Landscaping Projects: What Materials to Use?

Are you getting ready to start a residential landscaping project? Do you know what materials to use? Each of the materials available to you has its own strengths and drawbacks. Learn how to use them to make the most of their benefits and give your home a whole new look!

Benefits of Landscaping

First, there are several good reasons to justify the efforts associated with landscaping work! 

Whether you do all the work yourself or use the services of a contractor, the end result offers several advantages:

• Benefits for your Health: A healthy green space produces oxygen and removes dust, smoke and other pollutants, improving the quality of the air you breathe. Plus, having a pleasant landscape to look at and a place to relax is good for your mental health!
• An Asset for your Wallet: Successful landscaping adds a lot of value to your home in the long run. In fact, a home that is pleasing to the eye will be much easier to sell!
• A Helping Hand for the Environment: Vegetation, such as grass, plants and trees, helps to purify the air. These natural decorations also absorb unhealthy elements from rainwater, preventing them from entering underground water bodies.
• Noise Pollution Reduction: Landscaping, including low walls, can isolate your property from the noise pollution that surrounds your home.
• Prevention of Erosion: If your property is located on a hill, a retaining wall will prevent the ground from sliding towards the building due to rain.

The importance of Properly Planning your Work

Now that you’re ready to start your landscaping, make sure you’ve considered a few important details: 

• Have you calculated the necessary quantities of your materials? (Here is our tonnage calculator for your crushed stone loads.)
• How many loads will be required?
• Do you need to rent a construction waste container? (Here is our guide for container rental.)
• Have you double-checked the measurements of your land and spaces to be developed?
• Have you estimated the total costs of your project?
• Do you know how to salvage or dispose of certain materials after construction? (Here are the ABC’s of recycling building materials.)

If you are unable to answer some of these questions and it bothers you, don’t hesitate to contact our experts!

Decorative Concrete Blocks for your Retaining Walls

Concrete blocks are a staple in landscaping. However, not all concrete blocks do the job! 

Be sure to use decorative concrete blocks to build your retaining walls. At Groupe Bellemare, we offer two types of decorative concrete blocks:

Stone Terra and Stone Urbain Blocks: These aesthetic and lightweight concrete blocks are easy to handle and adaptable to any project! Let your imagination run wild and create retaining walls of all kinds! 

Retaining walls can be used for:

• Delineate your land
• Facilitate access to a sloping site
• Host flowers and other vegetation
• Be decorated with exterior lights and other accessories
• Serve as a water basin and natural waterfall
• Any other idea that will give a unique look to your living space!

Examples of Concrete Block Retaining Walls:

Natural Stones for a Successful Retaining Wall

Natural stones (also called river stones) are ideal as decorative stones! They have a smoother texture and a larger size than fine gravel. They can be used for soil retention, landscaping, poolside, garden and more. 

At Groupe Bellemare, we offer natural stones of the highest quality in several formats. 

Natural stones are useful in many ways, such as:

• Decorative elements in gardens and flowerbeds
• Small retaining walls
• Decorative elements for fountains and water basins

For a more stylish look, you can combine different sizes of rocks!

Sieved sand with Multiple Uses

The most popular sand offering a stable grading for landscaping is Class A Sand. In addition to being an economical choice, it is versatile and can be used as a:

• Patio and deck underlay
• Underlayment for slabs and pavers
• Decorative element for landscaping
• Garden bed

We really do have sand for all purposes, including certified sand for children’s playgrounds.

Do you have any sand left over from your work? Sieved sand can also be used as an anti-skid on ice in winter!

Sieved Soil for your Garden

Groupe Bellemare produces the highest quality non-composted sieved soil.

This soil is ideal for, among others:

• Gardens
• Garden beds
• Landscaping arrangements

Using fine soil will help you grow straight and strong plants, for example if a plant’s roots hit a rock, they can be damaged and split in half. This makes it easier for your plants to grow and improves your chances of having a flawless landscape. 

Need crushed stone?  Use stone dust.

Stone dust is very fine and offers many possibilities. In landscaping, it is mainly used as a finishing underlayment for:

• Above-ground pools
• Concrete slabs
• Concrete blocks
• Terraces and patios
• Paving stones

It can also be used as pavement to create paths on your property. 

In addition to offering a wide range of crushed stone, we have developed a price guide to help you plan your projects.

An Eco-friendly Product: Recycled Glass Mulch

Use an innovative and environmentally friendly product to finish your landscape. Our glass mulch is made from glass from the selective collection. 

Being ecological is not the only advantage of this aggregate:

• It has a unique and distinctive colour (pistachio green).
• It prevents the proliferation of unwanted plants.
• It prevents crawling insects and mollusks from getting near your plants.

Recycled glass mulch is used in many contexts, such as:

• Aesthetic and original ground cover
• Filling element for flowerbeds
• Trail surfacing

Examples of Recycled Glass Mulch in Landscaping:

Get our Landscaping Products

Our quarries and sandpits produce the highest quality products on the market. Our plants also manufacture several eco-responsible recycled products such as glass mulch.  

All products are available in bulk, whether for a residential or commercial volume. Some sands and aggregates are also available in 30 kg bags. 

We also offer delivery and installation in one step thanks to our stone slingers which can spread the product in a precise and fast way.

Use the Right Materials for your Needs

Now that you are familiar with many of the materials and aggregates that can enhance your landscaping project, it’s time to take action!

Of course, the important thing is to use the right products for your project. Be creative and if you have any questions feel free to contact us about the landscaping and materials mentioned in this article.