which flooring should i use in italian gardens?

The range of Italian garden styles is more varied than one may think. Styles can range from traditional, rustic farm courtyards, featuring old ploughs, a few pig stys with chickens running around here and there. Alternatively Italian gardens can be based around an elegant and geometric Renaissance Villa garden design. Renaissance Villas generally had elaborate formal gardens and even impressive water features. However, recently it has been the rustic Tuscan garden style that is attracting the most attention regarding the recreation of Italian garden style.

Both rustic and formal styles can actually be addressed within the same garden space, even in a relatively small garden but care should be taken regarding detail, as it is fine detail that will suggest any chosen Italian garden theme or Italian style. Often, detail such as the style of flooring we use in the garden can often be ignored or overlooked, resulting in a confusing style from the ground up. The creation of harmony and balance is the key when designing any garden but particularly in the Italian garden.

When creating a Tuscan garden feel there are several flooring styles that pick up on the strong, symbolic and rustic Tuscan nuances. The most classic choice of flooring for this kind of rustic garden is that of re-clamed terracotta bricks. Terracotta bricks can be found in various sizes and colours and they can be used for making patios and pathways etc. They provide a passive yet firm architectural link between the house and the land. Terracotta brick floors also offer a low maintenance solution for vegetable and flower gardens, with nothing more than a quick sweep terracotta paths can be maintained in prime condition. Terracotta means quite simply 'baked earth' and this suggests that this material is just about as natural and 'eco' logical that one can use in a Italian or Tuscan style garden. However, be sure to choose a brick that has been specially fired to withstand being placed on the dirt, as otherwise they will simply crack in the cold and damp of the Italian winter.

I think one of my favourite flooring solutions for Italian gardens and Mediterranean gardens has to be gravel. However, be sure to take time when choosing the colour of the gravel, ensuring that the gravel has natural tones and avoid white or grey coloured gravel. White gravels can reflect too much bright sunlight and become garish in the intense Italian sunshine and Italian cemeteries often use white, crushed marble gravel, therefore, the use of white gravel with pick up on too many nuances of Italian cemetaries. Whereas, grey gravels can become rather depressing on rainy winter days and tend to rob any available light.

River-washed gravel is the best choice, as opposed to a mechanically crushed gravel because, firstly it is more aesthetically harmonious and, secondly because it will not stick to your shoes, thus avoiding having the gravel carried into the house as a crushed gravel will. The use of gravel as an alternative to the lawn around the house will completely reduce the many hours needed to mow and maintaining a fine lawn. Another great advantage of gravel is that you will be able to use the gravel area immediately after a rainstorm, without trudging wet mud and grass into the house!

Place the gravel at a depth of at least 10cm and be sure to use a builders felt underneath the gravel to prevent excessive weed growth. Aromatic herbs, Iris, Sedums and many other Mediterranean plants grow in gravel in their natural state, so therefore are perfectly adapted to a gravel garden.

Although not particularly ecological, Travertino is another good flooring material, available in a range of colours It is rather like a less expensive version of marble and was very popular in the gardens of the Italian Reaissance period. It is not necessarily a precious stone yet it can offer the same kind of results as marble. It is extremely hard-wearing and it's white colour can bring a tidy elegance to the Italian garden. In addition to flooring it can also be used for curbing, pool edges and steps etc. However, attention must paid to the fact that it becomes rather slippery when wet.

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