Planting a Rock Garden

A rock garden provides a tranquil balance of the mineral and plant groups. A rock garden does not need to be expensive or particularly fancy and it does not even need to take up a large space in your yard. It can be either on a small hill or on a flat piece of land. You can assemble your rock garden where ever there is a natural grouping of rocks in your yard, or you can make a grouping from scratch.

If you are lucky enough to have a wooded area in your back yard, you can hunt for rocks there. Take notice of the different colors of the rocks you find . The three basic rocks types are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. From these types you will discover a large array of colors. Such rocks may be just laying around randomly or if they are not too big, dug out of the ground with a shovel and placed on a dolly for easy transporting to the spot where you want your rock garden to be. The easiest way to clean a rock that has been in the ground is to be hosed off with warm water and a stiff nylon brush to remove dirt from crevices. Let the rocks dry naturally in the sun.

Alternately, rocks can be purchased through specialty rock and mineral stores, or gem and mineral shows. Rocks like red granite, pegmatite, marble, red jasper, India Green Tree agate, and gneiss can provide color in your rock garden. Rocks containing mica or quartz crystals can be beautiful especially in a sunny location where they can reflect the sunlight. Petrified wood can also be added to your rock garden.

Flowering bushes can be a beautiful addition to your rock garden. Low growing bushes such as mountain laurel, azalea, forsythia, rhododendron, gardenia, and viburnum can be attractive when placed near larger rocks. When you start to plant flowers next to your rocks, use colors to complement the rock colors. Here is a partial list of flowers you can plant with the different colored rocks in your garden:

Red or yellow rocks. Blue flowers: lobelia, bachelors buttons, scabiosa, iris, blue drumstick allium, blue anemone, blue crocus, English bluebells, ground phlox.

Blue rocks. Yellow flowers: daffodils, marigolds, chrysanthemums, asclepias “Hello Yellow”, crocuses. Red flowers: fire star dianthus, astilbe fanal, roses, tulips, petunias.

White rocks. Any color flower. Some favorites: snapdragons, chrysanthemums, zinnias, verbena.

Purple rocks. Green plants, white flowers. Ferns, lambs ears, Virginia creeper. Gray or silver plants like Dusty Miller also complement purple. Orange flowers: day lily, zinnias, marigolds, nasturtiums, gaillardia fanfare.

Green rocks. Purple flowers: Iris, ground phlox, astilbe, columbine, aster, coneflower, coreopsis, hollyhock.

Your rock garden can also contain a rock bordered pool or fountain. Additional garden decoration can include a stone animal sculpture such as a frog or rabbit. Don’t forget to include some garden furniture in your rock garden. Wrought or cast iron is my favorite but you can use anything affordable and available in your area.

Image Credit: Author Mrs Basil Taylor (1812-1910) Illustrator Walter Tyndale, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.