Rock Gardens
Explore the World of Rock Gardening
Rock gardens are not just gardens full of rocks. A traditional man-made rock garden can contain a ton (literally) or more of rocks, but they are placed artfully among the rock garden plants that will surround them.
In nature, rock garden plants occur in pockets between the stones where soil has blown in or scree (bits of ground up rock) has been created by the action, over eons, of wind and water. The plants that survive in those conditions have evolved over time to require excellent drainage. Many rock garden plants would do poorly in the average garden border where they might receive too much water, but they thrive in the most dry areas of the landscape where other plants won't grow. Sound interesting?
With a little planning (and some work) you can create a rock garden of your own wherever you live. Your rock garden will be most successful when you mix rock garden perennials, small garden shrubs and trees, and dwarf varieties of other plants that can be adapted to rock garden culture in the area.
In addition to being drought tolerant, most rock garden plants have very few if any serious pest or disease problems.
If you are not working with a landscape designer who can assist you in plant selection for your rock garden, it might be a good idea to spend a little time doing some research to find and select plants that you will want to include.
TIP: Use the Advanced Plant Search to find any or all of the plants listed on this site that are suitable for use in rock gardens. When you get to the Plant Search, simply select your USDA Zone, then choose "Rock Garden" under USAGE TIPS.
Make a list of the plants you might like to incorporate in your shade garden, jotting down notes as to size, color of foliage, size and texture of foliage, and so on.
You can build a rock garden yourself or hire a professional designer and installer to do the work for you. In either case, the idea is that the garden should look as if it were created by nature, as though the gardener's hand has never touched it. Plants should appear as though they blew in with with wind and landed randmomly in the garden.
Rock gardens can be located in sunny or shady areas so long as the soil is consistently dry, and well-drained. Rock gardens are really beautiful so try to position one where you can see and appreciate it from a window inside your home or near outdoor living areas where you will spend time outdoors. If you can see it every day, you will appreciate it all the more.
Hillsides and slopes are perfect for building a rock garden on. Rock gardens can be made on flatter ground, but even slight elevations in parts of your garden will make it look more natural and provide the drainage that most rock garden plants prefer.
If your rock garden will be small, you and your family can probably handle the earth and rock moving chores yourselves. However, if you intend to place large boulders in the garden or on a hillside, it might be best to hire professionals who have the equipment necessary to lift large boulders.
The rocks placed in your garden should look as natural as possible. That may sound like a no-brainer, but there are several things to consider. If possible, use some rocks and boulders found on your own property. If there are none, or not enough, visit a local stone yard to choose rocks that will blend with the environment and with rocks that may already be there.
Each rock has several surfaces; usually all of the back and bottom surfaces and much or all of the top and sides will be buried in the garden soil. Therefore, choose stones that have interesting "faces" (the front surface, the one that you will see most or all of) and bear in mind that the “grain†of each stone's face should run in the same direction – again to mimic nature.
Size of rocks is also a factor. The stone outcroppings in an actual hillside will be of many different sizes and shapes, and that is what you want to duplicate.
Just as in any garden, you will want something to be in bloom during each season:
- Plan to use spring bulbs and other spring blooming plants followed by summer and fall bloomers.
- Sedums, Hens and Chicks and other drought tolerant perennial succulents are right at home in the rock garden.
- Besides flowers, a few grasses, dwarf conifers/junipers and other evergreen plants can be used for winter interest.
Place a few smaller growing specimen trees in the garden if space allows. Japanese Maples, Hollywood Juniper, Japanese Black Pine, and Hinoki Cypress are a few nice selections for a rock garden.
Bear in mind that even in natures rock gardens, where most of the plants are quite tiny, there is variation in the overall size and shape of the plants as well as in the size, shape and color of the leaves and flowers. Just make sure that the plants you choose are drought tolerant - requiring little, if any attention to watering. TIP: Select "Rock Garden" under THEME GARDENS in the Advanced Plant Search
Combining the rocks and the plants can be a wonderful creative exercise and fun for the entire family. Even if you are using professionals to design the garden, your input should be welcomed and acted upon. It is, after all, your garden.
Related Topics Of Interest
How To Build A Garden Pond
Container Gardening
Japanese Gardening
Here's A Listing of Rock Garden Plants
Click on an image or link to view a detailed Plant File for that Plant
(141) Plants Found. Showing 1 to 10 of 141.