How to Do Landscaping With Petrified Wood

Create walkways with natural, flat stones. Dig out the ground for walkways to a depth of 6 inches. Compact the ground with a tamper. Fill the excavated areas with 6-inch layers of gravel followed by 2-inch layers of sand, tamping both. Set the stones and create borders along the edges of the walkways with lines of small pieces of petrified wood. Fill the gaps between the stones and wood pieces with sand. If desired, also use naturals stones to build dry-stack walls or raised garden beds.

Add texture by planting evergreen shrubs. Evergreen shrubs can create borders or can be interspersed throughout the property. Evergreen shrubs will provide year-round greenery within the otherwise dry landscape design. Choose plants that will survive in your climate. Evergreen desert shrubbery that requires minimal watering includes prickly pear, Japanese boxwood, juniper fern, India hawthorne, sagebrush and agave.

Sparsely scatter perennial wildflower seeds in beds and other open areas. A light growth of wildflowers will mimic the way blossoms lightly dot the ground of dry landscapes in summer and will place notes of color around the golden tones of the petrified wood pieces. Examples of appropriate wildflowers include lupine, blue flax, butterfly milkweed, prairie coneflower, black-eyed Susan and blue sage and local seed suppliers often sell mixed bags of native seeds. Sow wildflower seeds in spring, during the final days of frost.

Line beds and other open areas with a rock-based filler that will compliment the look of petrified wood. Possible gravel options include sandstone, limestone and red brick nuggets. Mix or replace gravel with sand where something finer is desired.

Create any other desired borders or edging with lined-up pieces of petrified wood embedded shallowly in the ground. Place pieces of petrified wood throughout the landscape. Intermix the pieces of petrified wood with large, boulder-like stones. Arrange wood pieces and stones as if decorating a Zen garden or placing sculptures in a museum. Differentiate sizes and use groupings of elements to create aesthetic appeal and to move the eye through and into different areas. Consider the way someone walks around the space and ensure that it flows well and that no wood pieces or stones feel like an obstruction.