Rocks of different colors and textures when placed, arranged around the garden can really add a rustic charm and give a nice backdrop for your plants. It is not enough to simply litter them around the garden. You need to plan and place these rocks in attractive manners and build a rock garden that would be your pride and joy. We bring you five great ideas for designing a rock garden.
Mix and Match plants and Rocks
There are a great variety of rocks that you may use for planting in your garden. You can start with varying the size, colors and texture of the rock and accordingly pick pebbles, flint stones, big rocks etc. For plants you may create layers with shrubs, flowering plants and layering plants. Flowering plants or shrubs of different colors and hues would add an artistic touchรฉ to the arrangement.
The Right Location
Space may or may not be a constraint for planting your rock garden. If you are placing it in the front, you may consider something smaller using the stone wall as the backdrop. You can throw in some low-growing alpines and add Dianthus to fill crevices. A terrace garden may be achieved by layering the rocks and plant arrangement.
Treating the Edges
You can arrange the rocks to integrate it with the walkway and the rest of the surrounding or create a neat border to separate it. You can exclusively place rocks on the edges with small shrubs planted to fill the crevices or mix and match with purple coneflower, daylily or geranium with to create an informal pathway. The effect produced will lend a rustic charm to the walkway.
Perennial or Annual
You can use both annual and perennial plants to lend a range of colors on the bed or as a creeper. Planting perennial bulbs such as conifers or shrubs in spring or autumn will offer a lot of visual interest and brighten your garden. Choosing plants with different growth and flowering time will ensure that your rock garden looks different all year round.
Managing Water
Rock gardens do not require too much water for maintenance and hence they are ideal for houses in drought prone areas. However, special attention must be paid towards their drainage. You must also ensure that all the plants in the rock garden have similar watering and sun requirements. Porous rocks as the base will regulate water drainage and another underlayer of weeds will hold the water in place.
Summary:
Rock gardens are good for saving water and require little fertilizer, weeding and maintenance. If you go through them biannually, and change plants regularly, they will stay in bloom around the year.
