The Rock Garden

Rocks are the ulimate low-maintenence garden material. Although rock gardens work well in any climate, they're the perfect answer in mountain areas blessed with a healthy supply of rocks. There's a lot more than plain grey pebbles to work with. [For the Zen style rock garden see The Zen Garden]

Unique rock and stone

You're not limited to the grey rocks in your own backyward. Granit, marble, beach agets, beach glass, or even less expensive semi-precious stones like turquoise and amathyst can all be used as accent stones.

More than just using them to line plant beds, rocks can be incorperated in unusual ways. Try dimensional stone for walls, colored gravel or pebbles in walkways, a large, half-buried boulder with moss or ivy, and dry stacked or mortered rock walls. Landscaping slab stone in one color or a variety of colors can be used to create waterfalls that flow into ponds (with colored rocks on the bottom) or even low walls. Cut stones can be used in walls and are extremely durable as paving and steps. A rough-hewn stone bench adds a natural-looking accent. If it's within your budget, an address marker made of an engraved stone makes an elegent garden accent. For a more economic solution, a painted stone address marker can also look nice.

Rockery

A rockery is a planting bed filled with small stones and medium-sized pebbles and bordered by a row of medium-sized rocks. Plants are then interspersed within the area. Those plants that stay in well-mannered clumps can be planted directly in the ground. Those with a tendency to spread are easier to maintain if kept in containers set into the ground. The rocks also act as a mulch that keeps nutrients in the soil and deters weeds.

Rock walls

A rock wall brings a feeling of stability and endurance to the garden. Put a few plants such as lobelia and phlox in the spaces between the stones and the wall becomes even more attractive. Rocks are not only on of the least expensive materials for creating the walls of raised beds, they also allow a wider variety of shapes than building logs. For walls lower than a meter, rocks can simlpy be fit on top of eachother, with the dirt of the garden bed holding them in place. For higher walls, rocks should be mortared in place for safety reasons.

Rock accents

Rocks with natural indentations can be filled with soil and small plants planted in them. A column of narrow-gauge chicken wire can be set around a post and the space filled with coloured rocks, or layered with rounded bricks. The bottom of pond is a perfect place to show off the color of ordinary garden rock color or even uncut turqoius and amethysth, which are inexpensive enough to leave outdoors. Medium sized boulders look natural near a stream and will grow moss. You can "plant" moss on the rock by carefully lifting moss from another area and moistening the bottom of the moss section with water before pressing it onto the rocks.

Personality rocks

Rock personality statues, stones or stone-shaped sculptures with faces, are the natural decor for any rock garden.