When you decide that you want to make some changes to your landscape, you either have to invest a considerable amount of time and effort into doing things from scratch, or you must spend money. But, it is possible to get free things from family, friends, neighbors, and nearby businesses, and you may have found yourself with a surplus of rocks that are typically used on landscapes for various purposes. While you could try to find out the right applications for the rocks and implement them on your own, you will also benefit from hiring a landscape designer to help you.

Border a Garden Area

If you have an area where you are already growing a collection of plants, you can give this place a bit of protection by bordering it with rocks. It is also possible to take these rocks and create a designated area in the yard that you can start using in the future to grow plants. You will appreciate the rocks making a barrier between the grass and the focal plants because it can deter pests from invading. It will also act as a visual cue for your kids not to go in the bordered area, which reduces the risk of plant damage.

Make a Dry Creek Bed

As long as your area gets a decent amount of rain, you can benefit from a dry creek bed. The yard may not have flooded in the past few years or even throughout your entire homeownership, but you can benefit from having better control of where the water flows within your landscape. After inspecting your yard to determine where flooding is most likely to occur, the digging of a trench can begin. Most the remaining work revolves around placing rocks inside the trench until the bottom is essentially full. 

Incorporate as Mulch

Although you will often find bark, pine needles, straw, or landscape fabric used as mulch, you could also incorporate the free rocks as mulch for part of your landscape. This is an ideal option when you want to prevent weeds and other plants from growing in certain areas. Weeds would normally puncture through the mulch and make their way to surface level, but not with rocks. You will also enjoy the fact that rocks will not break down for many years, making them a long-term addition.

All it takes to use rocks on your landscape is the willingness to ask for help and get a bit creative.