Rockeries, or rock gardens, are areas of landscaping with rocks, stones and gravel, filled with a range of plants, often Alpines though also other plants, suited to the setting. Incorporating these rockery ideas in garden landscaping can be a wonderful idea for keen gardeners, and this is a concept that can be implemented at large or small scale.
Quick Facts
- Rocks help add biodiversity. They create niches for a wide range of different plants from rocky or mountainous environments and varied habitats for local wildlife.
- They can also help to regulate temperatures locally, keeping things cooler in summer and a little warmer on winter nights due to their thermal mass.
- Rock gardens can be diverse in their size and style, suitable for many different gardens and settings.
When to Build a Rock Garden
You can build a rock garden or rockery at practically any time of year. But it can be a good idea to earmark this job for the autumn or winter, when there are far fewer other jobs in your garden demanding your attention. You can then make the area ready to plant by spring, when the highest number of suitable plants will be available.
Where to Place a Rockery
If you would like to create a small rock garden where you live, the first thing to think about, of course, is where to place it. Do you have a suitable spot somewhere in your garden?
As when adding any new element or feature or growing area to your garden, it is important to consider sun, wind, water and soil – looking at the environmental conditions and how you can match growing conditions to the specific plants you wish to grow.
Usually, rock gardens are placed in an open position, in full sun. Choosing as sunny a spot as possible will give you the option to grow the widest variety of alpine plants and other drought-tolerant species. But placing rocks in shady spots can also be an option to grow different types of plant from very different, shadier and moister rocky environments.
Rock Garden Entryway – Build a Front Yard Rock Garden
One interesting option to consider is building a rock garden in your front yard. Adding rocks and suitable plants to the area outside your front door might be a good way to enhance your front garden. Make the right choices and it can be a low maintenance scheme.
Patio Rock Garden – Integrated Design
You might also consider adding a rock garden to a patio or paved area, as an integral part of the design. A rock garden might sweep upwards to the edge of a patio, perhaps, linking it to the rest of the garden, or even be integrated with stone bench seating, or a low stone wall that divides one garden room from another.
Rockery Level Change – Solve Hillside Challenges
If you have a steep slope in your garden, a rockery could form part of the solution for the space. You may have natural rocky outcrops, or build in a rockery as a garden feature even where natural rock is not present. A rock retaining wall can be integrated with rock garden planting.
Polytunnel Rockery
A rock garden might also become part of an innovative design for the inside of a polytunnel. Creating a small rockery inside a polytunnel could allow you to grow a range of less hardy alpines that might not thrive outside all winter where you live.
Planning a Rock Garden
Proper planning is key when it comes to making a successful and attractive rock garden.
Choose and evaluate your site
First of all, you need to choose the right site, and understand its characteristics. Only by knowing the site well can you hope to select the right plants for the setting.
Research
Once you have your location decided, and understand the conditions that you will be able to provide, it is time to do your research about which plants might be suited to such a setting and where you might be able to source them close to where you live.
Draw up a design
Next, you can draw up your design, thinking about the type and size of rocks you need, the plants that will be included, and where you will place them. A garden designer like me can help you to make the right choices if you are struggling to draw up a design on your own.
Consider scale
Make sure that when selecting boulders, rocks and stones, you make choices that are the right scale for the project you are undertaking. Large boulders could easily overwhelm a smaller space and look ridiculous, while small stones may get lost in a larger, failing to make the impact that you desire.
Choose a style
As you make your design decisions, it can be helpful to keep in mind what style you are going for. Rock gardens can be entirely naturalistic, or much more modern and stark, depending on what effect you want to create.
Keep it natural
Generally speaking, rock gardens generally look best if they look as though they belong, and are not alien landscapes simply plonked into a particular location. Grouping rocks more randomly, to look like natural formations, and placing plants where they would naturally grow, is usually most successful option.
How to Build a Rock Garden
To build a rock garden:
- Make a list
Itemise the things you will need.
- Source materials
Either purchase rocks and stones from local suppliers, or look out for free materials advertised online that other gardeners or homeowners no longer need. Choosing reclaimed materials is the most sustainable option and can save you money too.
- Vary the rocks
Make sure you select rocks of differing shapes and sizes, along with smaller stones when choosing the rocks for your project.
- Rock placement
Place the largest rocks first, filling in around them. Try to keep it looking natural and place artistically to create good planting zones.
- Keep colour in mind
Think about the colour of the rocks and stones, and make sure this is in keeping with other elements in your garden. Make varied selections to add interest to the rockery space.
- Instil order
However, it is best not to choose options that are too eclectic, since choosing too many different materials can make it look less natural and rather busy.
How to Plant a Rock Garden
When planting your rock garden, consider the following:
- Soil matters
Make sure that you understand the soil in your planting areas. It is important to make sure, for most rockery alpine plants, that the soil is free-draining. Though a rock garden in shade may include plants that like much more fertile and moister conditions.
- Pick the right plants
Remember that plants for a rock garden should always to chosen with reference to the conditions in the specific growing area.
Incorporate plants that like the conditions your rock garden provides, with some taller plants interspersed with low-growing and groundcover plants. Think about incorporating some evergreens for year-round interest.
- Complement and contrast
Think about the interplay visually and functionally between the plants you choose and the rocks you have placed. Make sure they complement one another and provide visual interest through contrast in places.
- Rock Garden Plants
Here are just some rock garden plants to consider for UK rockery gardens:
| Sun | Shade | |
| Groundcover | Sedum/ stonecrops, creeping thyme, Saxifrages/rockfoil, purple rock cress, moss phlox… | Mosses, creeping jenny, ajuga reptans, deadnettles, sweet woodruff… |
| Perennials | Sea thrift, maiden pinks/ Dianthus, Mexican fleabane/ Erigeron, Sempervivum, Campanula, Geranium (Cinereum Group)… | Ferns, coral bells, hostas, hellebores, lungwort, columbine, Lewisia cotyledon, Ramonda myconi… |
| Sub-shrubs | Lavender, cotton lavender, rock rose, common thyme… | Certain Hebes, Sarcocca hookeriana, Daphne odora, Mahonia aquifolium… |
- Maintaining a Rock Garden
If you make the right plant decisions, a rock garden can be a low-maintenance scheme. However, remember that in the special and unique rocky environment of a rock garden, some maintenance may be required.
- Watering – minimal needs for alpine plants and succulents, but remember rocks absorb heat and can cause surrounding soil to dry out more quickly. Make sure plants get enough water, especially in hot conditions.
- Feeding – many common alpines and other common rockery plants will not need feeding. But some, especially those for shade gardens, may benefit from the addition of an organic mulch between the rocks.
- Pruning – pruning requirements are also usually minimal, but you can prune to remove dead plant material, and maintain a neat appearance, and deadheading can sometimes encourage the formation of further blooms, depending on the species in question.
Problems
Problems with rock gardens and the plants within them are most likely to arise due to problems with drainage. For many rock garden plants, free-draining conditions are essential. Many alpines are more likely to encounter problems with winter wet than with winter cold.
So make absolutely sure that excess water can drain away freely when planning and creating your rock garden.
Rock Garden Design Ideas
Add High-Altitude Plantings
Many rock garden plants grow naturally on mountains. Plant mountain wildflowers and small shrubs to recreate mountain scenes.
Introduce Drought-Tolerant Plants – Designing with Succulents
Succulents love the free-draining conditions of most rock gardens in full sun, and some can thrive outside year round, even in the UK.
Consider Texture and Scale
Mix plants to create visual interest and to play with scale against the rocky backdrop. Think about incorporating plants with different textures and scales.
Fill in Between the Rocks
Place plants in tight spots to mimic how plants in the wild in rocky mountain environments will take advantage of every crevice.
Combine Colourful Plants
Use plants of different hues to create a series of eye-catching vignettes.
Plan for a Year-Round Rock Garden
Consider creating a rock garden undercover in a polytunnel for tender plants, or for year-round interest outdoors, make sure you add plants for autumn foliage, tiny coniferous plants and evergreens.
Plant a Cottage Garden with Abundance
Rocks can also help enhance a cottage garden scheme, with a rock garden filled with vibrant cottage garden flowers spilling over the rocks.
Embrace Sculptural Beauty
Enhance the sculptural forms of boulders and dwarf shrubs with soft, wispy planting and small-scale plants.
Incorporate Conifers Carefully
Choose conifers that will grow slowly and remain small, otherwise conifers can quickly swamp your rock garden.
Install a Creative Edge Treatment
Think carefully about how to blend your rock garden into the surroundings, or create edges to border the scheme. It can often be best to have it blend into surrounding planting.
FAQs
How to design a rockery garden?
Think about how a rocky area can work within your garden design as a whole. Think about environmental conditions and choose plants accordingly. Position rocks naturalistically, plant up to maximise use of space and enhance the visual effect.
How to make a stone garden look nice?
Choose attractive stones that work well within your garden and with one another. Select diverse plants to complement the stones that are suited to the growing conditions.
How do you prepare a rock garden area?
To prepare a rock garden area, start by clearing the site of weeds and grass. Make sure the soil is suitable for the plants you wish to grow and amend as necessary. Position rocks, starting with the biggest. Fill in with smaller stones and plants.
How do you dress up a rock garden?
To dress up a rock garden, add some colourful alpine plants or succulents that will flourish among the rocks. Introduce a water feature, or decorative elements like statues, a birdbath, or garden ornaments for character if you wish.
Sources
Decorative Aggregates. (n.d.) Garden Boulders, Rockery, and Water Features. [online] Available at: https://decorativeaggregates.com/category/boulders-rockery-stone [accessed 22/07/24]
