Landscape Design
Natural Boulders Enhance 4 Standout Landscape Designs
See how designers use large rocks to create timeless, one-of-a-kind designs
There is so much that natural boulders can do to solve our landscaping needs and enhance our outdoor spaces. They provide year-round interest, require minimal maintenance, can stabilize slopes and are one-of-a-kind sculptures that ground a design in the site.
The following four landscape designs show how boulders can have starring roles in an outdoor space, from a new pool that features a stone slab coping to an urban garden that uses granite boulders to create the feel of a minimalist zen garden.
The following four landscape designs show how boulders can have starring roles in an outdoor space, from a new pool that features a stone slab coping to an urban garden that uses granite boulders to create the feel of a minimalist zen garden.
On one end of the pool, a giant pancake-shape stone from SBI Materials anchors the design and creates a focal point (and natural diving platform). Placing the boulders and stone slabs wasn’t easy, Hoffmann says. “They had to be strapped on [a] Bobcat for installation to avoid scarring and then carefully placed in position.”
Find a landscape contractor on Houzz
Find a landscape contractor on Houzz
Boulders also surround the yard’s new smoke-free gas-burning fire pit, which is perhaps a more familiar place for them in a landscape. Gravel and smaller boulders surround the fire pit, lending a more rustic vibe and reducing the risk of stray sparks or fire.
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See more of this backyard
2. Rustic Japanese-Inspired Patio
Designer and builder: Outdoor Dreams
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Size: 590 square feet (55 square meters)
Similarly to the previous yard, this patio in Virginia also used boulders as a way to create a more natural and rustic feeling. Virginia fieldstone boulders cut through the edges of a clean-lined paver patio. The boulders’ colors complement the stacked-stone wall and also reference the Japanese-inspired design sought by landscape designer Greg Koehler, whom the homeowners found by searching for landscape design pros on Houzz.
Designer and builder: Outdoor Dreams
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Size: 590 square feet (55 square meters)
Similarly to the previous yard, this patio in Virginia also used boulders as a way to create a more natural and rustic feeling. Virginia fieldstone boulders cut through the edges of a clean-lined paver patio. The boulders’ colors complement the stacked-stone wall and also reference the Japanese-inspired design sought by landscape designer Greg Koehler, whom the homeowners found by searching for landscape design pros on Houzz.
Zooming out further, you can see how the boulders interact with the patio and overall backyard design. The boulders help the patio more naturally blend in with the less-manicured areas beyond the patio.
Unlike the previous garden in California, this garden in Richmond is much more likely to see itself buried in snow during winter. Boulders, like other permanent landscape features, can help give the yard year-round interest and structure.
See more of this patio
Unlike the previous garden in California, this garden in Richmond is much more likely to see itself buried in snow during winter. Boulders, like other permanent landscape features, can help give the yard year-round interest and structure.
See more of this patio
3. Rocky Retaining Walls
Designer and builder: Partridge Fine Landscapes
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Size: About 5,000 square feet (465 square meters)
In contrast to the previous two projects, where boulders are used to mostly add a natural feel to the landscape, this project in Ontario, incorporates them into the structure as retaining walls.
During a redesign of this backyard — in which the homeowners wanted to create an entertainment hub, preserve existing mature trees and connect the various areas of the sloping lot in a more cohesive way — designer Adam King created a new grading plan where boulders played an important role. On either side of a new path that leads to the bottom of the landscape, boulders retain earth from which shade-loving plants grow.
Designer and builder: Partridge Fine Landscapes
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Size: About 5,000 square feet (465 square meters)
In contrast to the previous two projects, where boulders are used to mostly add a natural feel to the landscape, this project in Ontario, incorporates them into the structure as retaining walls.
During a redesign of this backyard — in which the homeowners wanted to create an entertainment hub, preserve existing mature trees and connect the various areas of the sloping lot in a more cohesive way — designer Adam King created a new grading plan where boulders played an important role. On either side of a new path that leads to the bottom of the landscape, boulders retain earth from which shade-loving plants grow.
The boulders on the right of the gradually sloping path sit on top of the substantial new retaining wall that runs along the back of the property. The boulders on the left side form a smaller retaining wall that is used for planting. The team used Armour Stone, a durable quarried natural stone that is resistant to erosion. They made sure to install it in a way that doesn’t impact the existing silver maple. “We wanted to create a destination for the path and make it feel like a secret garden down here,” King says.
Shade-loving plants surround the stone walkway, including hostas, hydrangeas and astilbes. Creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum) and creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis) grow between the stones and boulders. In the background you can see color from black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia spp.), sedums, astilbes and a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum).
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Shade-loving plants surround the stone walkway, including hostas, hydrangeas and astilbes. Creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum) and creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis) grow between the stones and boulders. In the background you can see color from black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia spp.), sedums, astilbes and a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum).
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4. Organic Modern Curves
Designer: Wildwood Landscapes (builder) and Arca Design Group
Location: Oakland, California
Size: The two patios total 785 square feet (73 square meters), with 200 square feet (19 square meters) of bluestone, 410 square feet (38 square meters) of concrete and 175 square feet (16 square meters) of gravel
Here is another landscape where boulders cut through the patio. Instead of lending a more rustic vibe, these water-worn granite boulders create the feeling of being in a zen sculpture garden, with their smooth edges peeking above the bluestone pavers like small scattered islands. The team sunk the bottom curve of each boulder into the soil and custom-cut the flagstone pavers to fit.
Designer: Wildwood Landscapes (builder) and Arca Design Group
Location: Oakland, California
Size: The two patios total 785 square feet (73 square meters), with 200 square feet (19 square meters) of bluestone, 410 square feet (38 square meters) of concrete and 175 square feet (16 square meters) of gravel
Here is another landscape where boulders cut through the patio. Instead of lending a more rustic vibe, these water-worn granite boulders create the feeling of being in a zen sculpture garden, with their smooth edges peeking above the bluestone pavers like small scattered islands. The team sunk the bottom curve of each boulder into the soil and custom-cut the flagstone pavers to fit.
In this project, where the boulders are showcased like art pieces, designer Elliot Kaplan was as careful about choosing which boulders to use in the project as he was choosing where to put them. “We always select primarily based on having ‘good faces.’ There’s always a best face of a boulder, and the goal is to have that face the primary view when interacting with the garden,” he says. “You’ll notice on the grouping of two, it almost looks like it was one boulder split, so that the inside edge of each of those two relates to the other,” he says.
The boulders surround a mature lemon tree that has been pruned to show off its architectural beauty. The boulders complement the organic curves of the tree as well as the elegantly curving walls that surround them.
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The boulders surround a mature lemon tree that has been pruned to show off its architectural beauty. The boulders complement the organic curves of the tree as well as the elegantly curving walls that surround them.
See more of this backyard
Designer: Martin Hoffmann
Location: Danville, California
Size: Half-acre backyard
In Danville, across the bay from San Francisco, this backyard redesign by Martin Hoffmann mixes rustic farmhouse style with luxurious outdoor living, without overpowering the rolling hills and majestic oak trees that run up to the property. “I wanted to avoid doing too much. The background to the site was just so dramatic. It offered so much of an opportunity that I thought that we could enhance nature and not dominate with a pool that was too big or a fire pit seating area with too much paving,” Hoffmann says.
The pool shown here was a main element that Hoffmann added, and the homeowners wanted it to feel more integrated in the landscape. Instead of creating a resort-style pool with clean, tiled edges, Hoffmann designed what he describes as “purposely undersized and organic; more of a watering hole than a traditional pool.” The pool, which measures about 22½ feet long and 15 feet wide, is surrounded by water-washed boulders instead of traditional coping to create a more organic feel.