It is challenging to make your yard stand out from the rest of the neighborhood. Many homeowners end up using the same materials as those around them, creating a repetitive design. Just because you want to think outside the box, doesn’t mean your design vision has to be wild or expensive. Sometimes the most impressive yards use simple materials like bricks in new, creative ways. Keep reading for unique ideas to use brick landscaping.
6 Unique Ideas to Use Brick Landscaping
1. Bed Edging
Garden bed edging keeps your soil and mulch in place, preventing leaching. You can use brick landscaping to edge your flower beds by laying them sideways or vertically in a small trough. Edging helps your yard look clean and tidy. It also makes it easier to use the lawn mower or weed wacker.
2. Stacked Brick Retaining Wall
In hilly California, many homes have some degree of slope to the yard. If you have some elevated garden beds, you can help feature them and level them off by building a stacked brick retaining wall. This inviting design is not only beautiful but helps with erosion and water management!
3. Feature Pedestal
Garden pedestals are a multifunctional addition to any lawn. They add height and dimension to your landscape design, while providing an optimal space to place a unique feature element. Bricks makes a sturdy base material and is weather-proof. Top your pedestal with a dish-style birdbath, animal feeder, classy sundial, flower pot, planter, or statue.
4. Moss Garden
Bricks can be an excellent starter for growing some beautiful moss groundcover. In a shady location, organize bricks in a decorative pattern. We suggest choosing a moss species that are not invasive to your location and watching it come to life. You can even help your moss grow with buttermilk or beer.
5. Pony Walls
Garden or yard walls can be both functional and decorative. Pony walls, or partial walls, can delineate property lines. They allow you to have a bit of privacy without inhibiting your view or the feeling of open spaces. Bricks can be constructed into a beautiful pony wall that can help support climbing plants and provide shade to your flowers.
6. Garden Art
For the creatives out there, bricks are a great art material. Get your sledgehammer and safety goggles out, and smash away at your bricks. Paint them or leave them blank, and arrange them in unique patterns. This can also be a great way to incorporate your kids’ creativity in your yard!
What are bricks in landscaping called?
In the landscaping industry, there are a variety of names for various materials. In the case of bricks, they are commonly referred to as brick pavers. However, there are various types of bricks, including facing bricks, soft mud bricks, engineered bricks, and more. Each type has unique pros and cons for brick landscaping, so we recommend talking to your landscape designer about which material would best suit the unique needs of your property.
Are bricks cheaper than pavers?
Concrete pavers are typically cheaper than bricks due to the quality and longevity of the stone. While you pay less for pavers, you will likely see quicker color fading and faster erosion; plus, you will likely need to reseal your pavers. Bricks typically cost around 20% more pavers, but they are far more durable, provide a timeless appearance, and keep their color for a long time, even when exposed to direct sunlight.
Do brick pavers add value to your home?
Most paving stones add value to any property when installed properly and in an aesthetically pleasing way. When adding brick pavers, a beautiful patio could add over $10k to the value of your home easily. For more subtle brick landscaping, such as brick pathways, brick edging, or unique brick accents, it could add to the overall aesthetic to create a higher value for an outdoor space.
How do you keep brick landscaping from moving?
The last thing you want is for your incredible landscape design to shift or fall apart as soon as a storm passes by or the earth naturally shifts. To prevent any type of patio pavers from shifting out of a design formation, landscape designers typically add a solid edge. For example, they may use a cement lip, plastic, or metal edging to hold everything in place. If you don’t like that encapsulating aesthetic, you could also use polymeric sand when installing the bricks. Depending on the unique design aspects of your property, there may other unique ways for a landscape designer to hold those bricks together, such as using a hill, an existing garden, or other hardscape structures.
What to put between bricks to prevent weeds?
Picking weeds out between bricks is highly annoying; one of the last things someone wants to spend their weekend doing. To prevent weeds from growing out between your brick landscaping, we suggest tightly packing a sand bed foundation upon installation and then filling the spaces between the stones with polymeric sand to form a barrier.
Design Scapes – Build a Brick Style Hardscape
Bricks provide multifunctional benefits and beauty to any home. If you would like to incorporate bricks into your landscaping and hardscaping design, book a consultation with us to learn more! We offer in-depth brick masonry, such as building a beautiful patio, to brick accents, such as edging to retaining walls. However you want to incorporate brick landscaping into your design, we are here to help!
