Planning a landscape renovation? Masonry can be considered one of the most important design elements. Choosing the right masonry features will ensure that your landscape meets your functional as well as your aesthetic needs. Here are 12 masonry ideas to include in your new landscape design in Glen Cove, Long Island, NY.
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Masonry is built with time in mind. It’s something that can become a permanent part of your landscape. Consider how you like (or would like) to spend time outdoors most of the time, and you’ll start to gravitate toward one or many of these suggestions.
1. A Patio
The hub of outdoor living is often the backyard patio. Masonry is the ideal choice here. Patio pavers, clay bricks, or natural paving stones give your backyard a more elegant look than a wood or composite deck. Masonry patios last an incredibly long time, too - and require very little maintenance.
With hundreds of styles available, each with their own unique charm, there is no shortage of design possibilities for your patio. Whatever the materials you choose, there are so many options when it comes to colors, textures, finishes, sizes, shapes, and laying patterns - so you can always arrive at the perfect material or combination of materials.
You can also mix and match materials to achieve a custom look: for example, mixing natural bluestone with brick borders and inlays that give the illusion of an outdoor “area rug.”
What’s ON the patio can also make all the difference. Here is where masonry can transform your patio from a simple slab with a couple of lawn chairs and a grill… to a stunning outdoor living space that’s aligned with your lifestyle, a perfect expression of your personal design aesthetic.
A fire feature is an investment in the outdoors; in fact, it could be the single best investment that you make in your outdoor living space because it’s one feature that allows you to use your outdoor space virtually year-round - space that you still pay for, whether you’re using it or not.
By including a beautiful masonry fire feature, you’ll be sure there’s plenty of warmth, ambience, and light to keep friends and family enjoying the great outdoors longer. Halloween parties, holiday festivities, and even sitting outside watching the stars on a crystal clear winter’s night could be in your future with a fire feature!
But choosing a fire feature can be a tough challenge. After all, each has its own unique charm. If you consider how you most like to spend time outdoors, you’ll get an idea for which fire feature(s) to choose.
2. A Fire Pit
A fire pit is typically made from a low circular or square stone wall. It can be as rustic or sophisticated as you like. The benefits of a fire pit are many. First, it’s a primal experience. We’ve been gathering around fires for millennia! With a fire pit, everyone can gather around the fire and have equal access to its warmth.
If you choose a natural gas or propane-fueled fire pit, you’ll never have to worry about getting smoke in everyone’s eyes - although you won’t get the authentic campfire crackle and aroma, and cooking over a gas fire feature is generally not recommended because food drippings can gum up the decorative lava rock or fire glass (although, with a little forethought, it can certainly be done).
A fire pit can be located on the patio itself, or elsewhere in the landscape. For example, you could position the fire pit overlooking a gorgeous view such as a lake. Or, it’s an opportunity to make excellent use of a formerly neglected corner of the backyard.
3. A Fire Table
A fire table can be the perfect solution for outdoor entertaining. These masonry structures are gas- or propane-fired. Their big distinction is that the ledge around the fire is more generously sized, allowing you to put a full place setting there - or just cocktails and appetizers. A fire pit can be coffee-table height, dining-table height, or bar height as you prefer. Fire tables can do double duty as a fire feature/dining space on small patios, and they can even safely be positioned under a pavilion or other shelter structure.
4. An Outdoor Fireplace
An outdoor fireplace offers you perhaps the greatest design flexibility along with a majestic presence that outshines any other fire feature. It can blur the line between indoor and outdoor living, as it provides both the comfort and the ambience of an indoor fireplace - the only difference is that your “ceiling” is made up of billions of stars. You can choose between wood, gas, or propane. In terms of design, the sky's the limit: from a rustic river-rock fireplace with a substantial stone hearth, to a sleek, modern double-sided concrete fireplace.
5. A Retaining Wall
Retaining walls are designed to hold back soil and add functional space to your outdoor living area. They can also become important design elements. On a sloped property, retaining walls can be used to create features such as an amphitheater-style fire pit area and to enlarge the patio. But even on a perfectly flat property, a retaining wall will add dimension and visual interest.
Many of today’s walls are not constructed of natural stone blocks but rather concrete blocks clad with a natural stone or faux stone veneer. Either way, the design possibilities are nearly endless. Depending on the materials you choose, a retaining wall can be built as dry-stack (mortarless) which is suitable for low decorative walls; or mortared, which opens up the functional possibilities.
A retaining wall can serve as the backdrop for a beautiful outdoor kitchen, giving it a distinctly home-like feel. It can be used to create a physical boundary between different activity zones in your backyard, for example between the patio and the pool.
A seat wall can be used to add seating along the perimeter of the patio without the clutter of extra patio chairs or, if you’re not hosting a large party, the wall can serve as a place for colorful potted plants or artwork. Retaining walls can also house outdoor lighting in a gorgeous and unobtrusive way. You can even incorporate water features into a retaining wall - such as Roman faucets or scuppers that provide an endless auditory and visual feast.
If your driveway is long, consider adding a retaining wall along all or part of its length. This is a way to elegantly house landscape lighting fixtures and to prevent erosion if your driveway traverses a sloped site.
Consider the visual impact of curves as opposed to straight lines. Depending on the style of space you want to create, your choice of wall design can tie the look together.
6. An Outdoor Kitchen
The joys of outdoor cooking and dining is one of the reasons people gravitate toward outdoor living. Beautiful masonry adds functional elegance to your outdoor kitchen, serving as the base of your outdoor kitchen and giving your cooking area a substantial presence. From farmhouse to industrial chic, masonry is the foundation for your outdoor kitchen’s aesthetic.
The walls of your outdoor kitchen could match the other vertical elements in your outdoor living space. Or, you can make a dramatic statement by choosing unexpected materials found nowhere else in the space.
7. Walkways
Providing safe passage between spaces can often mean using masonry. Natural stone, clay brick, or concrete patio pavers offer a huge variety of design styles. Add warm elegance to your front entry, transition between the patio and the fire pit area… or take a leisurely stroll through the more hidden parts of the landscape.
Consider using pavers that can be installed on a permeable base for safety. Permeable pavers allow surface water to drain away instead of collecting on the surface. In the warmer months, the surface will stay drier. In winter, you will have far less ice and snow removal to contend with.
8. A Paver Driveway
The timeless elegance of a paver driveway is undeniable. After all, roads and plazas have been made of stone for thousands of years - and many of these are still in use today. Pavers are often the preferred choice for driveways. They are strong, durable, and can withstand the heavy demands of traffic.
Consider permeable pavers along with a driveway heating system which will virtually eliminate plowing, shoveling, and ice removal.
9. Pillars
Stone pillars (or concrete pillars clad with a stone veneer) can give a more substantial and elegant look to an outdoor shelter structure such as a pergola, gazebo, or pavilion. Pillars also make elegant finishing touches to retaining walls and can be used to house your mailbox and a welcoming light at the end of the driveway.
The driveway entry can be greatly enhanced when it’s flanked by twin pillars. You could install a gate for added security, or simply enjoy the feeling of coming home to your own “castle.”
10. Steps
Make the transition between various levels in your landscape safer and more elegant with masonry steps. Natural stone slabs, bricks, or concrete products can be used to create gorgeous steps with a distinctive presence whether surrounded by natural landscaping such as boulders and vegetation or with a stately retaining wall.
11. Water Features
Create amazing ambience on your patio or at your front entry with a masonry water feature. The soothing sounds of falling water or the tranquility of a gazing pool are sure to enhance the overall outdoor experience.
From naturalistic waterfalls to ultra modern reflecting pools, masonry can be used in both artistic and practical ways to create the aquascape of your dreams.
12. Raised Bed Planters
Put gardening at a comfortable level with raised bed planters. These can be placed at the front entry, at the foot of the driveway, on your patio corners, to separate activity zones on the patio, or beside your outdoor kitchen. You could plant a few culinary herbs, flowers, or even smaller shrubs to act as a living wall.
Related: IMPROVE YOUR OUTDOOR KITCHEN WITH MASONRY IN EAST HAMPTON, NY