Building the dream landscape design for your home is often easier said than done. If you’ve ever thought about ways to try and transform your yard or home from average to spectacular, you know just how much work is involved in planning, preparing, executing, and maintaining the perfect outdoor landscape. Rock landscaping is one example of a beautiful but time-consuming landscaping design. One of the best ways to get good landscaping done is to hire a design team to help you build and create your professional river rock landscaping design, but how do you prepare your yard for their work?
Preparing your yard for rock landscaping is not quite as challenging as it seems, but it will involve some yard work. Successful and impeccable rock landscaping ideas often require a clean canvas or a plain and clean ground to be able to get started.
Clean Out Top Soil
One of the first things you’ll need to do is go over the area you want the landscaping to take place in and clean it out. This means:
- pulling weeds
- cutting and removing the grass
- removing mulch or old plants
- removing loose soil
You want the area where you’ll be rock landscaping to be completely flat and bare.
Tamp Down Loose Soil
Once you’ve carted away all the top-soil and debris from the area, it’s time to pack down your soil. Tamping down the soil is key to making sure that your rock will sit firmly and securely on top of the ground and not get dislodged.
- Borrow or renting a compactor to help you firmly and evenly compact your topsoil
- Tamp down all the soil in the area where you plan to be laying your river rock
- Then, spread a five-inch layer of fine gravel on top of this area
- Tamp down everything again to ensure both gravel and soil are firmly pressed
The firmer and more compact the ground, the better.
Put in Weed-Prevention Materials
Now that your ground is firmly compacted, it’s time to make sure no plants get tempted to grow back in between your stonework.
- Take a piece of weed-preventing sheeting, plastic sheeting, or other cloth and spread it over the surface of your gravel.
- Spread a layer of sand over the top of the sheeting and level it off to make sure it sits firmly and smoothly in place.
- Press the sand layer down firmly using your compactor and pack it into place just as tightly as you did your dirt layer.
This will make sure no weeds or plants are tempted to grow up and disrupt the landscaping rock that eventually gets laid once your sand layer is firmly in place, you’re ready for a design team to take over. Rock for landscaping is an exciting but challenging design to plan and lay, so it’s better to trust a professional team to plan and execute your landscape design so that you can ensure everything is done perfectly and professionally. With Bear Creek Landscaping, you can trust that we’ll take great care of your carefully prepared landscape and create an impeccable design that you’ll love for years to come. With over 40 years of experience in the landscaping industry, Bear Creek Landscaping can help you develop your rock landscaping ideas further. To learn more, call 425-549-5147 now. For more information about our landscaping and construction services, visit www.bearcreeklandscaping.com
