Beautiful Garden Design Ideas with Stone

Garden ideas with stone, natural stone makes excellent pavers

Posted: 30/11/2016 in Garden Design

Hardscaping elements, like stone, harmonise the outdoors space with the property and provide structure and an integrating medium to the garden design. Patios, paths, steps and retaining walls connect and support, but they also create attractive textures, contrasts, patterns and colours.

Natural stone makes excellent pavers because it is versatile, reliable and durable and truly lovely, changing colour at certain times and as it ages, and weathering beautifully.

Unlike composite materials such as concrete or brick, which are manufactured, a quarried stone is extracted from the earth, then split, cut or crushed, to produce different shapes, sizes, textures and tints. Each stone has its character, adding further interest to the garden scheme.

Natural stone is also prized for its durability. Installed properly, it can last through the centuries, needing little maintenance. The texture of natural stone is ideal for providing grip, too, as pores in the rock are better attraction than other surfaces.

Its natural beauty, wrought through geological ages, makes the stone a versatile hardscaping element, with different textures and colours ideal for paths, borders, benches, water features, statuary, pergolas, retaining walls, planters and any conceivable feature, exuding a timeless appeal rendering it a popular choice among garden owners.

York stone, known as London's paving stone, remains a top paving material in gardens. York stone provides a classic, traditional touch to a scheme.

Slate, meanwhile, can be formed into thin sheets without compromising its hardness because of its laminar (flat) construction. Slate is desirable as a landscaping material because it is easy to shape and comes in a wide range of colours, from the usual dark greys, blues and purples to practically any hue streaking through a tile, depending on the stone's mineral composition. It has an appealing, soft texture and subtlety that can work well with both classic and contemporary garden designs.

Limestone is mainly used today as flooring but is sought for its clean and elegant appeal and its durable properties, having the ability to withstand climate factors. Although limestone colours are limited, there are varieties in grey, blue, yellow, pink, black and cream. Limestone has fine grains, a smooth texture and is even-coloured, creating a very luxurious effect.

With its timeless beauty and exceptional durability, granite is a superb paving choice. It comes in a vast array of colours and finishes, from black, white, mauve and grey, indeed, the widest range among paving stones, and in polished, honed, thermal or diamond finishes. Granite can be customised into different shapes and patterns. As it is quite expensive, landscape designers usually use granite setts (brick-shaped pieces) as decorative or inset accents.

Gravel provides great texture contrasts to a scheme and is easy to install. It is also highly affordable and suited to projects with a limited budget.

Porcelain paving, meanwhile, is increasingly a popular choice for its lightweight and water- and weather-resistant properties while providing good grip.


To provide you more inspiration and ideas, we've rounded up 10 of our garden with stones. Choose your style!

ELEGANT AND FORMAL GARDEN
Sawn Yorkstone enhanced both the traditional and modern elements of this stylish formal garden with a contemporary twist. The stone's subtle pale buff colour, seen in the patio's random-laid paving edged with Yorkstone tumbled setts, and on the walls and centrepiece raised rill, was a sophisticated contrast to the vibrant planting. CEDA gravel, which gives a firm gravel surface, provided beautiful texture to the walkways.

Garden Designer Surbiton
Designed by Lynne Marcus

BEAUTIFUL GARDEN PUTNEY
This charming town garden used black granite as one of its many contrasting surface textures, providing a graceful complement to the hardwood decking and oak sleeper walling. Large granite slabs on the walkways were surrounded by gravel. The front garden also features a gravel driveway.
Beautiful Garden Putney
Designed by Paul Anthony

CONTEMPORARY FAMILY GARDEN
The front garden of this lush modern outdoors space features beautiful sawn sandstone paving and bull-nosed sawn sandstone on the steps, giving the area a warm, vibrant edge. The walkways are laid with resin-bonded gravel.
Formal Contemporary Garden
Designed by The Garden Builders

CITY GARDEN DESIGN LONDON
This charming, orchard-inspired city garden achieves its romantic, classical look with large, reclaimed 'cathedral-grade' Yorkstone stepping stones complemented by sedum.
City Garden Design London
Designed by Maitanne Hunt

KENSINGTON COURTYARD DESIGN
The small courtyard garden is livened with a space-enhancing flooring of elegant 600 x 600 Vratsa (Bulgarian) limestone slabs niftily inlaid with black pebbles.
Kensington Courtyard Design
Designed by Maitanne Hunt

PENTHOUSE ROOF GARDEN
Breathtaking roof garden with different, exciting zones, includes a pond and glass water feature that is bordered by vari-sized pebbles and cobbles. 
Penthouse Roof Garden
Designed by by Andy Sturgeon

SMALL FAMILY GARDEN
Slate paving, which is robust and durable and easy to maintain, adds sleekness to this modern family outdoor room.
Family Garden Richmond
Designed by The Garden Builders

WIMBLEDON FAMILY GARDEN
The formal dining terrace of this multi-purpose family garden features slate paving contrasted with strips of basalt paving.
Wimbledon Family Garden Design
Designed by The Garden Builders

CHIC ROOF TERRACE DESIGN ST. JOHN'S WOOD
This vibrant roof terrace inspired by the South African savanna features porcelain paving supported on pedestals, providing sleek flooring that is impermeable to water, and completely resistant to freeze.
Roof Terrace Design St John's Wood
Designed by The Garden Builders

LARGE SOPHISTICATED GARDEN
This grand, stately garden is paved with luxurious Scout Yorkstone to match the interiors of the property. Scout Yorkstone is a high grade sawn Yorkstone with a blue-grey and buff brown colouring.

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