbles for backfilling, you can imitate rare rocks: serpentine or colored marble.

Other types of dumps

An alternative to the common types of dumping is colored glass, which will help to make an original composition in the garden. Colored bottle caps can also be used, especially for decorative filling around plants in raised beds.

In addition, they are used for backfilling: expanded clay, natural and artificial stone, plastic, sand.

Decorative backfill | Near the househttp://website/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/311_1-220x150.jpghttp://website/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/311_1-220x150-150x150.jpg 2019-01-04T20:18:28+00:00 Near the house Flower beds and lawns Backfills, coatingsDumps are various coatings of small stones, artificial materials. They are used to create patios, paths, a “dry landscape” (in a Japanese garden), and flower beds. reduces the evaporation of moisture from the soil, ...Near the house

The use of various decorative dumps in the landscape design of the site can completely transform the appearance of your property. A number of decorative compositions - a Japanese "dry" landscape, a rock garden or rockery, a sandy garden, a landscape pond - are almost unthinkable without some kind of dumping.

In addition, they can be used to create paths and patios, and for decorating flower beds, and for many other purposes. Mulching the soil under the plants protects it from excessive evaporation of moisture.

And using colored decorative chips in the garden, multi-colored glass, filling with crushed stone of various fractions and shades, you can achieve completely unusual effects.

organic dumps

Among the organic decorative dumps, the most popular are pine bark, cedar husks and wood (including painted) chips.

The advantages of pine bark include, first of all, a long service life: it does not rot for a long time (especially large fractions), does not burn out. In addition, such decorative filling is an environmentally friendly material that naturally fits into landscape compositions.

Cedar husks and wood chips are dyed in different colors and thus provide a wide field for experimenting with color in the garden. Staining of decorative wood chips is made with eco-friendly paints.

Of course, brightly colored wood chips should be used with caution in the garden: both the color of the mulch and the composition as a whole should be consistent with the environment. Excessively bright colors of colored decorative chips, for example, are out of place in landscape compositions.

But a variety of colors will allow you to create unusual colored soft paths or a colorful coating for a playground.

The disadvantages of the material include its relative lightness, due to which the filling can be carried by the wind.

An undoubted common plus of all organic dumping is their cheapness. These materials are inexpensive in themselves, and some of them (bark, wood chips) are by-products of woodworking industries.

The main disadvantage is a relatively short service life (compared to inorganic dumping).

Using decorative fillings of organic origin in flower beds, tree trunks, etc. - wherever they are laid directly on the ground - it should be borne in mind that the lower layer of mulch that rots over time changes the composition of the soil on which it lies.

Most organic fills acidify the soil. For some plants, this property of dumping can also be an advantage - for example, for lovers of acidic soils such as rhododendrons.

When laying the dump directly on the ground, it is advisable to add a certain amount of material annually - this will, firstly, preserve the appearance (colored chips may fade over time, the color becomes dimmer), and secondly, it compensates for the rotting of the lower layer.

inorganic deposits

Inorganic dumping includes crushed stone, gravel of various fractions, pebbles (river and sea), sands. Alternative types of dumping include materials of artificial origin - colored glass and plastic (multi-colored decorative "pebbles").

Gravel is a natural stone of small fractions of various shapes (both smooth and sharp-angled stones can come across). Gravel filling is used to decorate secondary garden paths, patios, and driveways.

Crushed stone is crushed stone chips, usually with uneven, sharp edges and corners. Crushed stone is made from stones of various breeds (it can be marble, shale, sandstone, granite, limestone), and, accordingly, can be of a wide variety of colors.

A pebble is a small smooth natural stone with rounded outlines. Sea pebbles with multi-colored pebbles are especially beautiful.

Sand is decorative dumping of the smallest fractions. Usually, the smallest fractions of one rock (quartz, marble) or small crumbs of mollusk shells (sea sand) are used.

The advantages of inorganic (natural) deposits are primarily in the long service life. Gravel filling does not burn out, does not crumble, does not change its appearance.

Stone dumps practically do not demand leaving. In addition, graveling prevents the soil from overheating and does not retain water.

One of the main disadvantages of such backfills is that it is quite difficult to remove accumulated debris from them (primarily tree litter), so it is better to place crushed stone paths and compositions with gravel backfilling away from trees.

Over time (over several seasons), inorganic dumps can become silted up, sand, soil particles and seeds can get into them. As a result, weeds appear on the covered surface (even on top of the geotextile).

However, they fall out quite easily. You can also use chemical herbicides (Roundup, Tornado, Hurricane, etc.).

Use of dumps in the garden

The most widespread decorative dumping received in the design of paths and patios. However, they can also be used as a decorative mulch in flowerbeds, as a low-maintenance alternative to lawns, and for decorating tree trunks.

To create paths, all types of decorative fillings (including organic ones) can be used. To form such a path, a shallow pit is dug, geotextiles are laid (to prevent weeds from sprouting from the soil), after which the backfill is poured.

The optimal layer is about 7-10 centimeters. So that the path does not “spread”, you can strengthen its edges - for example, lay them out with a stone of a larger fraction.

Using the same technology, large free spaces can also be decorated with backfill (as an alternative to a lawn or, for example, as an element of a Japanese dry garden). By combining dumping of different colors and fractions, you can achieve interesting effects.

To diversify the composition, you can add one or two expressive green plants to it. To do this, a crosswise incision is made in the geotextile, a plant is planted in the resulting hole.

In addition, dumping can also be used as elements of various decorative compositions - for example, to create "stone screes" on alpine hills, in rockeries, on the shore of a reservoir.

Sometimes dumping can serve to emphasize and highlight certain specific plants. In this case, it is a good idea to choose a backfill that contrasts in color with the foliage of the plant.

Decorative mulching with organic materials can also be an excellent option when establishing a garden and planting perennials. As you know, the first or second years after planting are traditionally losing for most perennials.

If you plant them at a distance that is optimal for their further growth and development, bare ground will inevitably remain between the flowers, which most gardeners do not like so much.

However, if you decorate these spaces, for example, with wood chips, then the “voids” will look like part of the design idea, and the garden as a whole will take on a complete look.

Decorative crushed stone (crushed stone) is used for filling paths and decorating flower beds, when making a stream and mulching the soil. A variety of shades makes it possible to create compositions for every taste.

We bring to your attention the wide range of a decorative crumb from a color stone.

Marble chips white (decorative gravel)

Marble chips white-blue (decorative gravel)

Marble chips gray-blue (decorative gravel)

Marble chips pink (decorative gravel)

Marble chips black (decorative gravel)

Marble chips honey (decorative gravel)

Decorative crushed stone Serpentine (decorative crumb)

Decorative crushed stone Jasper (decorative crumb)

Decorative crushed stone Flint red (decorative crumb)

Decorative crushed stone Flint pink (decorative crumb)

Decorative crushed stone Quartzite milky-beige (decorative chips)

Decorative crushed stone Olive quartzite (decorative chips)

Decorative crushed stone Golden-red quartzite (decorative chips)

Decorative crushed stone Black quartzite (decorative chips)

Decorative crushed stone Crimson quartzite (decorative chips)

Decorative crushed stone MIX from crushed stone (decorative chips)

Decorative crushed stone MIX red-red (decorative crumb)

Decorative gravel MIX pink-yellow (decorative chips)

Decorative crushed stone Felzit burgundy (decorative chips)

Decorative crushed stone diabase (decorative crumb)

Gravel (decorative gravel)

decorative sand

Decorative crumb (crushed stone) is a crushed stone of various breeds with sharp raw edges. Decorative gravel can be made from almost any mineral. In the process of crushing, crushed stone is divided into fractions (size of stones).

The most common used in landscape design are fr. 5-10mm, 5-20mm, 10-20mm, 20-40mm.Gravel - a natural material, is a round grain size of 5-70mm and a smooth surface; rounded fragments of rocks with a particle size of 1-2 to 10-20 mm, less often up to 50 mm. The variety of minerals present in the composition of different types of gravel gives it a variegated color. In the process of extraction and processing, gravel is also divided into fractions: 5-20mm, 20-40mm, 40-70mm. Due to its low cost, it is indispensable, if necessary, to decorate large areas.Decorative sand is also often used for filling and decoration. Basically, these are particles of quartz with impurities of other rocks. For filling, decorative sand fr.1-3mm, 3-5mm is used. Decorative sand will be appropriate to use to create Japanese gardens.

ATTENTION! When wet, the color of decorative natural stone chips becomes more saturated, brighter.To arrange a flower garden with crushed stone, the layer thickness should be about 5 cm. For this, you will need 50 kg of crushed stone per 1 m2 of the area covered.

Decorative dumping is called bulk materials of various fractions used for decorative soil mulching. It can be stone chips, large and small gravel, pebbles, shells, sand, wood chips (including painted), bark, pine nut shells, as well as artificial decorative “pebbles” made of glass or plastic.
The use of various decorative dumps in the landscape design of the site can completely transform the appearance of your property. A number of decorative compositions - a Japanese "dry" landscape, a rock garden or rockery, a sandy garden, a landscape pond - are almost unthinkable without some kind of dumping.