Concrete block is readily available at garden centers, easy to work with, and usually less expensive than natural stone. While designs and coloring of concrete has improved in recent years, there’s just no replacing natural stone. It adds a sense of character and timelessness to a water garden that concrete block simply can’t. Brick can also be a good choice for certain styles of water garden. Concrete pavers are convenient, but don’t have the rich, natural colors of brick and don’t water in the same beautiful way. Wood can be used in water gardens, but only for bridges and other structures. It’s simply not rot-resistant enough for use in applications where it will come in constant contact with moisture.
Tips for Working with Stone, Concrete, and Brick
• If using stone, as much as possible, use local stone. Not only is it more affordable, it will look more at home in your landscape.
• Get creative in sourcing your material. Stone collected from local land is wonderful for many water garden features. (Just be sure to have permission from the landowner, and never collect from public land or parks.) Beautiful used brick is often available free or at a very low cost from landfills.
• As much as possible, choose materials that are of the same type and color as much as possible. As with fabrics in your home, in your water garden you can mix and match, but do so deliberately and place the materials together in advance to make sure they work together visually—just the way you would with fabric swatches.
Tools and Techniques
• Wear work boots, preferably steel-toed. Also use heavy gloves—padded gloves are ideal.
• Go slowly and pace yourself. Many strained backs, shoulders, and other injuries happen because weekend home improvement warriors pushed too hard, too fast, or too long.
• Lift with your knees, not with your back. And if you have a choice between pushing and pulling a rock, push. It’s less strain on your back.
• If you’ll be kneeling a lot, rubber knee pads can save wear and tear on clothes, skin, and strained knees.
• For large amounts of material, invest in a hand truck, heavy-duty cart, or dolly to move the material on. You can rent or buy.
• If you’re having a load of stone delivered on your driveway or even on lawn, lay down some old plywood or even just a couple of layers of heavy cardboard from cut-down boxes to protect it from wear and tear. But don’t leave loads of material on top of turf for more than 2 or 3 days or you will start to kill the grass.
• Some large stones can be moved by putting them onto a folded sturdy tarp and dragging them—with a friend’s help, if needed.
• A long prybar is the ideal tool for moving very large boulders.
• If some stones are too large for you to place easily, talk to the place that sold you the stone. They may position them for you for a reasonable fee, and then you can place the smaller stones yourself.
• As you work, place large stones first. Then place medium-sized stones, followed by smaller stones and/or gravel.
• For a natural look, embed any stone larger than a softball partly in the soil. With larger stones and boulders, bury them by at least one-third and as much as one-half. It may feel like you’re burying your investment, but the established, natural look is worth it.
