Homeowners use pathways and patios when they are looking to extend the living area of their home.
Choosing Paving Materials
There are a lot of different paving materials that you can use to create both the look and the feel that you want your place of business or home to have. There are, however, a few limitations to your choices:
- The amount of space you have
- The shape of the area you are adding the pathway
- The amount of time and money you want to spend on the project
Natural stone is a popular choice because it will create a less uniform looking pathway. This is ideal if you are someone who wants to have a rock landscape that looks natural. Installing natural stone requires more of an effort, but it will last longer once it is installed properly as well.
What is Water Conservation?
Just as the name suggests, water conservation is all about reducing the amount of water that is being used and increasing the efficiency of the water being used. Naturally, this means that water conservative stone pathway designs need to have water reduction and efficiency in mind.
Rain Gardens
Rain gardens are an exceptionally popular choice among homeowners that have to deal with runoff water. Just as the name of the garden implies, it is designed to soak up all of the excess rainwater.
Design your pathway and your rain garden in a way that all of the runoff water flows towards the rain garden. Instead of wasting water, the garden can soak up the water and use it to grow vegetables, fruits, herbs, or even just flowers.
Harvesting Rain Water
In addition to using certain landscaping designs to conserve water, rainwater harvesting is becoming more and more popular. Rainwater harvesting is literally where a business owner or homeowner stores rainwater for later use.
In order to harvest the rainwater for later use, homeowners and business owners have underground tanks installed. The tanks can capture and store the water, so it can be used later.
Anything you can do or design that provides you with an option for using the rainwater and runoff water instead of just letting it pool in your yard is a form of conserving the water. Who wants giant mud puddles created by water runoff scattered through their yard anyway?