Rocks are an integral part of landscaping. Sometimes they are not only part of the landscaping but the entirety with no plants at all. Whether you are looking to add some unique lava rocks to your yard as artistic decoration or if you want to do a complete rock garden, this article will lead you in the right direction.
Have a lush green yard but it’s a little boring? Adding lava rocks could add some interest. Sometimes you can find fairly large unique pieces. These can be used as garden art. Since lava rocks vary so much in size, color, and shape you can really get creative with your design. Perhaps you’d like a group of rocks to place together. Select some of different size so you can place the smaller ones in front of the larger ones, like the way a photographer poses groups of people to get a nice picture. This way they will look like an artistic collection.
Want a more natural approach? Try placing lava rocks throughout your yard. Put a couple around the garden, one or two by a tree, your best looking one near the house entrance, etc. So everywhere you go there will be a surprise of a lovely lava rock. This kind of decorating gives the yard a natural and grounded look but you still get to display a whole collection.
Lava rocks are ideal for water features. You can easily place them around a small pond. They are great for hiding hoses and water pumps since they tend to be lighter weight than other rocks. If you have a stream running through you yard, lining lava rocks either along side it or even in the water way will give it that natural babbling brook feel.
Do you like the gravel sized lava rocks best? These work great as mulch. Plant your flowers and plants then carefully surround them with a layer of lava rocks. This will help keep the weeds away making less work for you and a picture perfect flowerbed. You could choose red lava rocks for added color to your yard or simple charcoal black for a feeling of depth.
So you weren’t blessed with a green thumb and your yard looks sparse and desolate? Who needs plants when you can make a Japanese Zen rock garden. Depending on the size of your yard this can be a big project, but over time it will take less work than the upkeep of plant based landscaping. Lava rocks are great for this type of project. Buy enough gravel sized rocks to cover your entire outdoor space. Spread them out evenly. Then you need some larger rocks for decoration. It only has to be a few since Japanese Zen gardens are about simplicity. Place these larger rocks where you like them through out the space. Now comes the “Zen” part. You are supposed to rake patterns into the gravel. You can use just about any rake, just find one that is comfortable in your hand and it strong enough to handle the gravel. It may seem like a waste of time, but this will really make your yard of gravel a piece of artwork. You need to do long even strokes to achieve a serene look. Be sure to do this while walking backwards so you won’t leave footprints in your masterpiece. The rake strokes don’t have to be straight. You can do long straight lines but circles and waves are commonly seen in Zen gardens as well. It’s more about raking the entire space and having it look appealing. The end result will look like water running down a river or rain drops on a pond, or some other peaceful image so keep this end result in mind when deciding what kind of strokes to use. This really is a very attractive way to landscape. If you’d like to take it a step farther get researching and learn what the different rocks and rake strokes mean, then do your landscaping by what is spiritually best for you. You make this into your new stress relieving hobby.
Some people skip the Zen part and just landscape by filling their yard with lava rocks. You do as above but skip the raking part. Talk about easy to take care of! If you tend to walk through your yard a lot this rock landscaping is for you. You won’t have to worry about messing up your labor intensive rake lines. However, without the artistic Zen raking you will probably want to invest in more decorative large rocks for aesthetic appeal.
Another advantage of lava rock is that it doesn’t trap heat as much as dense rocks do. Lava rocks have little holes through out (this is just the way the lava dries). So if you are concerned about the rocks you are using for landscaping becoming very hot (especially in the summer) you may want to choose lava rocks.
