Can a Gravel Parking Area Have Curb Appeal?
Yes. It is a well-known fact that a gravel parking area costs significantly less than a paved driveway. The biggest concern that most people have about gravel is not the cost but the impact it will have on their home’s curb appeal. In reality, a professionally constructed gravel driveway can contribute a superb aesthetic to a landscape design. The wide range of sizes and colors allows gravel to compliment any style of architecture. At the same time, gravel, no matter what its appearance, is still a natural substance that will always immediately connect with surrounding vegetation.
While gravel parking areas are normally less expensive to build than paved driveways, there is more to the process than simply spreading gravel over the ground. Landscape designers lay several layers of gravel at least a foot deep below the ground. The bottom layers act as a sort of buffer against earth movements, allowing the top to remain level even after several seasons of rain and occasional freezes. Both the sizes and shapes of the gravel in each layer are essential to creating a firm, stable surface.
It is also important that we build a gravel driveway that enhances the architecture of the home. In our philosophy, professional landscape design must center on the home as the premier aesthetic element. The driveway functions as an introduction to the property. It leads guests away from the public space of the road into the private retreat of an outdoor living environment.
Gravel types are so diverse and abundant that it is possible to create a surface that mirrors the façade of the home. This can be done not only with the color of the gravel parking area, but with its geometry as well. Homes ranging from formal to contemporary styles can be mirrored by a parking area that is circular, semi-circular, or quadrilateral in design.
This is also an excellent way to unify your home with its natural surroundings. After all, gravel is a natural substance that never loses its grounded appeal no matter what shape or color it assumes. Stone is a natural blend with any kind of vegetation, because stone is normally found in the wild in most places where plants are growing. If you are looking to make your guests feel instantly in touch with surrounding trees, front yard gardens, and shrubs, you can introduce these elements with a gravel parking area that blends intimately with lawn grass and ground covers.
Blending home aesthetic with nature in this fashion is one sure way to improve the property’s curb appeal. Rather than standing above the yard as a separate element, your home suddenly becomes the center point for all surrounding landscape elements. This relationship is reciprocal in the sense that front yard gardens, tree plantings, and patios seem more like lifestyle environments, while the home itself, reflected on a subconscious level by a gravel parking area that grounds its aesthetic, takes on certain aspects of a natural form through closer association with its surroundings.