Stones and Boulders. Use in a Garden, Pond and Landscape Design...

Discover ways to use stones and boulders and river rock in a garden or landscape design.

The Stony Mountain Quarry in Manitoba, Canada...full of stones and boulders... Mariash Quarry can be a very rewarding place...if you are a student on a geological expedition.

Not in our case. We go armed with rubber mallets ready to pound away at the limestone. We need to get the right size for the waterfall and for the flower garden edging. As usual we rented a truck to haul the stone.

The short video below is Jim, myself and a helper at Mariash Quarry in Stony Mountain, Manitoba (June 20, 2009). Thank goodness it was a cloudy morning when we arrived at the quarry otherwise picking the limestone in the hot sun is brutal work.

River Rock, Stones and Larger Boulders

Consider the following when wanting to use Stones And Boulders:

The image above shows how we used the smaller river rock for around the edges of our beach.


The smaller rock also covers the entire surface of the pond's liner.


To give the pond bottom a more naturalized look we threw in larger stones here and there. And since our pond water is crystal clear, all stones and rocks are visible.


At the pond's edge, Jim placed very large boulders, part into the ground. By digging them 1/4 way into the ground, the effect is once again a natural look...as if they had always been there.

View the video below for a close-up look at the river rock, stones and boulders. Image below shows the use of the larger stones in and around the stream's edge.

The video below is Jim placing additional river rock and stone at the pond's edge.

We have it delivered by the truck loads, dumped onto the driveway and then we have the task of moving it by wheelbarrow to the backyard.

Limestone for Waterfalls and Flowerbed Edging

The image below is an example of how limestone can be used in a waterfall project. For a detailed look at the waterfall and stone placement, please visit My Pond Building Page and scroll down to the waterfall section.

The next image shows limestone flowerbed edging.

Limestone Retaining Wall

The video below shows Jim finishing our front yard berm by building a retaining wall with the limestone from the Quarry.

Black Granite

The video below explains the use of the black granite for part of our driveway.

This fine black granite will not track powder, nor give off color on the bottom of shoes.

As explained in the video, we will roll the granite with the water roller (used for rolling sod) to compact it down. Once it has been rained on a few times and with regular use, the granite will become solid.

Prior to laying the granite and we spread 1/4" gravel over the area and let it settle for one winter.

In the areas where we thought weeds might appear, we first laid down landscaping fabric.

UPDATE: September, 2009

Although our thought was to complete the entire driveway with the black granite, we have decided against this and will be installing inter-locking brick next year (2010).

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