In a rock garden, rocks are not merely part of the hardscape but bring unique beauty of their own to the garden. They’re another element you can blend in with your flowers. How do you use them effectively? Here are some ideas to get you rolling!
Random and Asymmetrical
Rock gardens are usually not the place for formal or symmetrical arrangements. Strive to arrange them with a random or natural look. Often, you’ll find rock gardens on slopes. Slopes are ideal, because the rocks do double duty to stabilize the hill, while also adding a unique aesthetic to the garden. Flat ground is just as suitable for adding a stone aesthetic.
Tip of the Iceberg
Where possible, lay the stones so they look like tips of larger rocks underground. This technique ups the mystique of the arrangement. If you want a design with larger rocks, our professional landscaping architects can help you out!
Aged and Weathered
Rocks with a weathered look bring a special magic to the garden. They’re a touchstone to the ancient history of the earth that we belong to. Plus, they’re covered in interesting colors, textures, lichen, and moss. You can also harvest moss from elsewhere on your property and plant it on your stones to enhance the aged look.
How to Arrange Your Plantings
Aim for plantings that look natural, asymmetrical, or random. Go to a rocky hillside in your area and observe how the plants grow. Usually, you’ll find a lot of low-growing plants creeping around the boulders and sprouting between the crevices. Shorter plants are ideal because they keep the beauty of the rocks in view.
What Are the Different Types of Rock Gardens?
If you’re building a rock garden, you may choose to design it with a specific style, like one of the following:
Alpine Rock Gardens
Alpine flowers are a natural fit, because they’ve adapted to thrive in rocky mountain slopes. Usually, alpine flowers are low-growing and offer brightly-colored blooms. They complement moss and lichen beautifully, and grow well in poor, gravelly soils.
Japanese Rock Gardens
A Zen or Japanese rock garden brings peace and harmony to a space. They usually consist of a few boulders surrounded by mulch pebbles or river rock, interspersed with carefully pruned shrubs or flowers. The stone design is the focus of these gardens, while the plants are secondary.
Desert Rock Gardens
Rock gardens in sunny, dry locations can be stylized into a desert or dry prairie theme. Heat-loving succulents enjoy the extra warmth from the rocks, as do drought-tolerant native species like coneflower, sage, yarrow, and bee balm. These flowers will turn your rock garden into a fragrant haven for you and the pollinators!
Rock Gardens For Any Microclimate
You can easily stylize your rock garden according to whatever conditions you have. If you have a damp, shady nook, then grow a mossy rockery of ferns and hostas. If your rock garden is in full sun, then plant some sun-loving perennials. The truth is that any kind of plantings can work well as long as you have the right soil, moisture, and sunlight.
For more gardening ideas, check out our other blogs, and visit our garden centers in Chicagoland!
Platt Hill Nursery is Chicago’s premier garden center and nursery.