Guidelines for Building a Rock Garden

Learn how to create your own rock garden with these tips

Last fall , this column featuredShowy Native Plants for Rocky Soils . Not include in that plant palette were rock-and-roll gardens . While similar in that the plants for such spaces require exquisite ( or as one might hear across the pond , “ sharp ” ) drain , the spaces are worth discover . Rocky soils occur course across the globe . Regionally , we have a preponderance of them . Rock gardens , however , are man - made . Here are some guidelines for building your own sway garden .

Culturally , the longstanding traditions of rock ‘n’ roll gardening have dual origin in both ancient East Asia and Victorian Europe . As we call up of them here in the States , rock garden are spaces design after the Victorian concept : post to arise petite and delightful industrial plant , particularly those from eminent elevation regions ( like steppe and alpine environment ) that otherwise would fail in culture . The rocks themselves help to achieve this goal by providingmicroclimatesfor such plants , but they also can be used to alter how water debilitate through the filth visibility to meliorate its suitability . With a bit of originative rock study and thoughtful plant siting , a Brobdingnagian spread of plant species can be grown in a rock’n’roll garden that otherwise would not deliver the goods .

Building a Rock Garden Berm

Perhaps most commonly , John Rock gardens are designed in “ berms , ” or mounded bed of dirt . enceinte rocks are often used to avail work and contain the grunge on such berm . When creating a berm , turn over pathway admittance as well as how it will be irrigated . Conceiving path and then working berms in around them can be most effective , though their shapes will change middling with rock work and earth move . I ’ve grown on berms ramble from 1 to 5 feet high and have determine that a berm should be at least 3 invertebrate foot mellow ( after ground reconcile ) for most rock music garden plants . Generally , expect soil to settle one quarter to one third of its original mass over a year or two .

When framing berms or building rock workplace into the shoulder themselves , I live by a few rules :

Note : If coordinate strata and the actual rock and roll oeuvre portion of your labor proves to be a highlight , consider investing inThe Crevice Gardenby Kenton Seth and Paul Spriggs , an priceless resourcefulness for those ready to take their stone gardening to the next level . This book not only feature rock work and a way with roots in the Czech Republic , but also serves as a good initiation to a large issue of unique plant well - suit to rock garden .

Plants for Rock Gardens

Plants of special note for rock garden in the neighborhood includePenstemonspp . ,Eriogonumspp . , andFendlerarupicola(mentioned inShowy Native Plants for Rocky Soils ) , as well as more unusual and gonzo offering like the following . Be admonish , however , that all three will struggle in a traditional garden layer .

Cutleaf daisy

Erigeron compositus , Zones 4–7

This native shock absorber plant revel in early spring with numerous pink to blank , daisy - similar flower on wiry stem above ferny leaves . It ’s also implausibly stalwart and wo n’t blink at – 40 ° F .

Daphne jasminea

Daphne jasminea , Zones 5–9

This fragrant , dwarf daphne remains just a couple of inches eminent and grow lento to cover the soil or a bowlder . It prefers a site with good afternoon shade , which can be amazingly easygoing to discover if the plant is tuck in on the east side of a bowlder .

Petunia ( Fabiana ) patagonica

Petunia ( Fabiana ) patagonica , Zones 5–9

A hardy genus Petunia ( you read that right ) that evolved on the Patagonian steppe , this lovely plant uprise in large flowering mounds . Do n’t get too excited about a recurrent petunia , however , as botanists are considering changing its classification .

Photo : good manners of Lauren Springer

picture : Kerry Ann Moore

Before siting your smaller plant fabric , however , consider further strengthening your garden ’s “ osseous tissue ” with some substantive gnome conifers and dauntless agave , yucca , and cacti . To my initial surprisal , Parry ’s agave(Agave parryi , Zones 7–10 ) pull round happily on the south side of several rock gardens in the Fort Collins area alongside ‘ Snow Leopard ’ Whipple ’s Opuntia cholla ( Cylindropuntia×multigeniculata‘Snow Leopard ’ syn . Cylindropuntia whipplei‘Snow Leopard ’ , Zone 5–9 ) , which aid to keep these gardens interesting after the outpouring show loses steam in summertime ’s warmth .

Use Microclimates to Your Advantage

derive a strong understanding of how to capitalise onmicroclimatesin a John Rock garden is a foundational concept for achiever . Heat fan and marginally hardy plants ( cacti , roughage plant , etc . ) prefer exposure with good afternoon Dominicus , while woodland plant life often appreciate cooler , shadier northerly exposures , and alpine plant excel with morning Sunday on the east side of a shoulder .

Like any style of gardening , experience is one of the salutary teachers , so just getting started can be one of the fastest ways to teach . If you ’re like me , though , and importune on an obnoxious amount of research , you ca n’t beat the North American Rock Garden Society ( nargs.org ) , which has a great periodical on the topic , a top - tier come exchange , and regional chapter meeting to equalise . Or weigh check by or volunteering in your local botanic garden ’s rock garden , where you may be discover to unexampled idea or ferment alongside a regional expert in the topic .

Learn more :

Plants for Rocky Soils

Plants for Drought - Prone Areas

Bryan Fischer survive and gardens at the intersection of the Great Plains and the Rockies . He is a horticulturist and the conservator of industrial plant collections for a local botanic garden .

A crevice garden at Yampa River Botanic Park

pic except where noted : Bryan Fischer

o.k. Gardening recommend intersection

Buffalo - Style Gardens : produce a Quirky , One - of - a - form Private Garden with Eye - Catching design

boulders shaping bern

A crevice garden at Yampa River Botanic Park

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items buy through links on this site , including Amazon Associates and other affiliate ad programs .

Corona E - Grip Trowel

The Crevice Garden : How to make the perfect household for plant life from rocky places

crevice garde

A crevice garden at Yampa River Botanic Park

Get our latest tips , how - to articles , and instructional telecasting sent to your inbox .

Signing you up …

4 Tips for Getting the Garden Through Drought Sustainably

Building a Rock Garden 101

How to Manage Flea Beetles: The Cutest Pests You’ve Never Heard Of

An Invasive Willowherb to Watch For

get together all right Gardening for a free engross live webinar featuring Dr. Janna Beckerman , a famous plant pathologist as well as prof emerita at Purdue University and the ornamentals technological manager …

When I spotted a particular sand dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few months ago , I know I was in difficulty . With a delightful color formula …

When we only prioritize plant we desire over plants our landscape painting needs , each season is fill with a never - ending tilt of chores : pruning , pinching , watering , treating , amending , and fertilizing , with …

Cutleaf daisy compliments hardy cacti in this rock garden.

Cutleaf daisy complements hardy cacti in this rock garden.

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be careful when you enter the backyard of garden designer Jeff Epping — not because you ’re likely to trip on something , but because you might be dive - bombed by a pair …