Ideas for an Egyptian Limestone Patio

Contemporary, yet ageless. An Egyptian limestone patio is a handsome addition to your garden. We explain the advantages of this natural stone and highlight ideas taken from RHS show gardens.

About Egyptian limestone

A attractive feature of smooth limestone paving is how its contemporary feel combines with a sense of history. Like the much sought-after Jura limestone, Egyptian limestone contains small fossil markings and subtle veining that give it character. However, at under half the price, and every bit as hard-wearing and versatile, it’s much more budget-friendly, giving a patio a luxury look at a fraction of the cost of Jura.

Because Egyptian limestone is so dense, it requires a surface finish. The stone is sandblasted. This finish, not only adds slip-resistance, but has the advantage of bringing out the different tones. Without sandblasting, the paving would be more prominently beige. Instead, it has an elegant appearance with subtle gradations, as you can see in the picture above. Discover why a top landscaper loves Egyptian limestone in his comparison of porcelain and stone paving.

Where to use it

Egyptian limestone is extremely dense, which makes it naturally stain-resistant.  We recommend sealing all sawn paving, though, to help keep it clean. It's ideal for patios and paths, but as with all light-coloured natural stone, even one with as low porosity, we don’t recommend it for driveways, where vehicular traffic and high foot-fall increases exposure to dirt and spills, which appear more obvious on light colours.

Design-friendly

Our Egyptian Beige limestone has warm tones and subtle colour variations which, with its svelte sandblasted texture will bring contemporary elegance to your garden design. Bullnose step treads are available as standard, giving you an economical way to a classic finish.

It’s a stone that’s much loved by designers and landscapers. Michael Quigley, of MK Landscapes says, “Great to handle, cuts brilliantly and cleans up like porcelain. It’s my favourite stone that I’ve installed in 16 years of landscaping.”

Egyptian limestone patio ideas from RHS show gardens

Egyptian limestone has also had starring roles in RHS show gardens. RHS Hampton Court, Tatton Park and Malvern have seen very different designs that demonstrate its versatility. And there are plenty of ideas of how to make the most of Egyptian limestone in your own garden.

Add light to dark gardens

The Macmillan Legacy Garden, designed by Ann-Marie Powell, at Hampton Court Flower Show in 2015, was intended as a design for a shady spot, so the pale-coloured paving was carefully chosen for its contribution to dimly lit areas.

“Egyptian limestone brings light into the garden," says Ann-Marie. The colour also goes really well with birch bark as it's got a slight apricot shade.” Using light-coloured paving like this is a way to add up-lighting to plants, as well as lead the eye around the design.

The colour also attracted Sarah Keyser for her City Twitchers Garden in the Summer Gardens category at RHS Hampton Court 2015 with its round limestone patio and companion stepping stones. “I wanted the stone as light and evenly coloured as possible,” she says. With these needs in mind, she had considered porcelain paving, but decided she preferred the finish on limestone and the fact that it's a natural stone.

The result is a wildlife garden with a contemporary feel, where the paving picks up the white-washed cedar fencing and makes a contrast with the woven willow.

Make the most of contemporary styling

At RHS Malvern in 2022, Oxford Garden Design chose the gentle tones of Egyptian Beige limestone to create a smooth, svelte appearance to this small garden layout. The fine joint lines, made possible by the density of the paving and the sawn edges, complement the modern style of the furniture.

In Sarah's wildlife garden, standard-sized paving slabs were put together and then sawn to create round islands in the lawn of chamomile. Mortar lines are matched or, where that's not possible, strictly parallel across the garden. The work was done on site so that Sarah could have more flexibility in size and placement and shows how attention to a seemingly small detail can have a big impact on an overall design.

Vary slab sizes

Ann-Marie went for bespoke paving slabs for the MacMillan Legacy Garden, sandblasted and brushed. Generally a plank shape, with narrow tread depth, they were laid with birch litter in between. This gave the feeling that the Egyptian limestone paving and the trees had been companions for several seasons. Using organic materials like litter helps to soften a geometric outline and acts as a balance to hard landscaping.

Variations in the slab sizes encourages the visitor to slow down in strategic sections of the garden: for example, when reaching the pool and crossing the rill. Without going down the bespoke route, it's possible to vary slab sizes by combining the three sizes we offer, as well as cutting stone to size.

A limestone patio for versatile styling

Together all the gardens on this page show how Egyptian limestone blends into so many different designs, adding elegance to each. No wonder it's so much loved. In Come Lime With Me, Emma Tipping's design at RHS Tatton Park 2022, the paving effortlessly complements the rectilinear shape and block colouring of the seating, softening the garden's base layer while maintaining a crisp, modern character.

Beige is not the only colour for limestone. Why not check out Kota Blue limestone patio designs?

And for even more inspiration, see take-home patio ideas from RHS Shows.

Post updated: June 2024