landscaping with bluestone

Design

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# 2

Entrance areas and walkways

Bluestone

Bluestone is a very versatile material for walkways and patios and can be combined efficiently and in a pleasing manner with many other materials. This page shows examples of our designs with bluestone in combination with different kinds of walls and driveway materials.


A house entrance before (left) and after construction. We took the linearity out of this entrance by installing a curved walkway. The irregular shapes of the bluestone and the very large size pieces helped further to give this entrance a rustic and natural appearance. The granite steps are placed in a way that they connect to the existing entrance steps optically, but without being parallel to them. Two large rock boulders add to the natural look, and arching grasses are planted (still young in the photos) to contrast with the stone and to bring movement and soft texture into the composition. Purple leaved Heuchera 'Obsidian' is planted in small groups to contrast in color and texture with the grasses (Hakonechloa macra) and with the dwarf shrubs and conifers. (photos of planting will be added soon)
Informal walls define the driveway area and connect to the entrance terrace. Walls and terrace with wide stone steps, as well as shrub plantings at the foundation and along the walls solidly anchor the house in the landscape. Driveway material is crushed oyster shells over stonedust. Plants: Hamamelis vernalis, Kalmia Hybrids, Rhododendrons, Pieris 'Mountain Fire', Kerria japonica 'Pleniflora', woodland perennials		This raised entrance terrace had been created to shorten the long run of steps to the main entrance. It is also a traffic knot with steps connecting to the garage and a walkway leading to the back of the house. Materials: "Skyline" wallstone for drystack walls, bluestone slabs for coping and steps, bluestone for walkways.
This design required that the the official main entrance and the larger side entrance would be equally well accessable and the existing lamp post would not be moved. An entrance patio with a garden and lamppost island was the solution. Materials: rectangular cut bluestone, granite steps, drystack walls and edgings Plants in the Island: Dwarf Mountain Laurels, German Iris, Lavender, Cimicifuga ramosa 'Brunette', etc.		"Random cut bluestone" consist of rectangular slabs in varying sizes and has just a tinge of formality. It is very suitable for straight walkways, but requires careful planning for curved areas. The little granite post at the landing helps to visually connect to the wooden steps.

		The parking space at this property needed to be cut into the existing slope. It is defined by retaining walls. Wide steps with raised wall wings start the walkway that leads to the main entrance. Materials: fieldstone for drystack walls (drystack means "without mortar"), bluestone treads for steps, also installed without mortar. Walkway: bluestone, installed with stonedust over a drainage layer. The driveway material is peastone and was installed by an excavation company.