Forget Gravel: The Landscape Alternative That's More Beautiful To Look At

What if you could somehow make your landscape more colorful, without needing to care for fussy plants or paint your house's exterior? Luckily for us, there is a way, and it's way more eco-friendly than gravel. Allow us to introduce you to tumbled glass stone mulch.

Tumbled glass stone mulch, also known as landscape glass, are pieces of recycled glass that have spent time in a tumbler, removing their jagged edges to prevent them from getting caught on hands, paws, or clothing. They're essentially the same thing as sea glass and make a fantastic alternative mulch that adds a unique flair to xeriscapes, pathways, garden beds, you name it. Plus, if you're lucky enough, you might be able to get it from your municipality, since some are now offering landscape glass as part of their recycling programs to help combat the quantity of glass they need to process.

Gravel is a cheap and versatile landscaping material that's easy to get and use, so why bother with landscape glass? Well, gravel is a finite resource for our planet, so it won't stay cheap or readily available forever. Recycled glass, however, is an incredibly abundant gravel alternative; we have way more supply than demand. As the supply keeps rising, it becomes cheaper, too.

Plus, there's the aesthetics. Imagine complementing the plants in your rock garden with colorful mulch. Since the shards have all been tumbled beforehand, they're safe for kiddos or pets to walk over without fear of a piece of glass embedding in their feet. If you end up finding a supplier of specific colors, you could even turn your landscape into incredible crushed glass art.

Which brings us to the question: Where do you even begin looking? First, measure your space so you know how much mulch you'll need, as you might get a better deal for buying in bulk. Start by reaching out to your local materials give-back program to see if your municipality offers it. It would probably be cheaper than retail, but you might not be able to choose the colors you get. If that's not an option, check stone suppliers or retail glass recyclers. Many offer glass mulch by the cubic yard in either a mix of colors or a specific shade — just at a higher cost.