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leslie6ri

New rock garden...

leslie6ri
11 years ago

This is my new rock garden. I hope to make it look better in the future by replacing the landscape timbers with large rocks. But I so much wanted to grow Lithodora (you know, because of Bill's) that I went ahead the easiest way I could.

And, I don't think I like the white marble chips. My yard is definitely not formal; it's a jungle out there. So I may bury the marble chips to create drainage and use rocks from around my yard (see the ones surrounding the plants) or "pond rocks" that I saw at Home Depot. (Everyone is welcome to vote for which rocks he or she prefers. Smile.) I think that will fit in better with the general disarray in my yard.

Delosperma 'Beaufort West'

Lewisia 'Rainbow Mix'

Delosperma sphal-something-or-other

Orostacys iwarenge

It took me a while to get this bed done and I had two Lithodora waiting for a home. They're planted now, but both have stopped blooming. Sigh. I think they were a little traumatized. I do see flower buds, though so maybe they'll bloom again for me.

Comments (15)

  • bill_ri_z6b
    11 years ago

    Hi Leslie,
    You asked what we thought, so.......I hope you don't mind an honest opinion, but with good comments too...

    Honestly, I hate white stones with a passion. But that's me. I think they look terribly artificial. Right up there with plastic flamingos! I think natural stone mulch would be nicer, and would blend well, without that 'ring-around-each-plant' look. When you replace the garden timbers with larger rocks, maybe that would lend itself to a less formal, square shape, and something more natural and random. But having the bed raised and using good soil will help greatly with the winter drainage, which is crucial. It might be a nice touch to incorporate some of the larger rocks that you edge with into the bed itself.....sort of like natural rock outcroppings that we see in nature. To me a rock garden is generally a representation of nature by it's very definition, as opposed to a formal garden type, with straight lines and beds, etc.

    You're off to a great start! It's always nice to see these develop and most of these plants establish fairly quickly too.

    Good luck!

    {{gwi:5901}}

  • gardenweed_z6a
    11 years ago

    Yep, I'm with Bill--white stones just look "off" against the timbers & rocks. I've redesigned most of the linear beds that were here when I moved in and curved the edges slightly to make them less rigid looking & more natural. Love the plants you're using so far--very interesting forms.

  • leslie6ri
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hi Bill and gardenweed,

    I wholeheartedly agree. I poured the white marble chips in and immediately thought oh no, definitely not. And I'd much prefer rock to timbers (I surrounded a couple of shade gardens with natural rock and love the look), but it will take me a while (not to mention the back-breaking labor) to gather enough. --Even with my husband's help. And I would like to incorporate a few larger rocks into the bed itself to form crevices that I can tuck small succulents into. (--The daffodils will go elsewhere. I just needed a place to put them temporarily after I dug them up to make room for my 'Winter's Rose' Camellia.)

    Bill, did you notice the Opuntia? --At least it looks like one to me. A friend at work who gardens but has no time offered it to me when I told her I was going to try to grow one. She wasn't sure what cactus she had but said it had lived outside in a pot for a couple of years. I adopted it.

    Thank you both for your interest! I do welcome your comments.

  • gardenweed_z6a
    11 years ago

    Happy to give you feedback. My folks used landscape timbers here before I moved in and everything was linear. My first project was a curved butterfly bed in the middle of the front lawn where it gets full sun. It's filled with perennials the bees & butterflies love. My neighbor who mows my lawn says it's much easier to mow along the curved beds than the straight edges. I stood the landscape timbers on end and leaned them up against the side of my garage so they can diffuse the late afternoon sun hitting my shade bed. It was the only purpose I could think of for them. Two of the three are just visible on the right in this shot.

    {{gwi:196300}}

  • PRO
    Nancy Vargas Registered Architect
    11 years ago

    Like Bill, I am going to start by reminding you that you asked! LOL!!!

    A rock garden is usually designed to look like a natural outcropping in a more organic setting. I wouldn't put it in a wooden box as much as I would think of it as a sculpted burm. Start with large boulders and add rocks. Step back and take a look to make sure that the arrangement is appealing. Then come back and add soil to cracks, crevices and voids, thinking about various sizes of pockets in which to nestle your plants. Then plant the specimens you have in unevenly spaced pockets and, finally mulch with smaller stones and gravel. The plants should fill the spaces and crevices in larger, organic swaths (eventually)

    The key to a rock garden is that the rocks are the primary element, not the plants. The plants fill the negative spaces.

    The first rock gardens that come to my mind are those I saw in Sydney. They were fairly simple and not huge, but very beautiful.

    That's just my 2 cents.

    Here are some links:

    http://home.howstuffworks.com/lawn-garden/professional-landscaping/alternative-methods/build-a-rock-garden.htm

    http://www.gardensofricecreek.com/images/dia_0134-large.jpg

    http://www.westernhort.org/speakers_200905.html

    http://landscaping.about.com/od/rockgardens/ss/rock_gardens_7.htm

    The last one is about as simple as it gets, but look at the difference when the rocks are the primary element.

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    11 years ago

    Hi Leslie!

    I have no experience with rock gardens, so maybe I shouldn't even open my mouth, lol, but as some of the others here expressed, the square looks a bit... artificial. I agree with your plan to replace the wood with rocks, and I think if you changed the shape as suggested above that would be a big help as well.

    I love your plant selection so far. Some beauties in there! I've got a hot dry slope and looking at your plants is making me wonder why I haven't look into some of these plants myself.

    While I'm not a fan of the white rocks, I have to say they don't bother me. But I grew up in a city where lots and lots - and lots! - of people used white rocks, especially along their front walks, and so I guess I'm more used to the look. It's not something I think I would choose for my garden, but it's a matter of personal choice.

    Great start! Best of luck with your project and please let us know how it progresses!

    Dee

  • bill_ri_z6b
    11 years ago

    Hi Leslie,

    Yes I did notice the Opuntia. The most common hardy type is O. humifusa, so most likely that is what you have. It should have yellow flowers by late May or June.

    One last suggestion about the rocks: I really think you need some very large ones as the basic 'backbone' of the layout. Odd numbers of them are best, so at least three arranged in a natural and pleasing way. Then use medium and smaller ones. Also, try to stay with the same kind of rocks and have their natural grains and shapes align somewhat. I've seen gardens with all the same size round rocks placed at equal distances, and it just looks all wrong. The links in the post above are good, especially this one:
    http://www.gardensofricecreek.com/images/dia_0134-large.jpg

    One other thing, as was mentioned above about garden timbers, I have vowed NEVER to use wood again. I had used real railroad ties for walls and steps about 40 years ago, and for the last 20+ years they were eyesores, sagging, cracking, rotting, hosting weeds, bees and termites! That's why you see all stone and masonry, pavers etc. in my new garden photos.

    Keep us posted on the progress!

    {{gwi:5901}}

  • molie
    11 years ago

    Leslie, you have great plants there so it's a good start. From reading everyone's advice I think the keys are -- move away from linear elements ---- to consider the whole as a 'sculptured berm' ---- and finally look at the areas between larger rocks as 'negative' space to be filled eventually with creeping plants. The visual links whitegarden provided show these three key elements.

    When looking at all of those photos, notice how the gardens descend down a hill. That's basically what we all share here in New England ---we live on the downward slope from Maine, NH, and VT punctuated with huge boulders and rock outcroppings between which plants have grown. So reproducing that affect in your garden will create a rock garden that looks 'natural'.

    You could start by removing the back board and placing some really large rocks in the back ----- but not in a straight line. The dirt in the back could be raised up and plants allowed to grow within the negative spaces.

    Setting up the larger stones will be the hardest part. A few years ago we purchased large boulders from a local stone source and when they delivered, the company dumped the rocks near when I wanted them. A few strong people with metal stakes were able to manipulate the rocks into position. I think it would be easier to work down from the highest point rather than to try to go up.

    Keep sharing pictures of your garden as it grows. I think it will fit in well with the tree and the large boulder in the background.

    Molie

  • leslie6ri
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    whitegarden,

    Thanks very much for the links! I will check them all out. It will be wonderful to see examples I can draw on. I know the rocks will never be the primary element, though. I'm much too plant obsessed. I'll keep shoving in new ones until I'm forced to create another bed!

    gardenweed,

    Aaargh, now I want a butterfly garden too. Already felt the first stirrings of obsession. But one garden at a time. --And that's a good idea for using the timbers. I've got more timbers that I originally used to frame a shrub border. They helped keep fencing in place to keep the deer away from tiny shrubs. Don't need the timbers or fencing anymore. (Or maybe we could make an arbor out of them... Strong enough to support a 'New Dawn' rose...)

    diggerdee,

    Go for it. What's a hot, dry slope for, after all? There are such fascinating plants for a dry garden. I'm amazed at what we can grow.

    Bill,

    Okay. The rule of three. Three (or an odd number of) large rocks filled in with smaller ones. Actually, that's what my husband says about building a stone wall... Large rocks as anchors and smaller ones to fill in. Basically, that is exactly what I'll be doing --building a stone wall. I'll follow your advice.

    I'm going to curl up and look at all the rock garden links. As I improve it I'll post a picture. It will take a while to collect enough rocks, but I'll just keep at it. (I probably sound like a 12-year old sometimes, but that's just enthusiasm. I'm old and creaky and have to be kind to my rotator cuffs!) --And the white marble chips are outta there. Thanks very much to everyone for all the advice and interest and links. I really appreciate it.

  • mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
    11 years ago

    More pictures to look at.

    Stonecrop has a lot of alpine/rock garden plants planted in planters and raised beds. It doesn't look remotely natural.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Stonecrop

  • bill_ri_z6b
    11 years ago

    Leslie,
    Here's a photo of part of my xeric garden. The two rocks are the same native granite, and I saw how their curves sort of fit together. Then I tucked the sedum (tiny grayish leaves) and the sempervivum (reddish hens and chicks) between them. They have since grown in pretty well. The Lithodora is nearby for contrast, and the spikey leaves in the background are red 'yucca' (Hesperaloe parvifolia).

    I think this is what a lot of others have suggested as far as making the rocks the 'star of the show', and then let the plants fill in. But by no means does that mean that the plants can't really show well too. What do you think?

    {{gwi:5901}}

  • claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
    11 years ago

    I also don't care for white marble chips en masse, but since you have them already, you could dilute their impact and make them more natural looking.

    I have a pea gravel path which is very nice, but I couldn't resist jazzing it up a bit by adding a small amount of white marble chips. The native soil here has a lot of little white quartz stones in it, so I thought the white marble would fit in. I also add handfuls of small native stones when they surface during digging.

    With native stone:

    With bluestone:

    With granite:

    Just a thought if you want to use the marble chips in your rock garden.

    Claire

  • leslie6ri
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I've looked at all the links (and a few more) and I really should rename this posting 'new timber garden'. I'm quite excited by the possibilities and oh-so jealous of the Rice Creek photo. THAT'S what I want. Getting the rocks is another story, however. But I'll begin foraging around this weekend and will collect what rocks I can and then see what I can do. I'm on a mission.

    Claire, that is a good idea. Especially since I have a weakness for pretty or sparkly rocks (--and come home with pockets full of them). I also noticed your large white rock and laughed because I have a few of those. You just can't pass up a great rock! I'll sprinkle some of the marble chips around after I get a few larger rocks in. I like your pictures and think I'll like the look in my garden. Thanks.

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    11 years ago

    Leslie, believe it or not, ask for rocks on Freecycle! Not only have I seen people offer rocks (perhaps from a stone wall they dismantled, or found while digging for a project), but it won't hurt to ask for them - you just never know!

    Claire, your paths look nice. I like the white rocks mixed in with the others.

    Dee

  • claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
    11 years ago

    Thanks, leslie6ri and Dee. It sort of reminds me that marble is a rock too and is actually found in nature. I wonder what the soil looks like around the marble quarries in Greece..

    Claire