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Ready for a worthwhile transformation? We chose to go with lava rocks for landscaping! In this post we’ll show you how lava rock is the perfect alternative to using mulch in the flower bed and you’ll absolutely love the way it looks!
Are you tired of replacing faded, rotted wood mulch every spring? If you want a permanent, easy, low-maintenance solution that adds instant texture with a modern edge to your yard, it’s time to consider lava rocks for landscaping.
What are Lava Rocks?
Lava rocks-also known as volcanic rock or scoria-are a lightweight, durable, and highly functional landscaping material.
Formed from cooling magma, these porous stones are packed with rich, earthy colors and unique textures that can elevate any outdoor space and add top notch curb appeal.
Whether you want to build a drought-resistant xeriscape, stop soil erosion, or just give your flower beds a clean face-lift; this post is sure to inspire your next outdoor project with making use of lava rock.
Before running to the garden center, it helps to weigh why lava rock might be the perfect fit for your yard-and a few things to keep in mind.
Here are the no-brainer reasons why we decided on lava rocks for landscaping this time around!
The Benefits
Unmatched Durability:
Unlike wood chips, lava rock does not decompose, fade significantly, or blow away in the wind. Once you lay it down in your beds, it lasts for decades.
Excellent Moisture Retention:
Because the lava rocks are highly porous, they trap moisture and slowly release it into the soil below, keeping your plants hydrated.
Natural Pest Control:
Termites, ants, and rodents love wood mulch. They don’t like lava rock. Using it near your home’s foundation creates a natural barrier against pests. This is largely because its rough, dry, and jagged texture is unappealing to common garden insects, slugs, and rodents. Unlike organic mulch, it doesn’t rot, making it an excellent termite-resistant barrier.
Superior Drainage:
Lava rock allows water to flow freely, preventing pooling and this advantage protects your plants from root rot.
Low Maintenance:
The best part is that you can wave goodbye to the annual chore of shoveling and hauling fresh mulch.
The Drawbacks
Higher Initial Cost:
Lava rock indeed cost more upfront than your traditional wood mulch. However, it pays for itself overtime since you do not ever have to replace it.
Difficult to Remove:
Because the rocks are lightweight but jagged, digging lava rocks back out of the soil down the road can be a tedious chore.
Weed Management:
While lava rocks suppress weeds initially, windblown dirt can settle into the pores of the rock over time, allowing weeds to sprout if you don’t go with a solid barrier underneath.
Landscaping with Lava Rocks
Lava rocks generally come in two primary colors: a bold, fiery red and a sleek, dramatic charcoal black color. We went with the black lava rock for our side yard landscaping. We loved it so much we did around our a/c unit and added it to the front of house landscaping.
Who Sells Lava Rock for Landscaping
You can find black lava rock landscaping rocks at Lowes, this one has some good reviews but appears more gray than black. If you would prefer the red rock, Lowes has that color in stock. You should be able to find them at Home Depot and Menards as well.
Our Easy Side Yard Landscaping
Side yards are one of the most overlooked areas of a residential property. Frequently relegated to utility storage, trash can placement, or left as a patchy, shaded patch of grass, this narrow strip of land holds immense potential.
With the right design strategy, you can transform your side yard from a forgotten outdoor space into a stunning wow factor.
We tackled yet another gardening project on the side of our house. Would you believe that? I’m starting to think we enjoy sweating. I mentioned in the last post that would have some leftover black lava rock to work on the other side of our home that has been a little neglected. Well, we did just that. And today, I get to show you our completed side yard landscape.
You won’t believe how much lava rock landscaping does to the curb appeal. Let’s get into the full transformation and maybe you can be inspired by these side yard landscape ideas.
Lava Rocks for Landscaping: Our Layout
After we tidied up our garden with beautiful landscaping in the front of house, we were really unsure what to do for this small yard space on the opposite side of the garage. This was the perfect opportunity to dream that up. We also keep our garbage can on this side of the house and were looking to cutesy it up with pretty flowers and some black lava rocks to make it less of an eyesore.
For our flower bed design, we went with a narrow layout wrapping around the side of our house. The flower bed travels alongside the house and includes the front of garage.
Landscape Under Way & Perennial Picks:
After digging and edging out a decent size trench where the bed was going to go with a shovel and taking off the top layer of grass, we planted our flowers. This side of the house gets mostly full sun. As far as the flowers,
I planted two Hosta’s my mom had given us. They need some plant love. Just a little note, all the plants I mention are perennials (which just means they come back every year). Here are some other good perennial flower choices.
This funny feeling plant has got to be the coolest. I think it blooms tiny white flowers, but the dusty light green sold me; the name of it is Silver Mound Artemisia.
These pink cone flowers have some filling out to do but so far are so very pretty; they are Giles Van Hees Speedwell.
This one doesn’t look like much, but the tag said otherwise; an Autumn Joy Sedum. Puffy pink flowers that go through summer to fall season. Anticipating seeing them in full blossom.
**UPDATE: They bloomed…Here they are!
My favorite one on this list; it’s Called Barbarini Red Dianthus. We planted two of these!
To keep flowers thriving, our little garden secret is to use a combination of Miracle Grow Moisture Control and Miracle Grow Garden Soil in the hole you dig as well as all around the plant (it’s the black dirt you see in the picture). Duplicate Picture for reference.
How to Install Lava Rock Landscaping
At this point, we were ready to pour the bags of landscape rock onto our dirt and spread the rocks for coverage along the garden area. It’s important to adhere to these steps to prep your garden bed so you won’t run into high maintenance and a nuisance in your flower beds down the line. Here are some easy tips for prepping and installing for the best results.
-Remove all top layer grass
-Dig so that your dirt is low enough and sits well with the surrounding area
-Edge out a trench that is deeper than your bed so you won’t have to worry about rock displacement, instead they will lay up against your ground versus level with the ground.
Other Things You Can Do to Ensure Low-Maintenance
(Optional) Lay Landscaping Fabric underneath the rock (we did not do it this time around, but we did for our Raised Flower bed in front of house).
Spray a Weed and Grass Killer (we sprayed ours along the edging of the rock that way it won’t be as difficult for my husband to weed eat or get too close with the mower). You can always install a rubber, plastic, or stone edging to combat these things.
Black Lava Rock for Landscaping-The final photos!
These are the photos that make me want to do a happy dance! It’s finished!!!
Honestly in this situation, less is more. The lush green color against the black lava rock really pops.
Our side yard landscaping did not take long at all to finish. We had it done in about two afternoons. We love the transformation and I would definitely choose lava rocks for landscaping again in the future!
I don’t even see the garbage can, all I can see is pretty landscaping! The nice thing too, the lava rock gave the trash can wheels a level bite, so they don’t roll away since our side yard is on a slope.
More Creative Lava Rock Landscaping Ideas
Utility Boxes
In addition to the side yard, another creative idea for using these landscape rocks is to place rocks around utility boxes. This doesn’t necessarily solve the ” hide utility box” dilemma, as you can tell, it’s still right in hindsight but in my opinion, it looks so much better with the rock around it. My husband hated weed eating in between that thing! The dead grass is where he sprayed the weed killer around the rock. If worried about the rock migrating into your lawn, using edging materials as noted earlier around the rock would be great for this project!
Bare Spots
To make this bare spot look presentable where our garden hose reel sits all summer long, we used some rock put underneath.
You could use lava rock to go around landscaping features for decorative purposes. We did this to our front flower bed with what little black lava rock we had left.
Around AC Unit
From the garbage can eyesore to the utility boxes all the way to the AC unit. Just by adding the lava rock alone, it turned these outdoor spaces into a clean, modern accent feature that helped boost curb appeal.
Final Thoughts
Lava Rock is an exceptional investment for homeowners who want to trade annual mulching for a permanent, stylish solution. While the initial cost of rock and heavy-duty fabric is higher than wood chip mulch, it pays for itself within just two to three years!
Your side yard does not have to look like a property dead zone. By utilizing hardscaping materials efficiently and choosing the right plants for the lighting conditions, you can turn your narrow side lawn into a beautiful feature. Take a look at your side yard today, map out the sunlight, and start planning an outdoor transformation that adds real value and charm to your home!
There’s more to love, be sure to check out our other landscaping posts as well as other favorite outdoor projects we’ve completed down below!
Raised Flower Bed Front Yard
Raised Flower Bed Back Yard
Our Finished Yard Transformation
Build Your Own Privacy Wall
DIY Flower Bed Retaining Wall
Playground Border on a Budget
Modern Flower Bed Design
DIY Planter Around Tree
Build A Front Porch Railing