Building a Rock Garden: Everything You Wanted To Know

Rocks gardens, sometimes called alpine gardens and less commonly rockeries, are structures made from stones, rocks and boulders that you can build around your garden populated with perennials and annuals to really set it off.

Rock Garden: What You Should Know

Usually rock gardens are role players or a kind of supporting cast for the main players that are your perennials, biennials and annuals.

The exception would be some Zen gardens in Japan that are designed almost exclusively from rocks, boulders and sand and designed to open the doors to enlightenment…but for now we’ll keep both feet squarely planted in the real world.

• Why Create a Rock Garden?

A lot of homeowners want to know right off the bat why they should be investing their time and energy into a rock garden in the first place.

That’s a great question and the answer really boils down to aesthetics and practicality. On the aesthetics point, rock gardens can lend a rugged air to your garden and make a very natural complement to your roses and annual flowers.

The other side of the coin is practicality: Rock gardens make a lot of sense if you’re working with an area that hards to reach with a lawnmower and provide regular maintenance to.

Many homeowners also consider putting up a rock garden to make a clearer demarcation line between an outdoor patio area, mulch and their garden proper. This really lends a lot of perspective by creating a more dynamic environment and allowing you to naturally get a wider color palette into your backyard.

• Where to Plant Rock Gardens?

You definitely want to select the right rocks and stones for the job when it comes to creating a rock garden that naturally allows you to find the optimal balance between earth tones and flowering brilliance.

For instance, if you have a lot of outdoor space in your backyard and a slight undulating up (or down) that might call for a staircase comprised of stone slabs or a tiny pebble walkway, then you could try something like this to lend more perspective and work with the existing elements.

You can even light the way with sconces along your pathway and combine stone slabs with more petite rocks forming your walking path. A few low maintenance yet vibrant perennials like dahlias and creeping thyme can work great running along the side too.

If you’re dealing with a really steep slope, then working in some larger rocks or complementing preexisting boulders can make a great retaining wall or framing device for a rock garden down below. A combination of flowers, shrubs and chips can set things off underneath.

You might also try erecting a rock garden near hard-to-reach areas running along a fence or hilly areas as these really are the perfect excuse for building up a rock garden and turning lemons into lemonade with your next outdoor project.

• Can I Still Go Zen?

You absolutely can still incorporate aspects of a traditional rock garden into your next backyard project!

The Zen Temple of Ryoanji means The Temple of the Dragon at Peace, and it’s easy to see how it got that name: Using open space to its advantage, Zen rock gardens are peaceful reposes and typically only call on a few rocks, pebbles and moss to achieve their tranquilizing effects.

To create your own Zen rock garden use edging stones, pebbles and prune your plants to fit the aesthetic you’re going for. For help getting there, contact us the gardening professionals.

Tagged: DK Landscaping, gardening, landscape