Stone is the world’s first building material and it’s as popular today as it has ever been. It has a sense of permanence and history and even as its characteristics change over time - becoming weathered, smoothed, covered in lichen, or cracked - it remains the most important and versatile element in a landscape. Today, you have the choice of using natural stone or manufactured stone (concrete) to expand your design choices and achieve exactly the design aesthetic you desire. Here’s your definitive guide to how masonry is used in landscaping on Long Island, NY.
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Where Is Masonry Used?
Masonry is used for both vertical and horizontal surfaces, and practical as well as purely decorative purposes. It helps to offset the vibrant green of your landscape, and gives structure to your outdoor spaces. No matter your home’s style or your design aesthetic, adding masonry will add value, practicality and beauty to your landscape!
Patios and Walkways
Horizontal elements such as patios, walkways, driveways and pool decks are popular spaces to employ a mason’s skills.
Natural stone or concrete paver patios and walkways give your landscape a timeless and classic look. Masonry patios are durable and easy-care, and can take on any aesthetic you want, from rustic uncut flagstone slabs to polished granite.
Masonry for horizontal surfaces typically involves using smooth, often regularly-shaped natural stone, clay brick, or concrete pavers. These are tightly joined, and the surface is carefully leveled to allow for water drainage while maintaining a safe surface to walk on. Brick, flagstone, bluestone, and concrete pavers are the most popular choices for today’s homes.
Natural stone is used to create one-of-a-kind spaces. If you’re using natural stone on a patio or walkway, opt for the largest stones you can (24” square or larger) to showcase the natural beauty of individual stones. The main challenge with natural stone is availability, should you ever wish to expand your hardscape. There is often no guarantee that you’ll be able to match the coloring or patterns of the stones you have. There are ways to get around this, by using different yet complementary materials - but it’s something to consider if you want your hardscape to have a unified feel.
Concrete or porcelain pavers give you an incredible array of design choices. Some mimic natural materials like flagstone but give you an expanded range of colors. Other pavers are unapologetically modern, utilizing patterns such as wood grain. The old standby - clay brick - is now also available in concrete versions, again with more colors and sizes for a distinctly modern look.
The design options using masonry are endless. Not only can you choose your materials to perfectly complement your design style and home, but you can also use various laying patterns to get exactly the look you want. A charming herringbone-patterned brick driveway can give way to a warm flagstone walkway with brick accents… which leads to a sandstone patio or pool deck… and today, you aren’t restricted to just one style. Mixing and matching materials lets you unleash your creativity - and clever use of borders and accents will tie your hardscapes together visually.
A growing concern is a home’s environmental impact. This is something you can ease to some degree using permeable pavers. These concrete pavers come in a variety of styles. The individual pavers are impervious to water, but are separated by a special jointing compound and set upon a permeable base that allows water to seep into the aquifer instead of running off or pooling. Permeable surfaces are very popular on paver driveways since this helps prevent damage from the freeze-thaw cycle.
Retaining Walls
The primary purpose of retaining walls is to hold back earth and create more usable space. However, walls are just as useful on completely flat landscapes. In this case they’re not “retaining” walls per se, but rather seat walls, privacy walls, or decorative walls.
Most walls are built using masonry. Well-built masonry walls are extremely strong and can support both vertical and lateral loads. They can be built using any shape stone, including rounded river rock, and can be straight or serpentine. The most important element of a mortared wall is a stable footing that will prevent the wall from shifting and cracking. In terms of design flexibility, mortared walls are ideal for incorporating recessed landscape lighting.
The other construction method is called dry-stack, which means that stones are simply laid on top of each other without mortar, and rely on gravity to hold the wall together. A dry-stack wall uses stones that are flat or angular enough to not move under the weight of the neighboring stones. A well-built dry-stack wall is surprisingly durable. Dry-stack walls are used for decorative purposes, or to define a property line. Well-built dry stack walls can be used to hold back soil but they shouldn’t be taller than 3’. The dry-stack method shouldn’t be used for seat walls or fire pits intended to be sat on, since stones may shift when people sit on them.
If you love the look of dry stack but the practicality and strength of mortar, get the best of both worlds with a recessed mortar wall. This type of wall has the appearance of dry-stack construction, but is mortared. Dark-pigmented mortar is recessed up to an inch back from the stone face to give the illusion of no mortar.
Great natural stones for any type of wall or vertical element include limestone, sandstone, granite, and fieldstone (any type of suitable locally sourced stone). Natural stone walls give you unparalleled character, since no two stones are alike.
Another option is manufactured stone, or concrete wall units (or veneers) made to look like natural stone or other materials. With concrete wall units and veneers, you get an incredible range of design choices including stone styles, colors, textures, and finishes that you can’t get with natural stone. You also never have to worry about a supplier running out of a particular natural stone - which may or may not ever be available again.
Steps
Stone steps are durable, beautiful, and give a “been there forever” look. Use rough-hewn boulders for a wonderful rustic look that blends into the landscape. More refined stone stairways can be constructed using stone that is cut to more regular proportions; this is the ideal solution for areas that receive heavy traffic, such as entryways.
Some designers will use different stones for the tread (the horizontal portion of the step) and the riser (the vertical portion).
As with walls, you can use natural stone such as bluestone, sandstone, limestone, or granite to construct the steps. You can also use concrete pavers, which expand your design choices. Either way, your steps will be durable and will perfectly complement your home and landscape.
A popular way to integrate stone steps into retaining walls is to use the same stone for the stair treads as on the capstone (the top stone of a wall).
Seating
Masonry seat walls are a wonderful way to achieve a clutter-free outdoor living space. This is especially useful if you entertain a lot. Backless or high-backed seat walls are perfect around a fire pit or fireplace to create a cozy conversation area. Seat walls can also be placed along a walkway to define the space, ground the home into the landscape by creating a separate foundation planting zone, and offer a place to sit and admire the view.
Stone benches can be a beautiful addition to your landscape. Take advantage of a view with a unique slab stone bench - a timeless look whether you opt for a hand-hewn rustic or sleek refined style.
Retaining walls are another opportunity to add built-in seating: anything from a nook just big enough for two, to a small amphitheater style seating area around a fire pit. Inserting niches into a masonry wall is an opportunity to showcase artwork, or a place to add potted greenery.
Outdoor Cooking and Dining
Give an outdoor kitchen or simple grill station a touch of panache with a masonry veneer. A cooking area can be made to match retaining or seat walls, fire features, or even the siding on your home using masonry. Or, it can have its own flair if you use complementary stones or concrete wall units.
Masonry is the ideal answer when you want to add on to a grill station but don’t want a full kitchen with all the amenities of an indoor kitchen. Adding a bar peninsula to a grill station gives you extra work space as well as bar seating for friends and family, without the expense of adding amenities like cabinets.
Landscape Features and Focal Points
Using masonry as a decorative element in your landscape is a wonderful way to break up an expanse of greenery and add visual interest. Masonry is used in water features, raised planters, wishing wells, privacy walls, fire pits, fireplaces, and pizza ovens. A brick or stone entry to your driveway offers a dramatic and grand welcome. LIkewise, a brick or stone archway gives your outdoor living space a historic feel - and what a beautiful spot for special-occasion photos!
Outdoor fireplaces are an opportunity to create a stunning focal point by mixing materials. Even kit fireplaces can be made using a variety of veneers for a custom look.
Fire pits can be constructed using dry stack or masonry construction methods. The latter will give you a place to sit close to the fire since it won’t shift if you sit on the ledge stones. You can take fire pits to the next level by elevating them into taller structures called fire tables. These can be coffee table, dining table, or bar height. It’s a chic, modern way to marry the delights of dining with friends and family, and the warmth of a fire (fire tables use natural gas or propane for safety and to avoid the hassle of blowing smoke).
All vertical masonry features can be constructed using natural stone, concrete wall units, or concrete blocks faced with natural stone or manufactured stone veneer. The design options are truly endless!
Using masonry in your landscape is a fun way to add personality. Its uses are limited only by your imagination - and modern materials give you many options to create integrated or freestanding designs that turn your landscape into a welcoming retreat!
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