Landscape Garden Wall And Travertine Pavers

by Michael
(Raleigh)

Using travertine with a landscape garden wall.

Hi Susan,

You have a very nice site here. I found it while looking for something besides concrete pavers to use for our patio. Your site is where I first learned about travertine pavers, and that's what I think we're going with.

I'm now trying to find a good material to use for a garden wall that will surround much of the patio. The patio will sit below a sloping hill. Although the landscape garden wall will not need to hold back the slope, and will only be an average of about 18" high, I think this will help to keep the patio clean. If it's thick enough, it might also be a nice place to sit.

My question for you: I'm planning to use an ivory colored travertine paver. What kind of material do you think would look nice for the garden wall?

It seems to me that wood looks good with travertine, but that's doesn't seem very durable. Concrete blocks made to look like stone seem okay. But next to real stone they may look tacky. Slate stone or other real stones would seem too contrasty and detract from the beautiful travertine. Most of the pictures I see with travertine don't have garden walls--they mostly sit high and have landscaping or grass around them.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

ANSWER

Hi Michael,
Stone walls are the way to go with travertine. Since they are both natural materials, these types of landscape garden walls look well with natural travertine pavers. There were two projects I designed where travertine was used along with natuals stone for the walls. They looked beautiful.

I did not use the ivory color but more of a caramel color. However, there are so many different types of stone available that I am sure you could find a color range that would look good with your selection. I would suggest visiting a stone yard and take a few pieces of the travertine with you to see what looks best with it.

When you use stone for a wall, there are a few different types of stone walls that can be created. Visit my page on retaining walls (although yours will not be this type) to see some more photos and get more ideas. Landscape Walls

1. Dry laid stone - large "boulder type" stones that are fit together nicely. You can add a larger boulder here and there for interest. Personally, I like these better than the thin, stacked stone walls, particularly if the wall will be 18" high. By the way, seat wall height can be anywhere from 18 inches to 24 inches high. I used this on one project and it came out beautiful and blended very nicely with the travertine.

2. Same as above but mortared with concrete - more costly and I don't see any great advantages.

3. Face stone wall - here, the wall is typically built with a regular concrete block and then the stone is mortared to the wall. The stone is actually rather flat. This is a nice look (along with option #1 above) and is what was used in the photos I linked to above. (Travertine Photos link)

The key is to actually look at the travertine and the stone together to make sure the colors are a good match. You are correct, decorative concrete block will look tacky with the beautiful travertine stone. Wood does not have good longevity an in my opinion is too rustic with travertine.