My husband and I are ready to convert our front yard into a Japanese-inspired rock and gravel garden.

Here's our plan:

1)Dig up lawn and existing groundcover.

2)Lay out geotextile fabric.

3)Add a boulder or two.

4)Add soil and mound it up where we want moss/plants. (Do this before or after laying out the fabric?)

5)We have a maple tree that is beautiful and we won't touch it. No fabric or gravel. Just mulch and understory plants.

6)Fill the rest of the spaces with gravel.

We could use advice on how to give plants what they need while having the majority of our yard be a rock and gravel garden. Are we missing a step or detail? I'm attaching a link to the Ryoanji Temple, where they have a boulder surrounded by moss then surrounded by gravel. This is our main inspiration.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ryoanji Temple Shot