Landscaping Stone Articles
Landscaping
~ by CANADIAN HOME & COTTAGE
Colonial Brick & Stone and Elroy Wagler Masonry were invited to build a breath-taking, complete landscape project at Canada Blooms (2001) in Toronto. Landscape Ontario, who is in charge of inviting companies to build the display gardens, takes great care in selecting qualified people to build the display gardens for them. They were very pleased with the quality and effort put into the display that they invited Colonial back in the future.
Colonial believes that moving water is a very important part of a garden. The team created 3 unique displays using moving water with different features and sound effects. One of the displays was the tallest waterfall at the show which stood 15 feet above the floor level. Those falls were built from a weathered-faced limestone which gave it a very natural appearance. Rocks and beach pebbles combined with bubbling water were used to create the other two displays. Other natural stone products featured in the Canada Blooms’ garden were tumbled natural stone retaining walls and cobbles (which look 100 years old the day they are installed) round and hexagon shaped stone stair treads, huge pieces of oversized flagstone, natural stone benches and Elite Blue Granite. Colonial Brick & Stone has built a reputation of dependability and reliability when completing their projects. Colonial continues to develop new products for the landscape and building trade which allows them to use their talents to the fullest. Other landscape designers are especially enthused about Colonial’s contribution to their industries.
Cobblestones – Look of the Past … Today
~by THE CANADIAN BUILDER
Imagine walking the cobblestone streets of Europe 200 years ago among horse drawn vehicles peering into the old time shops to see what each merchant has to offer, when every once in a while your eyes scan miles and miles of cobblestone on the streets. Thanks to Colonial Brick & Stone you don’t have to live in the past to enjoy the charm, beauty, and durability of the cobbles of long ago. Colonial is producing these rugged antique gems at their greatly expanded operation.
“They have been in the planning and experimental stages with these products for many years and we are finally producing them,” says Mr. Wagler owner of Colonial Brick & Stone Inc. It is a product that should have been produced years earlier. Landscapers and landscape designers get very excited when they see these cobbles. The stone is now available in at least five different colors and several blends.
Designers realize that when they incorporate Colonial’s cobbles into a project the stones will look 100 years old the day they are laid without having to wait for wear and weathering. While this weathered look is especially fitting for older homes it does provide the perfect accent for newer ones.
The Old Colonial Tumbled Cobbles are all made of natural stone with color ranging in grays, buffs, golds, blacks, and reds. Textures also vary in limestone and sandstone. The rounded cobbled edges create the illusion that they have been worn by many years of use.
Colonial Brick and Stone has made an impact in the landscape industry. A popular Toronto landscape designer suggested that Colonial’s creativity and experience is the key. “Colonial Brick & Stone keeps coming up with new products all the time.” Other designers feel that the new products Colonial develops just keep broadening the possibilities of what they can do with their finished projects.
Along with the cobbles, Colonial makes a matching low garden edging, a garden path stone, several styles of retaining wall and building stone, all of which have the same rounded, weather worn looking edges. And the price isn’t an issue either. Many people are surprised to find that Colonial’s tumbled natural stone retaining wall is approximately the same price per square foot as tumbled concrete retaining wall — and it’s the real thing. Also, the magic of this durable material knows no bounds. If for some reason a corner is chipped off, underneath you’ll see that it is the same beautiful stone.
The Beauty of Natural Stone
~by CANADIAN HOME & COTTAGE
Colonial makes these steps out of flat slabs of stone that are sometimes as wide as a truck and over 20 feet long. Colonial’s two guillotines then slice the slabs into steps. Most of them have a hand split top and guillotined broken edges and come in various shapes including square, natural, random round, and hexagon. Few companies can offer all the 16 shapes, colors and kinds of steps that Colonial can.
Colonial has added brown limestone and brown sandstone to their already excellent variety of stair treads. These stair treads are a solid 6-8″ slab of stone, which is very fitting in a landscape, and gives a natural outcropping look to any yard or hillside. As well, they have one-piece bridges that have the same effect. Other pieces matching these steps are oversized flagstone and one-piece bridges and sidewalks. Some of the oversized flagstone can be as large as 20 feet. A patio can be made in one, or several pieces of flagstone. Along with stair treads, flagstone and bridges, Colonial also offers waterfalls. The waterfalls are prebuilt in Colonial’s yard and then shipped to the job site ready for installation. Pre-building these waterfalls makes the installation much more efficient, while still allowing the Colonial crew to supply the special touch they want each water feature to have.
One of Colonial’s newer products is the natural stone pavers and square cut flagstone. Along with this, they also have new joint sand. This joint sand (with the help of some additives) gets hard and hinders weed growth, and if frost breaks it up it heals itself after each rain.
Popular landscape designers throughout Canada and the U.S. feel that Wagler has made a definite impact on the landscape and stone industry with his experience and creativity. Elroy had been seeing that working with stone was threatened with becoming a dying art, and is pleased to be part of reviving it. Many designers commented that without Colonial’s help, they would not have been able to complete many of their projects with the magnitude with which they have.
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