Creative Rock Ideas for Your Garden Landscape
Designing and landscaping your yard or garden can create a beautiful new look for the outside of your home. While flowers and plants are usually the main focal points, adding in some rocks can add some different elements and features to the garden to create interesting and distinct looks. Arrangements of rocks can give the garden a natural feel or create a more modern look, all depending on the rocks and plants used. The features of the rocks and plants or flowers can create a beautiful and interesting garden design.
The right rocks and plants can transform your garden from an assortment of stones into a flourishing ecosystem. With smart plant choices, you can easily create a well-balanced rock garden that looks great year round.
Why Decide on a Rock Garden?
Rock gardens, or rockeries, come with a range of advantages. They are low maintenance and, once established, require less watering than most plants, making them great for conserving water and for managing plants in drought-prone areas. Rock gardens slow down soil erosion on a slope and can create different areas and aesthetics in a large gardening space.
You can make so many different gardens with rock gardens. They can be Zen gardens for meditation, colorful alpine meadows, or any simple garden. You just have to mix the rocks with the plants and make it look natural.
Choosing the Right Plants for Your Rocky Terrain
The right rock garden plants are typically the tougher plants that can survive rough conditions. like a drought. Clump or patch forming plants are a good choice to soften the layout with rocks used in the garden. Some good examples of plants that are used often are perennials, decorative grasses and moss.
Marvelous Mosses for Shady Spots
Older moss plants add a different style and calm look to your rock garden. Ancient charm to the garden. They can take a lot of different conditions like moist wipes and shrubs and are great for growing in the soil/rock crevices for the garden.
Cushion Moss or Pincushion moss
This variety forms flexible and round shapes. This variety is a decorative option that can accentuate your garden and show a contrasting color with your rocks that are dark and damp. This plant is good to place in tight spaces and bring in soft colorful decorations.
Sheet Moss (Hypnum curvifolium)
This type of moss is great at covering large areas because of how it spreads out in large sheets. This moss works well at creating a green carpet above soil and rocks. They help retain moisture in the soil and work to help other plants nearby.
Fern Moss (Thuidium delicatulum)
This moss grows with soft and thin, frond-like leaves (which is how it gets the name "fern"). This Moss works well to create a fine and lacy texture to the surface. It looks great creeping across large rocks and logs.
HairCap Moss (Dicranum scoparium)
This moss grows directly on rocks. It gets a bright green color and, unlike other mosses, can handle a little more sun as long as you keep it watered.
Perennials, Grasses, and Groundcovers
The other plants create color and life in the sunnier areas of the rock garden while the moss work to cover the shade.
Blue Fescue (Festuca glauca)
This kind of grass in a rock garden fits perfectly. They have soft clumps of long blue-ish leaves that get to be a foot tall as a perennial. They have a tufted shape to them giving rock gardens interest throughout the entire year. These work excellently as an edge or grouping of plants.
Aubretia (Aubrieta deltoidea)
This plant is perfect if you want orange spring flowers. This plant is purple in color and cascades beautifully with its foliage. They're great for planting as a spillover of rock gardens or in contoured slopes.
Groundcover Sedum (Sedum spp.)
Sedums, also called stonecrop, are succulents built for rock gardens. They're very drought tolerant and thrive in the sun with well drained gardens. During the summer, the creeping types form solid mats and produce small flowers with colors of pink, yellow and white. They beautifully cover rocky areas.
Irish Moss (Sagina subulata)
While it may seem strange, Irish Moss is not actually a type of moss, just a perennial plant. It produces a dense, vibrant green carpet that is moss-like and blooms during spring with small, star-shaped flowers that are white. Because it can withstand light foot traffic, it is perfect for planting in cracks of pathway and alongside stepping stones.
Rock Jasmine (Androsace spp.)
It is a perfect example of an old fashioned, low growing, alpine plant for a rock garden that has a small area to spare. It grows into tight rosettes with leaves and flowers to small, pinkish white, clustered blooms that sometimes cover the leaves all together. If it is placed in a crevice between stones or on the top of a rock wall it should be a perfect spot for it to add a delicate touch.
Creeping Broom (Cytisus decumbens)
If you have a warm, sunny area that will benefit from durable ground cover, then creeping broom will be a perfect choice. This small, low growing shrub will add a ton of bright yellow flowers in late spring. It is a tough plant that will quickly cover unplanted ground and help prevent weed growth.
Match Your Plants to Your Vision
An incredible rock garden requires the perfect combination of stone and foliage. Do you picture a moss-covered peaceful spot or an energetic snowy mountain scene? Whichever is your vision, TN Nursery has quality moss, perennials, grasses, and groundcovers that work well in rock garden styles. Check out the plants that will upgrade your outdoors.
FAQs
What landscaping adds the most value to a home?
Thoughtful, well-kept, and mature landscaping. This means good quality, healthy lawn, mature established trees, and garden beds that are structured and designed with a variety of plants that peak in interest each season. Positive curb appeal with integrated functional design always wins.
What rocks are good for gardens?
For paths and ground cover, river rocks, pea gravel, and decomposed granite are great. For patios and walkways, flagstone and other large stones are great. Boulders create a dramatic focal point. For good drainage and a lightweight option, lava rocks can be a good choice.
What are common rock design mistakes to avoid?
One mistake to avoid is using too many colors or types of rocks. It can look very messy. Growing a "rock mulch volcano" around a tree is also a bad idea because it can hurt the tree. Make sure to add a landscape fabric underneath so that weeds don’t grow.
How to design a garden with rocks?
The first thing to do is sketch an outline of the design plan. Choose a focal point which can be a big boulder or a water fountain. Make sure to use rocks of varying size to give an organic and natural feel. Place big rocks first and group the rocks in odd-numbered sets.
Why do people use rocks instead of mulch?
Compared to organic mulch that has to be replaced over time, rocks are a one-time permanent investment and a lot more drainage friendly. Rocks don't decompose, and they aren't attractive to pests. Using rocks also brings a very clean and modern design look to the landscape.
What are the cons of landscaping rocks?
Rocks can absorb a lot of heat and reflect it with some plants. It can be a bit too much. Rocks also don’t add nutrients to the soil like organic mulch. They can also be hard to clean. Finally, they can be a bit on the expensive side to install.
How long do landscaping rocks last?
Landscaping rocks can last forever as they are very durable. You do not have to replace them unlike organic mulches that decompose and need to be renewed every year or two. Thus, they are a very low-maintainance thing to add to your landscape as they are a permanent feature.
