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J UNE 2017 | 35 Landscape Products F I N I S H I N G M O V E S New technology makes that natural look even easier to customize. "Our custom cutting with the four wire axes Computerized Numerical Commands machinery offers endless possibilities when it comes to cutting slabs and blocks of natural stone," explains Marie-Luce Denis, architectural specification representative for Stone Concept. From statues to archways to spindles or busts, this unique tool can easily create the stone designs of a homeowner's dreams. Stone Concept now carries a new metal siding that looks like wood called Architectural Metal Siding. It's the ideal finish for homeowners or designers and architects who want the look of wood, with none of the maintenance. In options like Smoked birch and black walnut, Cedar and Torrified wood, it's a convincing faux face that embraces that trending natural esthetic. Bob Tiller, manager of Northwest Landscape Supply, has noticed an uptick in water features and man-made firepits built with natural stone feature pieces, and agrees that cli- ents are currently drawn to more organic finishes. "Basalt Drystack Wallstone has always been our stand by," says Tiller. "We've complemented that with a couple of Mica Drystack options [Silver Strike and River Grey] along with concrete options Pisa Stone and Allan Block." These wallstones can cre- ate garden beds up to 36-inches tall. And even outdoor fur- niture pieces like benches and tables can be done in natural stone to complete the organic look that's so hot right now. Textural finishes, rather than smooth ones, go alongside this trend. "I'm seeing a move towards pavers or textural pavers, and building retaining walls that have more tex- ture than typical cement blocks," says Stone Concept's Denis. Anders Danielsson, senior technical sales rep for Abbotsford Concrete Products, has noted charcoal and natural finishes are extremely popular within the HydraPressed concrete slabs, however, the Aristokrat line has a much broader colour palette selection with over 20 colour blends that emulate limestone, granite, mar- ble, wood planks and more – anything is possible. In fact, some people even utilize these products for indoor applications to maintain continuity between the indoor and outdoor space. As the economy strengthens, the demand for more sophisticated esthetics increases. Keystone's exclusive partnership with Rampf Molds Industries now gives the company the ability to use a new dry-cast technology that makes imprinting feasible on up to four sides of a block product (such as segmental retaining wall and concrete masonry unit products). Keystone's KeyMark texture library plays an important role in this partnership, says David LaCroix, general manager and VP business development. "KeyMark designs have been developed to maximize the texture potential, delivering face textures with depths of up to .75 of an inch," he explains. "They can create one-of- a-kind landscapes." The Campton paver by Keystone, for example, combines the look of a traver- tine or wood finish with the durability and ease of installation of a concrete paver, and the different laying options and colour banding allow for design creativity in patios, walkways, pool decks and beyond. The company's Lundurra paver mim- ics the casual elegance of hand-laid stone, with a three-stone face configured in an L-shape; the interlocking connection system simplifies the installation and enables the easy creation of unique patterns (think herringbone or rectangular). L I N E B R E A K A tidy, straight-lined border around the edge of a flower bed may still appeal to some, but the ability to experiment with shapes and forms is an exciting new option thanks to new products designed with curves in mind. "Three-dimensional undu- lated styles – walls coming in and out – are very attractive," says Denis. Mutual Materials' CypressStone retaining wall is infinitely flexible, going from large engineered walls to small gravity walls, and from straight lines to curved ones or staircases, while still offering a quarried stone appearance that's appealing to designers. With landscape designers looking to take advantage of every possible square inch, tools like these are smart ways to handle grade changes and maximize use of the existing terrain. Another Mutual Materials line, StackStone, is available in a huge selection of colours, complete with two-sided finish and the self-aligned, tapered design provides structural interlock to make straight walls, corners and curves alike a breeze. Terraforces' L17 block takes the living wall one step further: the tear-shape allows the blocks to fit into each other to create infinite curves of varying radiuses. "There's no breaking or sawing off to do curves or lazy long curves – it's a natu- ral process because blocks pretty much rotate around each other," says Erik van Heerden of Terraforce. The flexibility here is certainly appealing as well. "It has a rockface finish on one side so you can use it in a conventional way, or use for the gar- den or trellis," he notes. "What's really interesting with blocks like the L17 is that you can flip them around and have a scallop design, and that's when you can use it for doing green walls." WA L L T O WA L L The Keystone Compac III Hewnstone is a concrete masonry segmental retaining wall product (produced in collaboration with Barkman Concrete), designed to deliver a structural wall solution with enhanced, natural stone esthetics. Having positive connections with reinforcement, it can be used to build engineered walls in excess of 18.2 metres, or 60 feet in height. Meanwhile, Keystone's Stonegate Country Manor is a pinned segmental retaining wall system that can be used to build many different types of landscape structures: gravity retaining walls up to three-feet in height, columns, free-standing walls, benches, kitchens, fireplaces and fire pits, as well as commercial projects. Green walls continue to be an impressive element for any landscape design, res- idential or commercial. That's where the hollowcore Terraforce blocks come in. "People are getting to a stage where they want to get away from bleak concrete, even in industrial applications," says van Heerden. "Now you want to do something that does it better and has some local plant love." Made from recycled concrete and clay, Terraforce blocks are also a helpful product to circumvent some inconvenient side effects of your standard pavers: because it has holes in it, it's water-permeable and grass can grow through. If you're on a lawn area, it blends it while still support- ing vehicles. Drivable Grass from Northwest Landscape Supply. L17 block from Terraforce. Lundurra paver from Keystone.

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