Natural Stone Hardscapes —
Romancing the Stone
From bluestone to granite, these natural materials are rock solid by Nina A. Koziol
The biggest landscape investment your clients will make is their hardscape—sidewalks, steps, patios, pools, fountains, fire tables, driveway, pillars, retaining and seat walls and veneer surfaces. Choosing and properly installing the right materials adds beauty and long-lasting value to their property. And, that’s a selling point you can’t ignore when providing a bid. When it come to hardscape, stone continues to be highly sought after for many projects. “The great thing about stone is that it’s a timeless product,” said Jim Larson, general manager of Capitol Stoneworks in Wheeling. “There’s a large demand for ‘manmade’ products, but an even larger demand for natural
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stone products. Manmade products do have their place and do a lot of good. It’s not a criticism.” Landscape contractors are lucky to have access to several Midwestern quarries and distributors. “We live on the tail end of the Niagara escarpment, so most of our regional stone is limestone with some granite from Minnesota,” said Daniel Wood of Lurvey Landscape Supply. “That’s what our vernacular speaks to.” (Rock found in the escarpment was originally deposited as lime mud on an ancient sea floor about 430 million years ago. What remains is the result of uplift, weathering, and erosion. And that’s a great conversation piece when showing stone samples to your clients.)
The Landscape Contractor May 2021
