Fixer Upper's Joanna Gaines Makes A Dull Landscape Pop With One Simple Addition

Do you feel a little uninspired when you look at the entrance to your home because the gardens, which are mainly filled with green foliage plants and sweeping grasses, appear a bit bland? If you want to spruce up your landscaping without doing a total overhaul or spending a ton of money, why not take an idea from "Fixer Upper" star Joanna Gaines and add a stunning feature using just one simple addition — a rock pathway made using large pavers interspersed with white gravel or crushed granite. You'll be surprised at the difference this can make to the whole aesthetic of the landscape.

In the clip below, Gaines ties the path in to the existing garden beds by using the same gravel as an edging around these. The brightness of the white stones against the dark-colored mulch and the plants really makes this part of the landscape stand out from everything else around it. It's also a fairly inexpensive solution because gravel is cheaper than pavers. You can limit the number of pavers you'll need by adjusting the spacing in between them and filling the spaces with the rocks. 

Plus, you'll find that the gravel will give a much softer appearance than just using pavers alone. For this unique idea, you can use any type of gravel or decorative rocks, such as beach pebbles or river stones, to ensure that your path really pops. You might even find that stone chippings make a beautiful rock alternative to gravel and are great for pathways.

While the blend of white pavers and similar-colored stones creates a pleasing aesthetic for this garden setting, it might look a bit out of place with your current landscaping. You might be concerned about the glare created by all that white hardscaping material or about whether white gravel is a good choice for your landscaping. But not to worry, because you can use this same idea with different colors to create an equally stunning visual impact. For example, if you're going for a Tuscan theme, consider red pavers interspersed with Mexican beach pebbles. You'll find that these stones are one of the best landscaping gravels to use if you want a smooth, natural stone look.

If you live near the beach, you might want to create a more nautical aesthetic by using seashells instead. These are available in bulk, as either washed shells or crushed ones. You could even mix this up by using the crushed ones in between the pavers, as they'll pack down better, and adding washed shells around the edges of your garden beds. As a bonus, they'll add some minerals to your soil as they break down over time, but be aware they'll also raise the pH. Finally, if your garden has more of an arid desert theme, why not use sandstone pavers and intersperse these with something like pea gravel in a similar colorway.