The New Gravel Backyard
We’ve pondered over our neglected backyard for years now. Our garden deserves more than a weed-filled lawn and a few patches of dirt. This year we hired a landscape architect to help put our ideas to paper, and now we’re finally ready to fix the landscape.
The design is simple, manicured, and geometric; the 60-by-60-square-foot backyard will be lined in a horizontal cedar fence, following straight planting beds (think lots of boxwood shrubs), geometric gravel paths, and centered with a square lawn in the middle. Look at these 10 geometric backyard gardens with gravel paving, and you’ll see what inspired me.
Quartz Gravel
Above: These garden paths are lined with pearly quartz gravel. The gravel also functions as a transition between the hardscaping of the terrace and the softer garden plantings.
Pavers in Gravel
Above: Designer Naomi Sanders edges a gravel hardscape with tightly clipped borders of box to create a dramatic contrast between gray and green. Photograph by Jennifer Roper.
Gravel and Boxwood
Above: Paved with gravel, a patio complements adjacent bluestone pavers. Boxwood balls planted in straight rows create symmetry in this Brooklyn garden enclosed by a slatted wood fence. Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.
Gravel Pit
Above: Photograph by Jack Thompson courtesy of Robertson Design. A gravel pit centered in a wood deck creates a serene symmetry.
Modern Gravel
Above: In a Brooklyn backyard, garden designer Brook Klausing edged limestone pavers with crushed limestone dust mixed with gravel. “It’s a very modern look, but I tried to soften it with the gravel and plantings, like the ferns in the gravel,” says Klausing.
Gravel Lawn
Above: A gravel “lawn” surrounded by graceful ferns looks airy and green. Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.
Gravel Patio
Above: Landscape architect Christine Ten Eyck’s gravel patio in her walled garden in Austin, Texas. Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.
Gravel and Grass
Above: A small lawn of turf grass is bordered by straight planting beds; a row of hydrangeas marches alongside a gravel path. Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.
Gravel Fire Pit
Above: Photograph by Jim Powell for Gardenista. Surrounded by woodland, a gravel seating circle surrounds a fire pit and provides a buffer between sparks and the garden.
Gravel Squares
Above: This geometric garden in a Brooklyn backyard, designed by Susan Welti of Foras Studio, features bluestone pavers, pea gravel, and square flower beds.