When you are planning to build a patio, retaining walls, steps, walkways or any other hardscape feature to enhance your outdoor space, you will be faced with a plethora of materials with which to build. When you are choosing hardscape materials, it comes down to what you are looking for in terms of aesthetics, purpose and budget. Does it match your house and existing hardscape features? Is it as durable as it needs to be? Is it within your cost limits? Does it look how you imagined it? It can be easy to get overwhelmed by all the products and options available. The following are some of the most common hardscape materials and the pros and cons of using them as your building materials:
Concrete Pavers
Man-made concrete pavers are the bread and butter of hardscapes. They have a uniform, clean look, and most often are either brick, clay or concrete. There are many projects where it makes more sense to build a patio with concrete pavers rather than natural stone, especially if the patio will be close to the house. Laid pavers fit tightly together and have a smoother surface, making the patio quite easy to walk on without tripping or turning an ankle in a gap. If you are going to host parties and family gatherings on your patio, you will want this even, clean surface. Paver patios can look gorgeous as well. There are many variations in pavers’ patterns, looks and colors. They are even some pavers made to look like a wood surface. As for labor and cost, concrete pavers are the easiest to lay or pour. Because they fit so tightly together, concrete pavers are preferred for building large retaining walls or tall patio walls to ensure sturdiness.
Natural Stones
Natural stone is inherently beautiful, and its tones and textures vary from batch to batch. There is certainly a time and place for natural stone; we use it for 90% of our water features as it results in a pond or waterfall that appears to be part of the original landscape.
There are many options within natural stone types, though because it is generally more labor-intensive to mine from the ground and haul, natural stone will likely be more expensive overall.
Choosing amongst the different kinds of natural stones will depend heavily on aesthetics and function. Their irregular shapes and variegated appearance are their points of beauty, but can also be a problem if you need a smooth surface. Natural stone does not tend to be the first choice for building a large retaining wall—however, you can also use retaining boulders if you don’t need something quite as extensive as a retaining wall. We scatter natural stone boulders to slow down erosion, and the look is organic and aesthetically appealing.
Types of Natural Stone
Granite—This heavy and expensive material looks gorgeous as a water feature. We have used granite as decorative boulders and even created fountains out of recycled granite counter tops.
Sandstone—This versatile material can be used anywhere, even as pavers, and can be made to fit about any size you want. We love using sandstone to build sturdy steps and walls. We find large sandstone steps look great even 10 or 15 years down the road; its bright warm color draws the eye, and it easily matches man-made materials and well as other natural stone.
Flagstone—A reliable and popular material to use, we see this stone everywhere in many different projects. It usually has an irregular shape and is bound to have gaps if laid as a flat surface.
Limestone—Generally, this stone is used for walls. It is also irregular, but can be more uniform than flagstone.
Blue Stone—This material is usually expensive and often used for patio surfaces, as it can be cut to uniform shapes like concrete pavers. Another natural stone, slate, is basically the less expensive version of blue stone.
Travertine—This hardy, upscale material has an elegant, luxurious look to it. Travertine weathers well, like marble, but is more durable. We use it for patios and pools. One of our favorite combinations is travertine and red clay brick; they have a lovely contrast with each other. Various grades of travertine are available; the higher grades have less imperfections, but are of course more expensive.
There will be more cost-effective options when choosing between man made and natural stones, but you should not be limited to only one or the other in any situation. For almost any look you can dream up, the landscape business has the materials to get you there. Your main concern is making sure it looks good with your house, matches your surrounding landscape and fits your personal tastes. Here at Eagleson Landscape Company, we have built a lot of experience creating hardscapes of all kinds. If you need help with your hardscape project, send us an email or give us a call at (317) 997-4803.
Eagleson Landscape Company provides landscape and hardscape services in the Greater Indianapolis area, including Carmel, Zionsville, Westfield, Fishers and Geist.
