Boulders! Boulders! Boulders!

Does adding Boulders to your landscape seem overwhelming and hard to imagine?

Many people don’t know where to start when it comes to incorporating big rocks into there landscape.

So why use them?

Boulders provide variety and character that keep a landscape interesting and unique. Successfully integrating rocks into your landscape turns them into a focal point - each rock being placed to create a specific look and feel. Boulders complete the natural element of the outdoors. Let’s not forget… the greatest advantage of using rocks in your garden is they will never need watering, trimming, or maintenance.

Now that you have decided to add boulders to your landscape the next step is choosing a size, shape, and color of the boulders you want in your landscape.

Shape:

Simply put, boulders are generally available in two styles:

1. Round, such as water washed or river run granite and surface stone generally decomposing granite and sandstones.

2. Angular, which have jagged, blasted edges and flat faces, columnar, boxy or rectangular shapes and may be composed of but not limited to granite, quartzite, sandstone and basalt.

Color:

Boulders are available in many colors, including various shades of pink, gold, brown, gray, tan, green and many combinations in between. To make things a littler easier perhaps, not all colors are available in every style, so finding a combination of colors and shape/style that suits your needs will narrow your choices.

Size:

The next ‘big’ question is, “How Big?” This is also an important factor to consider. If the boulders you chose are too small, they may be lost once surrounding plants reach their mature size or your boulders may look insignificant compared to other features of the landscape. Conversely, if you choose boulders that are too big, they may dwarf other landscape features or just look out of place.

So, how can you determine what size boulder will work best for your landscape? We’ve developed a simple, yet effective way to “size up” your landscape rock. ~ Before you come out to our yard, fill plastic trash bags of various sizes with crumpled newspaper creating ‘boulders’ of the size you think would work into your landscape design. Place these in the areas where you would like to have the boulders. This will give you a very good idea of what various size boulders will look like in your yard as well as how many boulders you need and where you actually want them to be placed.

A good rule of thumb is placing your boulders in odd numbers and groupings. And vary your sizes. Be sure to record the dimensions, (height, width and depth) of your ‘boulders’ and bring these with you when making your selections at our yard.

The potential combinations are only limited by the space available, the budget and your imagination.

Contact one of our knowledgeable KRC Rock sales associates at 1-800-KRC-ROCK or visit us online at KRCRock.com for more information about boulders, natural stone and masonry materials.