A well-designed model home landscape needs more than just attractive plants and decorative features. The rock selection plays a major role in creating the finished appearance while also providing practical solutions for parking areas, landscape beds, drainage areas, and washes. San Tan Rock recently supplied a model home landscaping project using three different sizes of Madison Gold rock: ¼-minus Madison Gold for the parking area, ½-inch Madison Gold for the main landscape areas, and Madison Gold Rip Rap for the wash and drainage areas.
Using multiple sizes of the same Madison Gold material allowed the landscaper to create distinct areas while maintaining a consistent color and overall design throughout the property.
Madison Gold: A Classic Arizona Landscape Rock
Madison Gold has been a popular choice for Arizona landscaping for years, and it is easy to understand why. Its warm blend of gold, tan, brown, and earthy tones complements the colors naturally found throughout the Arizona desert.
For model homes and professionally designed landscapes, appearance is especially important. The landscape is often one of the first things potential buyers see when arriving at a model home community. Using the same rock color in several different sizes can create a coordinated, high-end appearance without making every area look exactly the same.
For this project, three Madison Gold products were selected based on how each portion of the property would be used.
Madison Gold ¼-Minus for the Parking Area
The parking area required a material that could provide a finished appearance while also creating a more compactable surface. Madison Gold ¼-minus was selected for this portion of the project.
Unlike larger decorative rock, ¼-minus contains smaller particles and fines. When properly installed, graded, watered, and compacted, these fines help the material lock together and create a firmer surface.
That makes Madison Gold ¼-minus a good option for applications such as:
- Parking areas
- Walkways and pathways
- Side yards
- Equipment access areas
- Courtyards
- Landscape transition areas
- Other areas where a more compacted surface is desired
The major advantage on this model home project was that the parking area could have the functionality of a compactable aggregate while still matching the Madison Gold used throughout the rest of the landscape.
Instead of introducing a completely different gray or brown aggregate into the parking area, the contractor was able to maintain the same general Madison Gold appearance.
½-Inch Madison Gold for the Landscape Areas
For the primary decorative landscape areas, the project called for ½-inch Madison Gold.
The ½-inch size works well in Arizona landscape beds because it provides good ground coverage while maintaining a clean decorative appearance. It can be installed around desert plants, trees, shrubs, cactus, decorative features, and other landscape elements.
On a model home project, these areas are especially important because they help frame the home and establish the overall look of the property.
Madison Gold works particularly well with many of the colors commonly used in Arizona construction and landscaping. The warm tones can complement stucco, block walls, pavers, concrete, natural stone, and desert vegetation.
The ½-inch material also provided a noticeable difference in texture compared with the compacted ¼-minus parking area. Although both areas used Madison Gold, each had its own appearance and purpose.
Madison Gold Rip Rap for the Wash Area
The third material supplied for this project was Madison Gold Rip Rap for the wash and drainage area.
Rip Rap consists of significantly larger rock and is commonly used where water movement, drainage, or erosion needs to be considered. In Arizona landscaping, washes and drainage channels are often incorporated directly into the overall landscape design.
These areas need to function properly, but that doesn’t mean they have to look like an afterthought.
By using Madison Gold Rip Rap, the contractor could create a defined wash area while keeping the color coordinated with the surrounding ½-inch Madison Gold and the ¼-minus parking area.
Larger Rip Rap can also provide a dramatic visual contrast. The size and irregular shape of the stone help define drainage areas and can give a landscape a more natural desert appearance.
Depending on the design and engineering requirements of a project, Rip Rap may be used for washes, drainage channels, erosion-control areas, slopes, culvert areas, retention areas, and other locations where larger stone is appropriate.
One Madison Gold Color, Three Different Applications
One of the best features of this model home landscape was the ability to use three different Madison Gold products for three completely different purposes.
The ¼-minus Madison Gold provided the finer, more compactable material needed for the parking area.
The ½-inch Madison Gold provided decorative coverage throughout the primary landscape areas.
The Madison Gold Rip Rap provided larger stone for the wash and drainage areas.
Together, the three products created different textures and functions while maintaining a consistent overall color.
This approach can work well beyond model homes. Commercial properties, HOA common areas, apartment communities, office complexes, parks, and larger residential properties can all benefit from using multiple sizes of the same landscape rock.
Decorative Rock Delivery for Model Home and Commercial Projects
Large landscape projects often require multiple truckloads and sometimes several different products. Coordinating those deliveries is an important part of keeping an installation moving.
At San Tan Rock, decorative rock delivery is what we do.
We work with landscape contractors, builders, property managers, HOAs, commercial customers, and homeowners throughout the Phoenix Valley. Whether a project needs one truckload or hundreds of tons, we can help source and deliver the material needed for the job.
For larger projects, ordering directly by the truckload can be an efficient way to keep crews supplied with material and reduce delays during installation.
We deliver decorative landscape rock in many different colors, sizes, and grades, including Madison Gold, Apache Brown, Table Mesa Brown, Caramel, Pink Coral, Charcoal Gray, ABC, minus products, Rip Rap, and many other Arizona landscape materials.
Madison Gold Delivery Throughout the Phoenix Valley
If you’re searching for Madison Gold delivery in Phoenix, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, Tempe, Apache Junction, San Tan Valley, or surrounding Arizona communities, San Tan Rock can provide pricing based on the product, quantity, quarry location, and delivery destination.
Madison Gold is available in multiple sizes, and choosing the right material depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
A parking or pathway area may benefit from a minus product that can be compacted. A traditional landscape bed may call for ½-inch or another decorative size. A drainage area or wash may require much larger Rip Rap.
For projects requiring several materials, we can quote each product and coordinate truckload deliveries to help keep the job moving.
Direct-to-the-Jobsite Rock Delivery
San Tan Rock does not operate as a traditional landscape supply yard where material sits in inventory waiting to be picked up. Our focus is rock delivery directly to the jobsite.
We source material and transport it from the appropriate supplier or quarry to your project. This model works especially well for contractors and customers ordering larger quantities who don’t need to visit a retail yard.
If you know the rock color, size, approximate tonnage, and jobsite location, we can put together a delivery quote. If you’re working from landscape plans or an RFQ containing several different materials, we can also provide pricing for multiple products.
Planning a Model Home or Large Landscape Installation?
This Madison Gold model home project is a great example of how choosing different sizes of the same material can provide both function and appearance.
¼-minus Madison Gold created the compactable parking surface. ½-inch Madison Gold provided attractive coverage throughout the landscape areas. Madison Gold Rip Rap finished the wash and drainage portions of the property.
Three different products. Three different purposes. One coordinated Madison Gold landscape.
If you’re a landscape contractor, builder, HOA, property manager, or homeowner planning a project that requires Madison Gold or another Arizona decorative rock, contact San Tan Rock for a delivery quote.
From a single truckload to large commercial and model home installations requiring hundreds of tons, we deliver decorative rock throughout the Phoenix Valley.
San Tan Rock — Arizona decorative rock delivered directly to your project.
