Edging Stones for Shrubs and Flower Beds

Limestone

• Limestone is a common landscaping rock that ranges in hardness from soft to hard. Landscaping with limestone adds more than beauty to the landscape; it adds an element of randomness as well. Many limestone rocks have small to large animal fossils in them. Shells, fish, plants and insects are just a few things found encrusted in limestone. Buy limestone in either a rough or polished state. Limestone colors include crimson, yellow, cream, brown, pink and a combination of these colors.

Slate

• Slate, like limestone, comes in varying hardness. Outdoor applications benefit from using hard slate, as softer shale will eventually crumble under wet weather conditions. Slate's colors include a wide range of tones and shades of black, cream, brown, gray, red, blue, purple and more. Over time, exposure to the elements will make slate weather to a lighter shade.

Sandstone

• Sandstone is a medium-to-hard siliceous stone. Sandstone weathers best in dry climates. Due to its unstable nature in moist areas, some sandstone will flake under adverse weather conditions. The weaker areas of the stone flake off to expose a clean patch. If your garden is informal, this is not normally a problem. Major flaking or even cracking might occur as well. Sandstone comes in a wide array of natural colors.

Homemade Stone

• Homemade stone is made from concrete and other natural ingredients. Concrete pigments give crafters a wide array of not only colors but also patterns to choose from. Either stone is poured into store-bought molds or molds are created from easily obtained materials. Hypertufa is a technique of using Portland cement, peat moss, perlite and water to create stone. Before hypertufa sets up hard, crafters carve and sand it to a desired finish.