Gabions no longer serve just structural purposes, although that is their intended purpose. They have now started to feature landscapes as design elements. In this article, we are going to look at a few ways to incorporate gabions in landscaping.
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Flower Beds
If you want a visual change for your landscape from just being flat, you can use gabions to create flowerbeds and herb gardens. These raised gardens create architectural features and are also practical in that you can attend to them fairly easily because they are raised off the ground. By placing a plastic liner at the bottom, you can control weed growth in your beds, reducing maintenance costs.
Terraces
Gabions are an excellent way of adding terraces in landscaping, especially in an even terrain. You can create interesting spaces by using different sized gabions around the area. The terraces can also be used as stairs to get from different levels of the space.
Sitting
Any landscape requires areas to relax in, and you can use gabions to make benches. These can be placed on different space areas to ensure that people are spaced out and can mingle easily. You can create tables and bar areas out of gabions as well, and you can bet they will be solid and decent.
Ponds
You can incorporate a pond into the landscape design by using gabions to make a raised pond. It is visually appealing, but it also helps ease digging the pond, especially in rocky areas. The ponds are structurally secure because of the materials used to make the gabions.
Privacy
Gabions can be used to make a privacy wall in areas that are too open to the public. The gabions are built stacked up, and with the mesh holding the rocks inside, it is structurally sound and appealing to look at. You can also include some plants that do well on rocks to add an attractive element to the wall.
Retaining Walls
Wall retaining is the most common use of gabions in landscaping. When the space is steep and inhabitable, using gabions to hold the soil-filled walls to level the ground is required so that the soil does not go down the slope. They are strong and can hold back many soil tones in place, making them the best to use for retaining walls.
Accent Walls
In recent years, the use of gabions has changed, and you can now see gabion walls being used as structural or feature walls in homes. To add contrast when landscaping around a home, you can create an accent wall to break up traditional homes’ monotony. Gabion walls can also be used as art display walls in a space. They offer a good contrast to vibrant colored art pieces hanged on the wall.
Perimeter Wall
Gabions have been used as perimeter walls around properties during landscaping. It is a cost-effective way to add privacy to space, but you have to add other security measures. It is because gabion walls can be scaled easily, causing security issues. It would be prudent if you used it together with a concrete fence to enhance the security aspect.
Baskets
You can incorporate gabion baskets and scatter them around your landscape. They not only look good, but they also add another structural look to your space. By filling them up with tall grass and overflowing flowers, they create an enchanting atmosphere.
There are endless ideas that can be derived from a simple gabion. They not only offer structural support, but they have evolved to become something more than a pile of rocks and mesh wire. In case you are thinking of tackling your landscape, why don’t you incorporate some ideas highlighted above in your design?
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