With all the possible uses for retaining walls in your landscape design, it’s hard to imagine distinctive properties without them. Homeowners often face some challenges during the selection process, however, as ensuring varied building materials work well together can be tricky. Natural stone is truly timeless and stately when used correctly for patios and walkways, but concrete retaining walls offer incredible strength, beauty, and installation benefits. Is it possible to reap the benefits of both of these materials for your landscaping project? Sure thing. For landscapes in Danbury, Greenwich, and the surrounding CT areas, this often means selecting a concrete retaining wall system that works with the look and feel of natural stone products like Bluestone and Flagstone.
Pennsylvania Bluestone—a naturally occurring stone used for patios, walkways, and pool surrounds in the CT region—offers great color variation even within the same batch. Therefore, trying to find a concrete retaining wall product that’s an exact match can be super challenging. The color of bluestone paving is dependent on where and when it was quarried making the process even harder. Because of this, many designers end up using natural stone for their retaining walls as well as their patios, but this can mean leaving a lot of the positive benefits that come with concrete segmental retaining walls on the table.
Looking for a better alternative to traditional natural stone products like bluestone and flagstone? Check out Natural Stone by Unilock.
Once successful approach to this problem is to select a retaining wall that while not an identical match to bluestone, offers a complementary element. An excellent example of this is the Rivercrest Wall from Unilock. Rivercrest comes in two distinct colors – buff and coastal slate — to match the tonal variation of your bluestone patio. The realistic texture of Rivercrest also plays a huge role when it comes to the overall design of your outdoor space, and a major reason for its success when paired with bluestone.
Another approach, perhaps If your design style is a bit more forward, is to opt for strong contrasts in color and shape rather than a gentle matching effort. For instance, selecting a dark-colored retaining wall can create a rich contrast when used with bluestone. As with trying to match the color, opt for a complementary shaped paver instead of trying to find an exact match. For example, Lineo Dimensional Stone from Unilock is a sleek, modern wall product that comes in three different colors and is the perfect match for large bluestone patio pavers. Strong horizontal lines and smooth surfaces work well when creating a modern style and emphasize the size of the space.
No matter the final choice of retaining wall for your project, the important thing is to realize that with so many landscaping ideas available for homeowners in the Greenwich, CT, Danbury, CT area, it is completely possible to match bluestone with concrete retaining walls successfully.
For more inspiration and tips, be sure to check out the Unilock Design Ideas Catalog here.
