Landscaping Gravel And It’s Importance In Ecosystem

Gravel can be found naturally is the riverbeds. Because of the heavy flow of the rive water the gravel stones get a lot of friction on their outer surfaces and because of this become round and smooth in shape.

Such naturally occurring gravel is a great construction material with little treatment. However such kind on gravel is also used in landscaping in various forms. One of it’s most common use is in base material for laying landscaping pavers for walkways.

Gravel can also be manufactured artificially by crushing stones to it’s desires size. However such gravel lacks the smoothness of naturally occurring gravel. Boulders, granite marble, quartzite of any color can be machine crushes and can be used in various landscaping jobs.

• Such type of gravel can be mixed with other stone pieces such as mosaic tiles and converted into tiles for laying in patios.
• Gravel can also be used a filler between stone tiles in a garden.
• Both naturally occurring and artificially create gravel can be obtained in various colors.

If you have a fishpond in your garden then the base of this pond can be easily covered using naturally occurring gravel. Such kind of gravel has two kinds of advantages. Firstly it adds to the beauty of the pond visually and secondly it helps in maintaining the ecosystem.

The gravel, which is lying at the bottom of the fishpond, creates s tiny spaces for the aquatic microorganisms, which are not visible to naked eyes. These microorganisms release carbon dioxide into water; which is necessary for the healthy growth of the aquatic plants in the pond. The aquatic plants on the other hand release oxygen, which gets consumed by the microorganism. Thus the cycle of the ecosystems gets balanced. The gravel at the bottom of the pond also helps as a grip for the plant roots and keeps the system intact.