Marble is an elegant and 100% natural material that has been used in interior and exterior design for centuries. Its stately architectural properties have the power to create or transform a space with decadence and functionality.
We’ve come a long way since using marble to construct enormous columns and monolithic architectural feats. Nowadays, you can use marble in many understated ways throughout your home. One of these ways is in your garden.
Using white marble stones in your garden is both eye-catching and beneficial to your plants. Read on to learn how marble is formed, how you can use marble in your garden, and the many benefits of using white marble stones in your landscaping.
How is Marble Formed?
Marble is one of the most elegant garden stones you can find. Marble is formed when the earth’s crust heats and applies pressure to limestone. The heat and pressure change the chemical makeup of the limestone. The limestone grains recrystallize, growing larger and fusing together during a process called metamorphism.
Benefits of Using White Marble Stones
The benefits of using white marble stones in your landscaping can be divided into two categories. First, we’ll look at how it benefits your other landscaping and saves you money over time. Then, we’ll look at the aesthetic benefits and discuss ways you can use white marble stones in your garden.
1. Keep Pests Away
White marble stones remove the need for organic mulch in your garden. Organic mulch is a popular landscaping choice because it retains moisture for your plants and pumps nutrients into the soil as it degrades. Unfortunately, it can also act as a food source for multiple kinds of pests.
Here is a list of common pests that won’t enjoy your addition of marble gravel stones:
- termites
- ants
- cockroaches
- mice and other rodents
- mosquitoes
- spiders
- snails
- slugs
When you choose to use marble stones in your garden instead of mulch, you get the benefit of moisture retention without encouraging pests to stick around. And if you use some organic fertilizer, you won’t miss the organic mulch at all.
2. Easy to Maintain
All types of organic mulch need to be replaced frequently throughout the year. This helps keep pests at bay, prevents the mulch from rotting or growing moldy, and replaces any mulch that was removed by harsh weather. Over time, this becomes incredibly costly.
Marble stones never need to be replaced. In fact, the only maintenance you’ll need to do is rinse them with water! For a once-every-few-years deep clean, you can use a high-pressure garden hose or scrub the stones with a solution of water and dish soap. Be sure to rinse the stones thoroughly before placing them back in your garden.
3. Provide Insulation for Plants
Marble is a porous material. This means that the material contains small pockets of air in between many of its particles. These air pockets assist in regulating the soil temperature in your garden, protecting your plants from fluctuating temperatures.
Marble stones keep your plants warm throughout the coldest nights and cool during the heat of the day. This steady temperature provides the ideal growing environment for your plants.
4. Aid In Water Retention
Covering the soil in your flower beds with decorative stones helps the soil to absorb water before it evaporates. Without some form of barrier, the sun evaporates any water before it can reach your plants’ roots.
Landscaping stones protect the top layer of soil or landscaping mulch from the harsh rays of the sun, giving the water a chance to reach your plants and refresh them.
5. Increase Drainage and Aeration
Landscaping stones also assist with drainage and aeration in your soil. They prevent soil from being washed away when you water the garden, allowing water to seep down to reach the roots of your plants.
You can also mix a few decorative stones into the soil to help aerate the soil and separate solid clumps of soil. These clumps make it difficult for your plant’s roots to get the oxygen and other nutrients that they need.
6. Reflect Sunlight
Because these marble stones are white and glistening, they reflect a lot of light. You can use this effect to your advantage by placing white marble stones in areas of your yard that sit in shade for most of the day.
Their highly reflective nature will brighten up duller areas in your garden and draw attention to plants that enjoy shadier spots. They also reflect moonlight and exterior lighting at night, brightening up your garden and creating a stunning glow throughout the space.
To take advantage of this effect, use them in the following areas:
- Underneath tall, full trees or thick bushes
- Next to walls or tall fences
- Areas with inadequate exterior lighting
7. Create Decorative Contrast
All too often, homeowners feel as if their meticulously planned landscaping disappears into the background. Soil and mulch are too dark to give plants something to contrast with. And since each piece of mulch blends into its surroundings, it creates a flat and dull backdrop.
White marble stones create the perfect backdrop to show off your colorful plants and flowers. Every leaf and petal stands out beautifully against the snowy white surroundings, creating depth and contrast in your exterior design.
When you add white stones to your flower beds or walkways, you streamline your garden’s design. It cleans up your yard and makes each element seem intentional and planned.
8. Add Texture
Although many homeowners primarily consider the colors that go into their garden designs, the texture is essential if you want to create an exterior space that hangs together. The texture of materials and of different features gives the space depth, personality, and visual interest.
A great way to use texture is to pair contrasting elements to emphasize their opposite qualities. For example, pairing the soft floppy leaves of a monstera plant with the rough surfaces and edges of garden stones. Garden stones add incredible texture to any exterior because they automatically contrast with your greenery. White marble stones in particular are amazing textural elements because, unlike darker stones, every edge and surface is clear. This ensures the texture is visible at all hours of the day or night, keeping your garden intriguing and multifaceted.
10. Create Cohesion
White is a classic neutral color. You can incorporate white into any interior or exterior design without worrying about different elements clashing. This feature is especially useful in your garden. Your plants and landscaping choices all reflect your unique personality and lifestyle. It can be difficult to pair certain plants together because they each create a different atmosphere.
When working to streamline your garden design and create cohesion, white marble stones are your ideal accessory. They effortlessly bring different landscaping elements together, resulting in a beautiful and cohesive space.
11. Versatile Design
White marble stones are easy to pair with other hardscaping features to create a unique aesthetic in your garden. Whether you’re working with large boulders, slab stone, or a water feature, white marble stone will look right at home wherever you place it.
Bluestone Chips
To create a vacation destination in your backyard, pair white marble stones with bluestone chips. The cool blue and gray tones come together with the white stones to create a relaxed and modern aesthetic.
This pairing looks especially striking near a pool or a well-maintained lawn.
Water Features
White marble stones look gorgeous when used in or around water features. You could use them with fountains or use the stones as edging for your pool.
Do not use any marble products near water that contains fish. The stone can leak minerals into the water that are poisonous to fish.
Crushed Red Granite
If you want to create a warm and inviting exterior space, pair white marble stones with crushed red granite. The subtle tonal variation of the granite looks delightful next to the calm consistency of the white stones.
This pairing is perfect for use in entertainment areas–and you’ll want to show it off!
Experience the Benefits of Using White Marble Stones Today
Now that you know all the benefits of using white marble stones, what’s stopping you? Get ready to enjoy a garden free of pests, low on maintenance, and easy on the eyes.
Here at Fox Landscape Supply, we have everything you need to create a beautiful garden. If you’re looking to mix up your current garden design, we have supplies that will inspire change and transformation. If you love your current garden design, we have the supplies and tools to help you maintain it.
Wherever you are in Chicago, you can transform your yard in no time with our top-notch landscaping materials. If you’re ready to get started, contact us today!
