Everything that you ever wanted to know about concrete is at one site, and one site only. As far as landscape design goes they have an entire section on the use(s) for concrete outside. Or exterior concrete as they say on the site.
Now to get this straight. There are a lot of applications where I don’t want to see any concrete used. My biggest problem in using concrete solutions has to be stamped concrete. It drives me crazy to see it applied. Why? Let me explain.
Stamped concrete is always patterned to appear as though it is not concrete. The goal is to make the appearance look like pavers, or bricks, or slabs of stone. Then the big problem occurs. Expansion joints . . . along they come, cut in at specific intervals, irregardless of where the stamp line are for the pavers, bricks, or slabs.
So the stamped lines clash with the expansion lines, immediately giving away the illusion that was to occur with the
I spend more time doing high-end residential than any other type of design and will always lean towards the more natural material. That’s my style, I like the simplicity involved and I will continue that way. But landscape designers need to understand how all materials work. That’s a good enough reason to point out the Concrete Network site. But remember, use it with discretion.
***The top photo is a good example of a quilted paver pattern in a commercial setting.
***Lower photo shows the expansion joints, clashing with the stamping pattern.
The Whispering Crane Institute 