It is they who help to set off the green space of the lawn advantageously and at the same time — to bring a pleasant variety to the design of the territory and create your own country world. Which objects should be preferred?
1. Stones
Let’s start, perhaps, with a win-win combination, appropriate for any garden — grass and stone. It is not difficult to play out such a scenario in the suburban space. In addition, there are a great many possible variants of its embodiment. Supporters of minimalism can decorate the lawn with a picturesque boulder or rock, and also compose a concise and at the same time incredibly attractive rockery, assembled from stones of a wide variety of rocks.
The largest and most spectacular boulder is placed in the center of the composition, and smaller ones are placed around, creating the illusion of a mountain landscape.
Which stones to choose for the garden
- Granite fits seamlessly into high-altitude compositions and alpine slides, and pellets will be an excellent material for creating a rocky landscape. The stone has a granular structure and a rich color palette. The most popular options are gray (from almost black to greenish-blue) and red (of any shades and degree of variegation).
- Gneiss is very similar to granite, but it is easy to distinguish it by its characteristic striateness (alternation of light and dark veins). Picturesque ledges of massive blocks are the most successful solution, but the space between them should be planted as thickly as possible with small flowering plants.
- Basalt is a widespread volcanic rock, which is used both in rockeries and in the design of reservoirs. Processed black basalt looks especially beautiful in paving paths and playgrounds.
- Rubble stone or cobblestone is the most affordable material. Unlike other breeds, it is suitable both for construction purposes and for creating alpine slides.
- Limestone can be used for laying paths and paths on the lawn or for the construction of retaining walls.
- Sandstone is distinguished by a pleasant variety of shades – from white and pale pink to greenish and rich yellow. All its varieties are suitable for facing decorative elements of the garden, creating Alpine slides. More durable types are used for paving paths and playgrounds.
- Slate is flat, layered slabs that are ideal for retaining walls and garden paths. The color of this material can be from uniform green, beige, reddish or black to iridescent multicolored.
The choice of plants for such an object is very wide, but the main requirement is drought resistance. For these purposes, you can use Saxifraga, Sempervivum and Sedum, as well as low-growing forms of coniferous trees and shrubs.
2. Reservoirs and paths
Do you want variety? No problem! Break up a small pond or lake on the lawn, decorate the shores with cobblestones and boulders of various sizes and textures, and “scatter” paths and paths leading to the house and to different corners of the garden on the sides.
The simplest and most practical recipe for their creation is stone tiles laid in the style of step by step. For such a structure, a serious foundation will not be needed, and in case of damage to individual elements, it will not be difficult to replace them. In this case, you can use both artificial and natural stone (sandstone, limestone or slate).
3. Flower beds and flower beds
The lawn is no less harmoniously combined with bright flower beds, group and solitary plantings and other spectacular living objects, for which the lawn acts as an ideal background.
When composing such compositions, pay attention not only to the coloring of the prospective candidates, but also to the time of flowering, as well as the needs that should be common to all “members of the company”.
Among the flowering perennials, the unpretentious and at the same time spectacular Hemerocallis, Aruncus, Paeonia and Rodgersia deserve attention.
Bright annuals will not only perform a “sealing” function, filling the pauses in the flower garden, but will also allow you to preserve its decorativeness throughout the season.
If your lawn is located in a semi—shaded corner of the garden – feel free to decorate it with hosts and astilbes, they feel great in the absence of sunlight.
4. Trees and shrubs
But do not limit the choice exclusively to annuals and perennials, even trees and shrubs can take part in such an undertaking, ideally with foliage of unusual colors, shape or size.
Shrubs with a crown in the shape of a ball are a great company for a lawn! They add volume to the entire site.
Mature trees on the lawn are not just beautiful: they fill the space with oxygen, which means the air on the site will be cleaner than outside it. In addition, a tree in the middle of a lawn is a living, functional and also a beautiful “drainage pump”, because its roots stretch a decent distance from the trunk and lie deeper than the turf layer.
When selecting plants, make sure that the color transition from the center to the perimeter is smooth. On the edges of the flowerbed, it is better to plant low plants with small buds of not too bright shades. For example, dwarf spirea, Pulmonaria or Geranium of low—growing varieties.
Important: remember that the area of flower beds should occupy no more than 20-30% of the lawn area.
5. Mobile flower beds
Are you used to changing garden decorations? No problem — use mobile flower beds created in a variety of containers to decorate lawns — from familiar flowerpots and pots to unexpected objects that gain a second life in a new quality.
Mobile flower beds can be made up of almost any plants, for example, from host. But in the fall, do not forget to plant them in the ground, trim and mulch.
Do an audit in the barn and pay attention to old wheelbarrows and wicker baskets, iron garden watering cans and boots, and even unnecessary hats! All of them are capable of becoming original and hospitable “houses” for plants that you like so much.
Important: plants transplanted into containers need more frequent watering and fertilizing.