Whether your swimming pool is at ground level or above ground, there are simple and cheap ways to landscape around your pool that fits your budget. It’s all a matter of how resourceful and creative you are. Some of these pool landscaping ideas take advantage of what you have lying around the house. Others, such as garden rocks for sale, need to be bought from your local landscape supplier at an affordable cost. And there’s no need to call the pros because these ideas are DIY. 

Fireplace lighting

Instead of stringing lights or using LED pool lighting, you can save on your utility bill by having a more natural source of light. You can build a fire pit as a source of light and a stunning accent piece. It illuminates your backyard, and on a chilly night, the family can huddle close by the fire.

Adding steps or stairs to your garden or backyard is a great way to enhance your outdoor landscaping, especially if your property has a slope or several slopes. You can make these steps or stairs as a DIY project. These steps, stairs, or short walkways can serve as better access to certain areas of the garden or your patio. Stone is usually the most common and natural material for gardens, though you can also select rustic wood, concrete blocks, brick, and other garden rocks for sale to construct garden steps or stairs.

Choose the right materials

Though stone is common and natural, other materials can be used based on the steps’ actual use. If it’s just a few steps from the deck or patio to the lawn area, you can create wooden steps. If the steps or stairs serve outdoor living areas leading to more pathways, you might need stone or masonry. 

You also need to size all steps and stairs correctly for the sake of safety and not just for aesthetic purposes. Use all these to base your material selection for the steps or stairs.

Dogs come in all shapes, sizes, and characteristics. But they all require different health and care routines. So, part of this is giving them enough time and space to run around, exercise, and socialise. This is where a dog run comes in. A dog run is a space that allows your dog to run around comfortably. It is primarily located in a backyard, though any area you have in your property will do. The ground or flooring in a dog run may consist of traditional lawn or grass, plain soil, finely grounded mulch, or fine stone gravel and sand. You can find all these in any local landscape supply store with garden rocks for sale.

The spot will depend on your dog’s size

If your backyard is small and your dog breed is large, you’re better off walking the dog to the nearest park. At minimum, your dog run should be at least five times the length of your dog and twice as wide. The backyard also ensures that you can leave your dog and occasionally check up on what it’s doing. If you have an appropriately sized backyard, you can also have an outdoor kennel or enclosure where the dog can stay when you’re away.

Consider shaded areas

Make sure parts of the run and kennel are in shaded areas to allow your dog to get out of the sun. A water source should also be close to make filling up water bowls and rinsing down the run and yard more convenient.

Choosing the flooring or ground cover

The cheapest option will always be the natural dirt and grass in your backyard. This can be properly maintained. However, it also means your dog will track mud when it rains and more dust during the dry months. 

Affordable ground cover options are mulch or fine stone gravel and sand. Well-grounded mulch can make a fine dog run ground cover. Just make sure to choose mulch that your dog will not chew on, and never select cocoa tree or bean mulch because it is toxic to dogs. Ask your landscape supplier to choose fine river gravel and sand or river stones because these are smooth and will not cut your dog’s paws.

Contrary to popular belief, fine stone gravel and sand does not induce a dog to go digging. So long as the ground cover is malleable, dogs will dig into lawns, grass, soil, stones, and gravel. If you don’t want your dog digging in your backyard, you can choose options such as concrete, paving stones, artificial grass, and rubber padding. However, these can be expensive, so prepare to spend a lot.

Quality sand and gravel from Labrador Landscape Supplies

If you need fine and smooth gravel and sand for your dog run flooring, Labrador Landscape Supplies has this available, as well as a range of rocks, pebbles, gravel, and other landscape materials to suit any gardening or landscape project. Check out all our garden rocks for sale today. Visit us at http://landscape-supply.com.au/.