The beauty of many rocks is hidden deep in the earth until we excavate them. After that, their amazing aesthetics make them perfect for creating jewelry, producing striking mosaics, shaping refined Stones that have purported health benefits, and even decorating your Garden in a way that makes it look as elegant and artistic as it does agrarian.

People have used garden rocks for centuries. Sometimes, the stones have a practical role, such as deterring weed growth or establishing a garden perimeter. Other times, the rocks are used aesthetically to give gardens what amounts to curb appeal, comprising understated, rough-hewn arrangement, or colorful collections whose hues radiate in the sun.

If you plan to remodel your garden using natural materials, garden rocks can be implemented to enhance the look of the verdant space in some truly amazing ways. If you would like a little inspiration to get you started, consider the seven garden decorating tips below.

Fill Ponds With Rock and Mineral Chips

Whether your garden pond is meticulously maintained and filled with exotic koi fish, or the water is a natural, makeshift swimming pool for frogs and crawdads, improve its looks by paving the bottom with colorful rock and mineral chips that come in small pieces or large chunks.

You can use a variety of ornamental rocks such as agate, aventurine, bloodstone, calcite, quartz, and much more. If the water is clear, some of these stones will shine from the bottom of the pond, when sunlight hits the water.

Use Rock and Mineral Chips Instead of Mulch

Wood mulch is a cheap, diverse product that can be found in plant beds around the world. However, it can leave your yard and garden smelling like a barnyard when new wood chips are first shoveled out. Wood mulch also decays when left to the elements and need to be replaced at least once a year.  

If you’re tired of mulch and you want to pave plant beds with something sustainable and eye-catching, consider laying down rock and mineral chips instead of smelly mulch that gradually decays and can wash away when it rains. Common examples of stone and mineral chips you can use include: agate, calcite, quartz, carnelian, and chalcedony, just to name a few.   

Use Geode Cathedrals as Stunning Centerpieces

Geode cathedrals are cross sections of stones that feature stunning crystals. These vividly colored stones take thousands of years to form and are reminiscent of tree cross sections that allow people to see the ring growth within.  Ancient amethyst and citrine geode cathedrals come in many colors, shapes, and sizes. Consider choosing large, majestic geode cathedrals to place on pedestals throughout the garden. If you do, your flowers won’t get all of the attention anymore.

Enhance Fountains With Geode Clusters

Like geode cathedrals, geode clusters take millennia to form, but once a gemologist procures the stones and prepares them for presentation, they make great additions to summer fountains since they glitter with sunlight. Place geode clusters in the fountain basin or on shelves that water trickles down and the fountain will shine brighter. Geode clusters are available in beautiful amethyst, citrine, and quartz.  

Use Rock and Mineral Chips to Pave Walking Paths

Dirt trails that are formed from walking through the garden, brick walkways, and gravel lanes are egress paths that are commonly found in home gardens. If you want to make your garden’s walking paths as memorable as possible, try using our colorful rock chips to pave the paths. If you’d like to maintain a uniform color, here are some good chips to consider: calcite blue chips, calcite green chips, and brown aragonite chips.  

Place Crystals In the East of Your Garden

The eastern skyline will always be cherished for one reason: It’s where the sun rises. And anything that its rays touch becomes illuminated in the dawn. Imagine a beautiful collection of accent stones at the most eastern point of your garden (they could be added to a fountain for decoration, for example).

Every day, as you have your morning coffee, you can feast your eyes on beautiful, sunstruck stones that look like they belong in Eden instead of an earthly garden. Rainfall will help keep the stones clean, and, like most other garden rocks, they’ll experience erosion under natural conditions, which means they could be around for centuries, if not longer.     

Place Crystals In The West

While we just instructed you to place stones and crystals in the easternmost part of your garden. However, positioning stones in the west provides an aesthetically pleasing balance. Just as rising sun illuminates crystalline stones in the east, the setting sun will do the same thing for western-facing stones.

Imagine a romantic dinner for two on an open air patio, while sunset makes the crystals seem as if they glow from within. Crystals are used for various purposes, from healing rituals to sharpening cognitive ability, but there’s one that everyone can use them for: creating a beautiful visual display that’s as timeless as the stones themselves.

Does Your Garden Need a Facelift?

If so, there are several ways you can give it the much-needed TLC it’s been missing.

Regardless of flowers, fruits, and vegetables that are used to reseed a garden, carefully selected stones that you implement in the ways above can make your outdoor space more beautiful.

And, best of all, you never need to replant them or prune them to perfection. Your garden rocks will be there year after year, beautifying your garden’s idyllic scene.    

Author Bio: Christine Wilson is pursuing a master’s degree in geology at Drexel University. Her favorite stone is lapis lazuli, although diamond is a close second, she admits.