Gardening Tip of the Week - Natural Landscape Materials

Natural materials, such as decomposed granite, can enhance the beauty and functionality of a garden. I use decomposed granite for pathways and open areas throughout my garden. 

This year, I widened part of a pathway in the backyard to create a more open feel to the garden. 


In the front yard, I created a front porch effect with decomposed granite on both sides of the front door. 

I made my first decomposed granite pathways four years ago. When I was ready to complete the projects above and add pathways along the sides of my garden this year, I returned to the same bulk landscaping materials dealer for more. 

I expected the new decomposed granite to look a little different from the old because it fades a little due to exposure to sun and weather. Unfortunately, the new decomposed granite had a different color, texture, and higher clay content. It turns out that my dealer changed from a supplier in Marble Falls, Texas to a supplier in Oklahoma. 


This is a shot of my old granite from Marble Falls. The material had a pinkish tint and looked like crushed granite.


This is a picture of the decomposed granite from OK that I purchased earlier this year. This decomposed granite originally had more of a golden brown color and faded once washed to light pinkish orange. This decomposed granite has a fine texture and a very high clay content. I was able to get several truckloads over the course of a couple months, but I had to remove a layer of existing decomposed granite from my pathways and replace it with the new decomposed granite to have some consistency through the garden. I used the layer of old decomposed granite that was removed from the pathways as a base for the new pathways. Just when I was about finished with my projects and needed two more truckloads of decomposed granite, my supplier ran out. When I returned the following week, the decomposed granite was a bright golden yellow color!


Ugh! This really does not match. Fortunately, I still had a pile of the decomposed granite that I had been buying over the last few weeks in the driveway, so I used the new yellow stuff as a based and covered it with the decomposed granite that was in the driveway. But I still needed one more load.

I decided to try a different bulk supplier in Plano. They had two piles of decomposed granite. A pink pile and a yellow pile. The pink pile looked similar to what I had and they said it came from OK, so I took a chance. Well, it was a rosy pink and not a match. 


To get some consistency through the garden, I colorized all of my decomposed granite with a thin layer of the rosy pink stuff.


This is the side yard connecting to the backyard.


Opening the gate and looking into the front yard, the pathways are fairly similar in color. The flagstones at the gate are a bunny barrier. They love to get into the backyard.


Looking the opposite direction from the front yard into the backyard. 

So this week's gardening tip is to remember that natural materials are, well, natural and will have natural variations in color, size, and consistency. If at all possible, get all of the material that you think you will need at one time to improve your odds of having consistent material. Also remember that your supplier may change material sources which can also result in variations in material.

Next time, I think I will use pea gravel because it always seems to be the same size and color.