A rock garden, also known as an alpine garden or a rockery is a small plot of land that is decorated with stones, boulders and rocks, arranged in a way that allows for small plants to be planted among the rocks. Rock gardens are easy and fun to set up and they can provide an attractive, low-maintenance alternative to costly lawn that needs the gardener’s almost permanent attention. If you are in the process of creating a rock garden, here are a few tips that you can use:
- Before you do any digging and planting, obtain a specialized underground cable locator service to make sure that your landscaping does not cause damage to cables or pipes that may be buried in your yard.
- Pay attention to soil drainage and layering – clean the area where you want to set up the rockery from weeds and debris, then add a layer of rubble to hold up the stones and to improve drainage, followed by a layer of permeable landscape fabric to keep the rubble in place, then by some fertile soil or compost.
- Water the rockery and place the larger rocks and stones into wet soil to allow them to settle.
- Choose your plants carefully – alpine plants, succulents, small evergreens are great for rockeries and some flowering plants also thrive well in their rocky beds. If you choose your plants right, you can have at least one species that is in full bloom each month from spring to fall.