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Patio Pavers Rock Out
Pair stone or gravel with bigger pavers for a patio design that guests will pay tribute to
Cassy Aoyagi is passionate about California native foliage and sustainably crafting a distinctive California aesthetic. She is president of the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants and of FormLA Landscaping. Her work has been featured on the Eco Echo Park Home and Garden Tour, at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design, on the Theodore Payne Foundation Native Garden Tour, and a multitude of other Los Angeles garden tours. The Los Angeles Times and InStyle Magazine, among others, have featured gardens designed by Cassy.
Cassy Aoyagi is passionate about California native foliage and sustainably... More »
Permeable hardscapes help reduce a property's carbon footprint in numerous ways. They replenish the groundwater table with filtered water, reduce runoff and its impact on city infrastructure, mitigate heat island effect ... and they are just so lovely!
There is such a wonderfully wide array of permeable materials, and in future ideabooks I'll illustrate how beautiful, architecturally appropriate looks can be created with each of them. This one covers how to mix rock or gravel with more substantial pavers.
There is such a wonderfully wide array of permeable materials, and in future ideabooks I'll illustrate how beautiful, architecturally appropriate looks can be created with each of them. This one covers how to mix rock or gravel with more substantial pavers.
| The circular patio of gravel surrounded by foliage creates a sense of intimacy, while the flagstone pavers make it possible to traverse the patio in the highest of heels. Browse thousands of inspiring patio photos |
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| The streamlined pavers featured here also make the gravel patio easier to cross but have a strikingly different look that's appropriate for a more modern structure. |
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| This design offers tremendous flexibility; loosely structured spaces are defined by the change of ground materials. |
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This mix with more substantial pavers is lovely in entertainment areas, where people may just as likely stand and mingle as walk across a space.
Moderate-size or small pavers add visual interest where furnishings are built in or likely to stay in one place.
| The mix of materials also affords ample opportunity to play with either analogous or contrasting colors. |
Using rock or gravel in colors similar to the larger pavers here creates a sense of fluidity, simplicity and calm.
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| Materials with greater contrast are more energizing. |
| Contrast is energizing regardless of the style of the patio and the architecture it complements. This patio's russet hues add liveliness to a more conservatively colored structure. |
| These colors are calming grays, but this patio also creates a fantastic sense of energy from the contrasting materials as well as the striking movement inherent in direction of the pavers. |
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The shape of your space will also play a role. This long, narrow space is made more serene by the dark color of the patio's pavers.
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While the material and shape of these pavers, and the level of contrast between the pavers and the gravel, are similar to those in the previous photo, the more expansive space and foliage yield a strikingly different, still lovely, feel.
If you think these permeable patio options are possibilities for your space, stay tuned. I'll be dedicating future ideabooks to permeable patios made of other materials.
More:
Permeable Paving Lets the Rain Soak In
It's Patio Time!
Patio Design: Here Comes the Sun
If you think these permeable patio options are possibilities for your space, stay tuned. I'll be dedicating future ideabooks to permeable patios made of other materials.
More:
Permeable Paving Lets the Rain Soak In
It's Patio Time!
Patio Design: Here Comes the Sun
Ideabook published on March 15, 2012.
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Liner: The liner should not be plastic, it should be a permeable landscape fabric. For the fabric to work properly, the area needs to be excavated 2-3" below the finished grade. This allows a thick enough layer of material on top of the liner to limit weeds. Weeds: There should be no irrigation run off or overspray on the hardscape area to reduce the chance of weeds. Usually if gravel is installed correctly there are no weeds. Movement of gravel can happen, but to reduce the movement, utilize the technique above and excavate down 2-3" and add a fabric, then gravel and keep the gravel about 1/4" below finished grade. Another way to keep gravel from moving around is to utilize a jagged gravel instead of a smooth variety. Crushed gravel locks itself into place to reduce movement. Additionally placing gravel on a thin layer of sand also helps bind it together. Lastly leaves and mess: This is a very personal decision. Gravel can be clean and zen like or rustic and woodland and if either of those scenarios require cleaning to maintain, a light fan rake should do the trick.