Several years ago I had the pleasure of visiting “naturalistic” gardens on a tour with The Morton Arboretum. One garden that particularly impressed me was designed by landscaper Vallari Talapatra of Eco Scapes in Wheaton.

In front of the new “prairie-style” house, she had used drifts of native grasses and forbs. In the back garden were more native shrubs and grasses, but what really impressed me was her use of crushed bluestone for the patio. It was a stunning combination with the soft plants that bordered it.

Here are a few questions that I recently posed to Vallari.

Q. What can be done with a cracked concrete patio? What can I use in its place?

A. Decomposed granite or rotten granite is crushed rock that has a very natural look. It’s quarried in Wisconsin and some is rust-colored—a beautiful look that fits really nicely with lime- or buff-colored granite stepping stones. I also like using bluestone squares set into a bed of crushed bluestone. This material is great for a patio or secondary path and I like using flagstone "steppers" for contrast.

Q. How do you keep crushed rock in place so it’s not in the plants or lawn?  

A. It must be contained and, although plastic edging is cheaper, I use Ryerson steel edging in 16-foot lengths. It looks good and, unlike plastic, it rarely pops up out of the ground. I also use flagstone borders to edge rotten granite or bluestone, and that’s a very natural look.  

Q. What’s a good material for a front walk?

A. On the primary walkways where you have to shovel or use a snow blower, you want something more stable. Solid bluestone steppers are a good product. And, for me, sometimes it comes down to the authenticity of the product. Most pavers are concrete. I push my clients to use real stone. They may use less but you get the beauty of stone.

Q. What color of stone works best?

A. Your house color is huge and fairly critical. If it’s a cream- or buff-colored house, I like to use a contrasting color; a blue-and-buff contrast is strong. For example, bluestone for the front walk and patio and buff-colored wall stone [for raised beds or retaining walls] works well. For a dark red brick house, I'd contrast it with something buff-colored, too. I might use brick pavers for the path. Bluestone set into a rust-colored decomposed granite is also a nice contrast. You could use a Creta Stone or Unilock for retaining walls. Although they are concrete products, some look very natural.

You can reach Vallari at vallari@eco-scapes.net or by calling 630-336-7659.

—Nina Koziol
www.thisgardencooks.com