What Is a Rock Garden?
A rock garden is also called rockery or an alpine garden, which is essentially a garden where rocks and rock arrangements play an integral part in the design. In a traditional sense, rock garden represents a heaped arrangement of stones with soil and rock plants around them. But modern rock gardens have evolved beyond that to accommodate more eclectic tastes. Making rock gardening is one of the most fun and creative forms of gardening. These are some of the most unique types of gardens.
A Step by Step Guide to Rock Gardening
Rock gardens tend to be low maintenance once you set them up and can be fitted to any size yard, including small spaces with natural slopes. In an area where weeds are persistent, rock gardens can help to keep weeds down. In the Rock garden, the rocks and soil are arranged in a specific way to create ideal conditions for the growth of different plants. A rock garden is technically artificial in the sense that is human-made, but a well-prepared and well-managed rock garden becomes one of the most natural, attractive, and exciting features of a garden.
Most rock garden plants favour sun but you can adjust your planting scheme if you have a shady site. You may want to try sketching or drawing what you want your garden to look like. Rock gardens are fairly permanent structures, so avoid placing them in spots where there are manhole covers or underground pipes that may need to be accessed.
Soil Requirement for Rock Gardening
If you’re creating a rock garden on level ground, begin by marking the perimeters of the garden with spray paint or string, then dig down 3 feet. Soil prepping a rock garden bed consists of creating three separate layers that promote good drainage and a healthy foundation for rock garden plants. Alternatively, you can mound the soil to create a berm, raised bed, or hill.
The first layer is the rock garden’s foundation and creates excellent drainage for the plants. This layer is simple and consists of large chunks such as old concrete pieces, rocks, or chunks of broken bricks. This foundational layer must be at least 8 to 12 inches thick. Though, if your garden already has excellent drainage, you may be able to skip this step or make a thinner layer.
The next layer should consist of sharp sand. Although any type of coarse sand is suitable, horticultural-grade sand is best because it is clean and free of salts that may harm roots. This layer, which supports the top layer, should be about 3 inches.
The uppermost, all-important layer is a soil mix that supports healthy roots. A good rock garden soil mixture consists of approximately equal parts of good quality topsoil, fine pebbles or gravel and peat moss. You can add a small amount of compost or manure, but use organic materials sparingly. As a general rule, rich soil isn’t suitable for rock garden plants.
Once the rocks have been set in place to form the foundation for rock garden design, you should prepare the soil before planting the plants. Also, keep in mind the sun requirements of projected plant selections.
As in arranging the rocks in the rock garden, take your cue from nature in arranging the plants. In nature, plants that grow amongst the rocks like well-drained soil. As a general rule, you would want to mix sand into the soil that you will be used for planting. But it is best to know the particular requirements of the plants that you will be selecting and to base your soil preparation on that. Knowing your plants’ particular requirements is even more important in preparing the soil to have the proper pH level. An individual plant choice can prefer acidic or alkaline soil. Do not mix low-pH plants (that is, acid-loving plants) with high-pH level plants (that is, those that prefer an alkaline soil).
Finally, whether your rock garden is in a sunny location or shady location will have a great influence on the plants you select for planting. Again, know the requirements of plants, and keep plants with like requirements together, including water requirements.
Choosing a Location for Rock Gardening
The rock garden should be situated in an open, sunny part of the garden and should be away from large trees and nearby hedges. If an undulated land is available, the rock garden must be situated there, if possible. However, a miniature Rock garden must be located near a shade of a wall or a house. On a hilly area, a rock garden must be made on the south-facing slope where it will get maximum sunlight. Clear the site where you plan to put a rock garden. Clear your site of plants, grass, and anything else that might be there, like furniture or plant roots.
Size of Rocks in the Rock Gardening
One of the things that bring beauty to your Rock garden is the contrast of sizes. A common choice would be having large stones or few boulders as the primary foreground while using small pebbles and rocks as the complementary background.
A random scattering of large rocks and smaller rocks work well. Try to select at least 2 or 3 very large rocks to highlight your rock garden. Depending on your tastes, you may want to try to pick rocks that are all the same color and the same variety, as this can look more natural. Support larger rocks with bricks or smaller stones.
- Starting Hydroponics Gardening At Home
- Vegetable Terrace Gardening – A Complete Guide
- Homemade Hydroponic Nutrient Solution Guide
- Terrace Gardening Advantages; Disadvantages
- How To Grow Bell Peppers (Capsicum) In Backyard
- Home Gardening Tools, and Their Uses
Best Plants for Rock Gardening
The rock garden plants used to complement the rocks must be selected largely with your climate and other practical considerations in mind this will help keep them low-maintenance;
- Rock gardens in warm climates call for plants different from those used in colder climates.
- If you live at high altitudes, you might want to consider a classic alpine rock garden.
- If you live in the desert, cacti and succulents are a sensible choice. As a bonus, they also blend in beautifully with rocks.
- If your climate is warm and humid, ferns can be an excellent choice, as are begonias if you desire a flowering plant.
You want to select garden plants for rocky areas that require little care. The plants must be able to tolerate the conditions of the area, wet or dry, hot or cool. It isn’t easy to get into rock gardens to weed and water and prune, so the plant ideas for a rock garden include easy-care plants. When choosing your plants, ideas for a rock garden should bring to mind things like succulents or evergreens.
Here are a few plants suitable for a rock garden;
1. Douglas Moss Phlox
The plant leaves are dark green with a needle-like shape that is going to look great amongst the rocks of your garden. It tends to grow best in areas with a moderate temperature level, but it is capable of growing in cooler environments as well. Typically, the blooms on this plant are shades of pink and purple colour. This is a plant that has a longer stem, which means that it will be able to cover rocks and add depth to the garden.
2. Yellow Alpine Alyssum
Yellow Alpine Alyssum is a low-growing, spreading plant that puts out clusters of small yellow flowers in April to May. It thrives in poor soil and considered a drought-tolerant plant.
3. Blue Fescue
Blue fescue plant grows perennial hemispherical shaped cushion. Due to their low maintenance, these plants are ideal for the rock garden. This plant will need to be in an area where it gets full sun so that the leaves can turn blue.
4. Prickly Pear Cactus
Many rock gardens are not tended to every day, which is why they need to be filled with hardy plants that will be able to take a lot of heat and sun as well as little water. Growing this cactus is easy when provided the proper climate, soil, and location. The most rewarding part of growing these plants is the ability to easily propagate and grow more fairly quickly.
5. Rock Cress
Rock Cress is grown widely as a rock garden or ground cover perennial. Rock Cress is a herbaceous perennial and member of the Brassicaceae family. The flowers and leaves of rock cress are edible. If you are looking for a plant that will cover the rocks in the garden, the rock cress is a great option that will give your garden a softer look. This is a plant that does best in full sun, but it requires quite a bit of moisture to survive. Rock Cress tends to grow like moss, which means that moist ground will be beneficial for its growth. The blooms that these plants produce can be any color from blue and deep violet to a soft pink or lavender color.
6. Hens and Chicks
They are considered rock garden plants, because of their hardiness and drought resistance. They do not need a lot of water to grow, which makes them ideal for rocky soil that will not retain water. This is a flowering plant, but it is a great addition to the garden at any time because of the red, pink, and purple highlights that can be found on the leaves. Because these plants are so easy to grow, you will find them throughout the county.
7. Coral Bells
Coral bells grow in good soil with lots of organic matter but don’t plant them too deep. These plants prefer partial shade but can take more sun in cold climates. Give them well-drained, moist, rich soil that’s neutral to slightly acidic, with a pH level of 6.0 to 7.0. Coral bells have much more colorful leaves that will brighten your garden throughout the year. Though the plant does bloom, the pink and purple color leaves are striking against the green foliage of other plants.
8. Angelina stonecrop
Angelina stonecrop is a spreading ground cover that grows quickly to form a mat that is only 6 inches tall. The more sun the plant gets the more golden its foliage turns. It produces small and star-shaped yellow blooms in early to mid-summer.
9. Thyme
Thyme is a decorative plant that will look great in a rock garden. Thyme loves the nooks that a wall provides, making them great fillers for even the most rugged rocky location. Typically, the leaves are small and bright green, while the plant leaves are a light lavender or purple shade. Thyme is an exceptional rock garden plant because they thrive well in low water conditions and offer fragrant leaves and colorful blooms.
10. Sedum
Sedums are also known as stonecrop, are among the easiest succulent perennials to grow. Sedum is a great plant to consider for a rock garden. The blooms of this plant produces are star-shaped, which makes them stand out in most rock gardens. This plant is available in a variety of bloom colors, so you can use these plants to brighten up rock garden quite a bit.
11. Creeping thyme
Creeping thyme plant is aromatic like the edible herb, but it’s mainly grown as a ground cover or to fill in space between stepping stones. The plant will cascade over rocks and low stone walls in a rock garden to soften the setting. It readily grows in nutrient-poor soil as long as it has good drainage.
Some other important Rock garden plants are Carpet bugle, Mountain alyssum, Snowcap rock cress, Sea pink, Basket-of-gold, Serbian bellflower, Bluebell, Snow-in-summer, Dwarf coreopsis, Ice plant, Cottage pink dianthus, Cranesbill, and creeping baby’s breath.
You should not miss this: Growing Organic Ginger In Containers.
Care for Your Rock Gardening
- Many rock garden plants tend to be very independent (which means they don’t require that much water) you may want to spend some time weeding your rock garden every few days.
- Rock gardens must be placed in full sun; most plants you’ll use in a rock garden love sunlight. While you can create an attractive rock garden in a shady spot, your plant choices will be more limited.
- Most rock garden plants require perfect drainage. If your soil is naturally heavy, put down a drainage layer of 6 inches of gravel or crushed rock. Cover this layer with landscape fabric or 2 inches of sand so the soil you add later won’t percolate through.
- A rock garden is technically artificial in the sense that is human-made, but a well-prepared and well-managed rock garden becomes one of the most natural, attractive, and exciting features of a garden.
- The rock garden should be situated in an open, sunny part of the garden and should be away from large trees and nearby hedges.
- Limestone and hard sandstone is the best choice for rockeries and other garden stonework. Be sure to get stones of varying sizes. Don’t use too many large rocks in a rockery design for a small garden. It is imperative though to use only one type of stone for the single garden.
- The rockery is a permanent feature of the backyard, and a rock garden layout must be made after careful planning. Place the stones in slightly slanting position, leaning backward, so that the rainwater trickles towards the roots.
- Rock garden plants do not grow exclusively on rocks, and hence fertile soil is needed for every rock garden. Irregularly shaped pockets created between stones varying in size should be 15 to 60 cm across. Fill these pockets with soil and compost for optimum plant growth.
How to Start Rock Gardening
The first step is to choose an appropriate space for your rock garden. If you are undertaking the construction of Rock garden yourself, it is probably a good idea to choose a subtle sloped space and one that is easy to deal with. Rock gardening is easy enough, especially if you have an irregular terrain in your yard. You can create a rocky hillside or even a series of ledges with garden plants for rocky areas woven in. You want to use weathered stones that are native to the area and that blend into the landscape. This will give your rock gardening a natural look. You want to place your rocks in positions that are natural with the same plane as the existing ground structure. Also, make sure you tip the stones so the water can run into the soil. This helps rock garden plants absorb more water. Make the rocks large as well because they will help hold the soil better. Make sure the soil level for rock garden plants is deep enough to give them nice pockets in between and even behind the rocks. This way, the rock garden plants will grow better. Additionally, make sure you add compost or dried manure to the soil so that the organic quality and fertility of the soil is increased.
In case if you are interested in this: Vastu Tips For Garden Plants.