Rock gardens are a wonderful way to add something extra special to your lawn, garden, or front yard. Rocks tend to have a calming effect and their rugged nature act as a perfect complement to the whimsy and delicacy of flowers. Rock gardens are also fantastic in a practical sense, as they are a perfect way to deal with awkward slopes that are annoying to tackle with the lawnmower or just to reduce the overall surface area of the lawn in your front or backyard. Once installed, they are also surprisingly low maintenance! Here’s a few tips to get you started!
If you’re really invested in the idea, you can totally turn your whole lawn into an expansive series of rock gardens—but if you’ve never built one before, we would suggest starting a little smaller! They do require a good amount of physical strength and labour to build and install, particularly if you intend to incorporate larger, boulder-sized rocks as a foundational element.
Slopes are ideal for a rock garden, regardless of the size. Typically, these areas are irritating to tackle with a lawnmower anyway, and rocks will actually help to stabilize the hill. They are also, of course, much more aesthetically pleasing! That said, flat ground works just as well to build a rock garden. Here’s a few different style ideas you might consider:
The concept behind a Japanese rock garden (also commonly referred to as a Zen garden) is to create a tranquil, peaceful space to come home to. They are nearly effortless to maintain once installed. Stones tend to be the focus of most Japanese rock garden designs, while the plants act more as an accent. Larger, boulder-like rocks are used to represent mountains or islands, while pebbles, river rock, gravel and sand can be utilized to represent the waves of the ocean.
Your front yard is a perfect place for a little rockery (really just a fancy name for a rock garden). It is a unique way to make a statement in your neighbourhood rather than having the typical mulched garden bed, and they are delightfully low-maintenance. Consider installing an alpine rock garden in your front yard if it is south-facing. Alpine flowers love lots of sunshine, and they are commonly used in rock gardens as they are already built to flourish on rocky mountain slopes.
If you’ve got a sunny, dry location that you’re struggling to fill, consider installing a xeriscape or desert rock garden. Integrate heat-loving plants like succulents or drought-tolerant native plants like coneflowers, Russian sage, or catmint. Both you and our local pollinators will be able to enjoy it!
If traditional water features aren’t your thing, why not consider creating a dry river bed rock garden? They act as a gorgeous centrepiece in any traditional garden bed and can be utilized for functional purposes to redirect surface water for drainage purposes. All you need is some landscape fabric, a few boulders, some river rock and a little bit of creativity! Design your dry creek bed with a natural river in mind, and then plant your desired flowers around the sides of it.
You can use large boulders, medium-sized rocks, river rock, gravel and even sand in your rock garden. In fact, it helps to have a bit of a variety in size, shape and texture to make your rock garden look just like it would out in nature.
Have you ever seen rocks on a natural landscape or along a riverbed placed in a perfectly symmetrical line? Not likely! When placing stones in your rock garden, try to make it look as natural as possible.
Try to follow the same tactic when selecting and placing the plants in your rock garden. Shorter, low-growing plants, ground covers and mosses are ideal for rock gardens as they will pop up between the cracks and crevices and help emphasize the stars of the show: the rocks!
Building a rock garden as soon as the ground thaws is ideal because the soil is damp and soft, so it’s easier to move, dig and shift your rocks as you please. It will also allow your rocks and the soil you lay down to settle a little bit before planting in the spring.
To learn more about how to build a rock garden, gather supplies, or find somebody who will take on the whole job for you, stop by Royal City Nursery! Our team will be happy to help make your rock garden dreams a reality.
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