Content
- Is sandstone suitable for building a raised bed?
- What is sandstone?
- How is sandstone composed?
- What properties does sandstone have?
- Which types of sandstone are best for raised bed construction?
- Tips
Sandstone is ideal for raised beds
Is sandstone suitable for building a raised bed?
From natural stones can be built particularly noble raised beds. The choice between the different species is very large, but which one you choose depends on various criteria. This includes not only the shape and texture of the stone, but also its durability, machinability and coloring. Sandstone is one of the most popular natural stones used.
What is sandstone?
Sandstone is an indispensable part of the architecture, because the facades of many famous buildings were built from the material - among them the Strasbourg Cathedral, the Berlin Cathedral and the Sempergalerie in the Dresden Zwinger. Sandstone is one of the most common types of rock on earth and can be found almost everywhere - accordingly, there are numerous mining sites worldwide. It is a so-called soft sedimentary rock that is easy to work with.
How is sandstone composed?
Sandstone is - as the name implies - made of solidified (the expert says "cemented") sand, depending on the type and origin of varying amounts of quartz and other sediment particles (such as clay, but also remains of living things) contains. Sometimes larger pieces of sandstone even reveal fossil remains, such as primeval plants.
What properties does sandstone have?
The properties of sandstone can not be named so concretely, because they differ greatly depending on the composition. In general, sandstone is a very soft, easy to work rock. The disadvantage, however, is that it weathers just as quickly - especially when it comes in contact with moisture. However, the degree of hardness increases with the quartz content. The higher this is, the harder and more resistant the sandstone is. Furthermore, sandstone tends to discolor from moisture (for example, rain).
Which types of sandstone are best for raised bed construction?
Sandstone is available in many different colors - but not because the natural stone was artificially colored. Instead, the different colors give information about the composition of the stone and thus about its suitability for raised bed construction. Hard and resistant sandstone has a high quartz content and therefore a white-gray color. So-called iron sandstone is colored reddish by the iron oxides contained, while species cemented by feldspars and clay minerals assume a yellowish color. Incidentally, the latter are the soft sandstone forms.
Tips
Incidentally, sandstone walls are not only popular because of their ease of processing, but because the material is also ideal as a garden biotope for insects, spiders and beetles as well as slow-moving and lizards.