Glowing stones: magical light in your garden. The use of glowing stones in landscape design

What is the difference between home and simple house or apartments? In a place where comfort reigns, love and well-being always live. Therefore, each person strives to make his home cozy, comfortable and beautiful. If you are surrounded by beautiful, comfortable and practical things, you will always have good mood and a charge of vivacity to reach new heights.

That is why designers pay a lot of attention to creating new products for home interiors, garden decoration and ennoblement. personal plot. It can be anything: sculptures, furniture, decorative elements, design.

This time it was designed unique material for home decor. These are glowing stones. Their difference and advantage is that they can be used indoors and outdoors, to decorate pools and aquariums, to decorate walls and summer cottages. It is a versatile material that, regardless of the influence of the environment, always remains attractive.

glowing stone

Luminous stone is a novelty that is rapidly conquering consumer markets in all countries of the world. This is due to the great demand for stones as a universal decorative material with whom it is convenient and pleasant to work. Landscape designers have picked up on this idea and are creating real masterpieces in gardens from glowing stones.

Luminous landscaping stones accumulate light during the day and radiate it at night. They glow throughout the night, replacing the lamps. Therefore, using glowing stones, you get not only beautiful decor, but also effective and economical lighting.

Luminous stones for the site are made of luminous polymer plastic, in which glow catalysts are added. It's perfect new technology production, which allows you to get a luminous stone without the use of elements harmful to health, such as phosphorus.

No matter how beautiful and high-quality the repair in a suburban area is, you always want to add some decorative element to it, and even created with your own hands. This is especially true for the design of the surrounding area. How can you diversify it?

Great idea - glowing stones. This decorative element, which can give a truly fabulous look to any home, is especially good in dark time days.

IN Lately, luminous stones have become simply an indispensable thing for an original and not expensive landscape design.

Fresh trend in landscape design

Luminous stones are great for effectively decorating your garden.

Not much time has passed since the appearance of luminous stones on the market. Despite the fact that this very unusual decorative element was invented a long time ago, they began to actively use it right now. Surprisingly, this natural material are a great alternative to electric lighting. Judge for yourself, the flashlight consumes a lot of energy, other lighting devices give too local for adjoining territory light. At the same time, glowing stones do not require any costs, except for the initial ones when they are created. Another advantage lies in the ability to play with the color of the glow. What can not be said about standard devices that give a uniform yellow or white light.

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Making glowing stones

There is nothing difficult in creating a luminous path or platform on the site with your own hands. For this you will need:

stones (natural or artificial);
luminous (luminous) paint TAT-33;
brush.

Luminous paint can be applied to any stone.

Luminous paint is able to accumulate in itself solar energy, which will later be given as a glow in the dark. At night, this process can continue for 10 hours. It all depends on how much energy from the sun the stones managed to absorb. By the way, this paint is not washed off and does not peel off. It has very good wear resistance, and therefore luminous stones can last for a long time. This paint can be applied to any stone, although many professionals advise using artificial material. This is due to the fact that artificial stones are cleaner than natural ones. IN this case cleanliness has great importance in terms of the service life of the luminous elements. Then the decorative effect will please the eye longer.

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We create miracles with our own hands: painting blanks

Glowing stones will serve you long years, as the luminous paint is not afraid of water.

Before applying paint, be sure to manually clean, wash and dry the stones. This should be done especially carefully with natural ones, because bacteria and dirt accumulate on them, which in the future can negatively affect the quality. You need to do this manually, with your own hands. The stones must first be painted, and then laid out on the desired surface. Lay a cloth or paper on a flat surface, lay clean, dried stones on top. It is not advisable to paint the entire future luminous stone, because the side lying on the ground will not be visible. It is better to apply paint on the flatter side. Walking on too convex and stones will be extremely inconvenient and even dangerous. After painting, the stones should be allowed to dry thoroughly. This will significantly extend their service life, and you and your loved ones will not risk getting dirty.

After the glowing stones have dried, you can start laying them on the future path. hands on the road. A pre-designed (and, possibly, drawn) pattern will look very nice. The use of luminous stones in the decor does not limit the imagination of the owner of the site. They can even be laid out near the water, as they have a good water-repellent property. In addition, decorative luminous stones are completely safe for both humans and animals. In addition, when creating this decorative element with your own hands, you can use special paint with phosphorescent additives. It contains a special pigment, which has the property of the so-called afterglow. Glowing stones are made using this paint in the same way as with the help of light-accumulative.

The only caveat: phosphorescent paint should dry only under the influence of sunlight. Particularly interesting are various experiments with color for luminous stones, and it can be anything: yellow, blue, red, green, purple, orange, pink and any other. Working with such material, you can feel like a real artist. Create a mosaic of luminous stones with your own hands, and it will certainly delight your family and guests.

There is nothing difficult in the manufacture of glowing stones. But how much joy, goodness and beauty they can bring to any Vacation home. This magical beauty truly bewitching! Such luminous elements will decorate any site, and you can make them today, radically transforming your house with your own hands.

An original and bewitching design of the site is easy to create with the help of luminous stones, which you can buy and make such a design yourself.

Appointment of glowing stones

The desire of each owner is to make his territory unique. For this, all available funds. You can do without big investments and efforts if you use man-made exotics.

Luminous stones can really cause amazement of guests and neighbors. This romance in the night is available to everyone. Today it is fashionable to use stone inclusions in the form of rock gardens, dumping, framing reservoirs to decorate the site. Having a backlight, they make the territory at dusk mysterious, unique, fabulous.

What are glowing stones? It is the emission of light through technology or paint. A similar element of decor enlivens the landscape, allows you to freely navigate at night. The use of light stones allows you to save on area lighting. Emitting soft light, they highlight the surrounding objects, highlight the path outline, create landmarks. And the most important thing is romantic atmosphere. Compositions of multi-colored stones look especially chic.

Varieties of stones that give light

The result of the glow of stones can be different variants. On sale there are plastic copies with glow catalysts. Charging is carried out from daylight, like solar lanterns. Outwardly, such products are difficult to distinguish from natural cobblestone, but they are light and transportable. Light weight allows you to move them on different places, which is useful for updating the landscape.

Luminous pebbles are made from polymers with luminous pigments (fluorescent and photoluminescent), have a diverse range, the duration of radiation is more than 12 hours. During the day it can be tinted or colorless. Caring for such a "radiant decoration" is simple. As needed, the stones are washed in the usual way, if desired, using detergents. They are sealed and impervious to moisture. Perfectly "work" in fountains, artificial reservoirs are illuminated in an original way.

Self-made glowing stones

Avoiding difficulties for DIY take ordinary stones. Size and shape don't matter. Suitable small pebbles, cobblestones of any size. The main element in recreating the glow is the TAT33 luminescent paint (available in hardware stores).

It is important to choose the right stone before processing. To do this, you need to know exactly where you plan to install, based on this, choose suitable size, and possibly the form. The process is simple: the stone is washed from the earth / sand, after drying it is covered with paint. Particular attention is paid to unevenness, cracks, so that a uniform application is obtained, without gaps. After the final drying, it is desirable to apply a layer of varnish, a suitable brand for outdoor work.

Luminescent paint is inexpensive, resistant to moisture, not afraid of ultraviolet radiation. Without loss of quality, it lasts for several years, even if the painted object is in water or placed in the sun. By the way, if you plan to lower a stone into a pond with fish, you can not be afraid for their lives. The paint is non-toxic and will not harm living organisms and plants.

Use cases, installation rules

Purchased stones are light and unstable, so it is important to carefully install, and possibly fix on the surface. The range consists of three sizes: stone chips (0.5 cm), boulders and river pebbles (1-2 cm). Small and medium-sized ones do not require special diligence when located, large-sized boulders need fasteners and reliable installation. If there is no good fixation, a gust of wind can carry them to the neighbors.

Installation of plastic boulders consists of pressing one side into the ground or digging in the bottom. The crumb/pebble crumbles in the selected place, they fill the spaces between the paving slabs. Patterned paths are laid out from several colors, usually blue, pink and green glow is used for this.

Often in the decor vertical laying is used. Pebbles are fixed on the lining of the walls of the house, the foundation. It is applied to the walls and roof of the garden well, swing racks, poured into vases. Accommodation luminescent stones fascinating business, improvisation and fantasy are appropriate here.

Illuminated stones have become an excellent solution to the issue of lighting in the dark and at the same time have enabled landscape designers to create original, elegant landscapes.

Aesthetically pleasing and light!

The use of self-luminous stones in the landscape eliminates the need for electric lights, which are usually installed to illuminate the dark corners of the garden. The paths and paths along which such decorative elements lie are perfectly visible at night, so that the danger of not noticing an obstacle and stumbling is minimized.

Of course, such products are chosen precisely because of their impressive aesthetic appearance, but it is worth noting that by replacing the lights, they save energy.

Use cases in landscape design

Luminous stones provide a lot of opportunities for aesthetic garden decoration, you just need to turn on the designer's imagination and not be afraid to fantasize.

For example, mosaic paving slabs next to stones acquire additional charm and originality. Selecting products different color, differing in size and degree of luminescence, you can make original combinations and get unique drawings.

Glowing stone chips sprinkled on a path or the bottom of a reservoir look very picturesque. Objects are produced that resemble sea pebbles, the colors of which vary widely: green, coral, blue, red, pink, lemon, etc.

Large semicircular stones are also made, similar to river boulders. They are used to decorate flower beds, ponds, paths. On the path, you can lay out small pebbles, and place luminous boulders along the edges. Small ones can decorate the bottom of a reservoir, a pool, and large elements can be placed on the shore. Some luminous stones are lighter than water, then they will float on the surface, heavier ones will shine from the bottom of the reservoir.

You can come up with a lot of ways to decorate with glowing stones, if you have a similar experience, share it with us and readers.

The material for the manufacture of this element of street decor is heavy-duty polymer plastic, into which a luminous powder is mixed at a certain stage of production. quality products capable of withstanding significant physical exercise, resistant to chemical attack(alkalis, reagents). The surface is glossy or matte. During the day, stones accumulate energy, and with the onset of twilight, they begin to radiate light. For a good charge, it takes only a few minutes (10-15 minutes) and at the same time they can accumulate energy even on a cloudy day, in the evening, and even from artificial light sources like a lighter and a lantern. The products are environmentally friendly, non-radioactive and do not contain toxic substances. The secret of the glow may also lie in the LEDs installed inside them, such specimens will shine for about 10 years.

DIY glowing stones

You can get similar decorations for the site with your own hands by painting natural ones with fluorescent paint. Such paint is waterproof and harmless to animals and humans, so you can safely decorate both aquariums and a pond with fish with products. Selected specimens (previously well washed and dried) are covered with paint, especially carefully painting places where there are cracks. High-quality paint, which has the ability to glow in the dark, is also resistant, it does not fade, does not come off under the influence of precipitation, therefore, the stones painted with it retain for a long time original view. We give the paint time to dry, and then lay out the decorative elements, for example, along the path.

Stones with glow in landscape design (video)

Reviews and comments

(No ratings yet)

Nadia 16.02.2014

Unfortunately, we do not have a dacha yet, but I am sure that in the near future it will definitely be. I dream of a beautiful, cozy house and my own chic garden, immersed in flowers. I think I can adequately take care of him, I will learn if that. The idea of glowing stones seems very original and practical to me. It all looks amazing and even somehow futuristic.

Lyalya 27.02.2014

At our dacha, the paths are paved with ordinary rubber squares, it’s high time to change them, otherwise when It is raining, constantly slippery! But if you decorate a new path with luminous stones, what a beauty it will be! And additional lighting in the garden will not need to be installed. I also liked the idea of a luminous crumb at the bottom of the reservoir ... It will probably turn out very fantastic! Great idea, I'll definitely keep it in mind!

Tonya 06/06/2014

To tell the truth, until now, I didn’t even know that there are such luminous stones and you can even make them yourself. It will be necessary to study this issue and try to do this in my country house, after all, it is easier than ever, you just need to buy paint. Of course, I understand that there will be no bright light, but when it is completely dark in the garden, even a weak light is very important.

Vitaly 12.08.2015

I was very interested in Glowing stones, I should try to make them in my country house. There will be beauty. Interesting and simply described in the article. Nice and easy way! In general, the site is sensible, there is a lot of interesting and good housework. I have stones, now it’s just a matter of paint, well, I think you can buy it now without difficulty, now it’s just not possible to buy, everything is there)

Vitaly 14.08.2015

The reason for the yellowing and fall of coniferous trees can be not only improper care behind them, malnutrition, but also diseases and pests. When spruces are affected by Hermes aphids, the needles begin to turn yellow, and sometimes acquire a purple color, then fall off. The typographer beetle can destroy entire forests: it gnaws through numerous passages in the bark of conifers, and the trees die. You can try to determine if pests have caused your Christmas trees to turn yellow. To do this, you need to carefully examine them for the presence of galls, cobwebs, passages in the bark. In case of infection, the Christmas tree will need to be treated with insecticides decis, fastak.

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People who consider themselves gardeners by vocation are always concerned about the design of their site. And the traditional question for each of them: how to combine originality with functionality? One of the most urgent tasks is how to illuminate the local area. Thanks to the efforts of modern technologists, classic lanterns and primitive lamps are in danger of becoming relics of the past, since an innovative device has appeared to decorate landscape design - luminous stones. What is it and is it possible to make glowing stones with your own hands, read on.

Glowing stones - how is this possible? Everything is extremely simple: those stones that can reflect light glow. Consider two types of stones that have this property.

polymer glowing stones

The basis for the creation of the first type of stones is a special polymer plastic, which collects and stores light particles obtained from natural luminaries and light bulbs. To enhance the effect, plastic is mixed with a catalyst. Such light sources work for a long time: they shine for exactly as long as they were in the light of the source. So, if the sun charged the stone during the day, in the evening and at night it will give off light for 10 hours.

The indisputable advantage of luminous stones for the garden is that their service life is unlimited. In addition, they almost do not differ from natural stones, but much easier than natural products of nature. Caring for polymer light sources is very simple: as soon as they become dirty, simply wash them with water and a household cleaner.

You can buy a novelty to improve the landscape design of your site of any size. Someone will be interested in voluminous cobblestones, someone likes a scattering of small pebbles resembling small gravel. Most often, light-emitting polymers are laid out along garden paths and paths. You can also see such luminous decorative stones in a pool, fountain or pond - they are not afraid of water and whimsically illuminate any water object in the garden. Polymer light sources are environmentally friendly and do not emit environment substances harmful to humans.

Glowing rocks during the day...

…and at night

LED glowing stones

This decorative elements allow you to glow in the dark LEDs built inside. If you are leaning towards this option when it comes to lighting the site, then do not forget that for the operation of LED stones you will certainly need a power source within reach. When it gets dark, just “flick” the toggle switch and your area will be filled with soft subdued light.

Unlike polymer products, stones equipped with LEDs do not look very natural. During the day, they are transparent containers that can be mistaken for original elements high-tech decor.

Manufacturers of LED stones can boast of an impressive service life of their creation - in conditions of daily ten hours of use, they will work for about 30 years. Important feature: the used LED cannot be replaced due to the absolute tightness of the product. We also note an important positive feature of luminous artificial stones on LEDs - they can withstand heavy loads without any problems.

Types and shapes of LED cameos are very diverse. To make your garden plot different from the neighbors, you can opt for big stones, rounded pebbles or stone chips. You can also use a combination of LED products of different sizes, and then your garden will turn into a sparkling corner at night. fairy forest. And although LED stones are not a cheap pleasure, they fully justify their cost due to efficiency, durability and originality.

Installation of luminous stones on the site

Artificial glowing stones are not as heavy as real ones, and therefore completely unstable. Reliable fixation is the main condition for their installation. If you do not fix such a stone well, sooner or later you will have to look for the product in neighboring areas, where it will be blown away by the wind.

In particular, large-sized stones need a thorough installation. When installing bulk boulders, they are first slightly pressed into the ground, and then lightly sprinkled with earth lower part. Installation of luminous stone chips (about 0.5 cm in size) and river pebbles(1 - 2 cm) does not require special efforts. Products are simply scattered along garden paths, or in the gaps between the tiles. A combination of luminous stones (blue, pink and green products) is collected in patterned paths, slightly pressed to the surface of the earth.

Very popular in modern landscape design is the vertical laying of luminous stones, when pebbles are attached to the facades of houses, decorate its walls with wells, racks of arbors and swings, poured into small containers.

Glowing stones for landscape design: site design options

Illuminated elements of garden decor and architecture are pleasing to the eye, if you take a look at the entire site, inspect every corner up close or admire general view garden from the height of the second floor. How to perfectly fit glow-in-the-dark stones into the natural picture of a personal plot?

Contour way to design a site with luminous stones

This decoration option is used to transform garden paths, small ponds and flower beds. With the help of a continuous laying out of luminous stones, a contour of the selected object shining with soft light is created. This is a great choice for those who prefer calm, flowing lines to clear geometric shapes.

Point method of decoration with luminous stones

In this case, the stones are not laid out entirely, but at some distance from each other. You can also alternate stones with lighting of different colors. Today it is the most popular type of site design. It will take quite a few stones to transform the garden. For example, a dashed shimmering line along the path looks concise and at the same time very impressive.

Accent decoration with luminous stones

A real decoration for not very big garden plot will be a composition with one large luminous boulder. It's simple and very stylish way illumination of an ornamental shrub, a small tree or an alpine hill. The boulder will emit a soft, diffused light, quite unlike the lighting that ordinary backlighting gives out. stones large sizes produced exclusively from polymeric material, embedding a light element there.

Patterns of glowing stones

This original and very beautiful way design today is one of the most popular. From stones equipped with LEDs, spectacular patterns and paintings are obtained. Using high-strength luminous stones in the form of tiles and blocks, it is easy to fold the garden path and walk along it. The combination of paving mosaic tiles and luminous stones give the evening garden a special charm and mystery. Extraordinarily beautiful patterns are obtained from combinations of luminous multi-colored cobblestones different sizes and varying degrees of illumination. It is especially pleasant to admire such a picture from a height. And for reservoirs, there are special luminous stones from which you can lay out paths at the bottom.

Advantages of luminous stones for garden decoration

Glowing stones are a way out for those who are concerned about saving energy. Decorative items emit a pleasant soft light, so that the need for electric lighting and lanterns is eliminated.
Luminous stones calmly endure temperature changes, shocks, extreme heat and cold.
Luminous stones will radically transform even the most unprepossessing area and bring a mysterious and romantic atmosphere there.
Thanks to all sorts of sizes, colors, shapes and varying degrees of luminosity, you can create any composition of any complexity - experimenting with such light sources is very interesting!
Luminous stones will be appreciated primarily by creative people, as well as those who feel tired from the bustle of the city. artificial stones will envelop the garden with pleasant diffused light, fill your site with peace, and your soul with tranquility. Why not relaxation therapy?
Anyone can make glowing stones with their own hands. Moreover, this activity will not take you a lot of money and time. The main thing is your imagination and desire to decorate the site with something unusual and interesting.

Glowing crumb on the road during the day ...

…and at night

How to make glowing stones with your own hands

In order not to spend money on factory light sources, we will make glowing stones ourselves. Be prepared for the fact that homemade products will be strikingly different from purchased ones in terms of functionality: they will not be able to illuminate the territory well, therefore they will mainly carry a decorative load.

To begin with, let's choose suitable stones. The best option - sea pebble or rubble. These types of stones good form and they look good as an element of any landscape composition. A scattering of small stones decorate the edges of a garden path or path, flower beds or individual plants on the site.

We will also need special paint marked TAT33. This mark means that the product contains a luminescent pigment with light-accumulating properties. For a phosphor, go to any building materials store.

How to choose the right paint: types of luminous paints for stones

Luminous paint is a complex mixture based on aluminum oxide and lanthanides, which are a catalyst. Note that the phosphor has nothing to do with phosphorus substances, since there are no radioactive processes in its structural bonds. There are several types of paint that can accumulate and reflect light:

Luminescent (light-accumulative) paint is a coloring matter that accumulates light energy, and at night gives it away, glowing up to 8-11 hours. Glow in the dark paint provides a phosphor (luminescent pigment). Any paint capable of glowing on its own is the result of a combination clear varnish and phosphor.
Reflective enamel - reflects light when a beam of light falls on it. This type of paint is often used in road markings, demarcation of territory boundaries and in the production of reflective road signs.
Mother-of-pearl (iridescent, pearl) paint - strikes the eye with all the shades of the rainbow spectrum when it hits Sun rays. This decorative paint is used for painting on various surfaces. Images made with iridescent paint captivate with amazing tints of colors when changing the viewing angle.

To create luminous stones, we, as you already understood, will need luminescent paint - certainly the most High Quality. The quality and duration of the glow of stones depends on the heat resistance and moisture resistance of the substance.

Further steps in the manufacture of a glowing stone are as follows:

wash and thoroughly clean all cracks and grooves on the stones from dirt - the quality of painting depends solely on the cleanliness of the working surface. Before taking up the brush, dry the stones completely;

take a brush and use it to paint the surface of the stone, giving Special attention cracks. To finish painting faster and not use up too much phosphor, paint only outside stones, the inside will still be pressed to the ground;

put the stones covered with luminescent paint on a clean and dry surface for drying;

when the stones are completely dry, coat them with a colorless outdoor varnish in one coat. After the varnish has dried, the glowing stones are ready to be transported to the garden.

How to make a glowing stone at home, we found out. Now it remains to secure good mood and decorate the backyard territory with original pebbles at your discretion. And in the evening, the magical atmosphere of a fabulous garden awaits you.