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Rock Garden Ideas for Small Spaces

By

David Beaulieu

David Beaulieu

David Beaulieu is a landscaping expert and plant photographer, with 20 years of experience. He was in the nursery business for over a decade, working with a large variety of plants. David has been interviewed by numerous newspapers and national U.S. magazines, such as Woman's World and American Way.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process

Updated on 11/07/22

The Spruce / Christopher Lee

In This Article

• Instructions

• Sample Rock Garden Design

• Frequently Asked Questions

Project Overview

Rock garden designs can range from to sprawling, naturalistic creations to faux dried river beds to rustic mounds of stones, soil, and plants. It all depends on your preferences and the amount of space (and rock) you have to work with. If you have a small area, often the best design is a simple, round raised bed made of select rocks. This design can fit neatly into any well-chosen nook and will not be in the way when you mow your lawn. If you plant it thoughtfully, it also won't require a lot of maintenance.

Illustration: The Spruce, 2018

Click Play to Learn How to Build Rock Gardens for Small Spaces

Equipment / Tools

• Shovel
• Garden trowel
• Wheelbarrow

Materials

• Stones in a variety of sizes
• Soil (as needed)
• Plants

Instructions

1. Build the First Course

   Clear the area of grass or other organic material, if necessary. Be sure to dig up sod and other plants below the roots to prevent new shoots from coming up later in your rock garden. Lay out a circle of rocks as the perimeter of your base, making the diameter about 4 feet (or as desired). This forms the foundation of your garden and creates some elevation above the surrounding ground. You can use up most of your largest, least attractive rocks in this bottom layer, but it does not require stones larger than about 12 inches in any dimension.

   Fill the area inside the first course with sandy soil, which provides good drainage. If all you have is a clayey soil, add sand and compost to it to promote better drainage. Walk on the soil to pack it down.

   David Beaulieu

2. Add the Second Course

   Plan the second course of stones. This can simply be a smaller version of the first course, forming a circle within a circle, or it can take the form of one or more bands of stone that pass through the center of the bed perimeter. In any case, the second course should provide plenty of room for planting between the bed perimeter and the second-course stones as well as in any additional spaces created by the second course.

   Place the second course of stones according to your plan (and don't be afraid to experiment). Since you used your heaviest stones for the first course, you have lighter, more easily maneuvered stones to use for the second course. Try to use the best-looking stones here (any size is fine) because they will be more visible than the foundation rocks.

   David Beaulieu

3. Select Plants for Your Rock Garden

   Start your plant selection by choosing a color scheme that will work well with your stone. For example, if the garden is made primarily with red sandstone, you'll want some plants with a hint of red in them, as well as some plants displaying silver, yellow, white, or other complementary colors.

   In addition to selecting for color, choose plants that thrive in well-drained soil. Also, confirm that the plants have similar watering requirements and are suitable for the amount of sunlight the garden receives. Drought-resistant plants are best, although you can make an exception for a particularly handsome specimen that you can treat as an annual (that is, temporary) plant. Finally, seek variation in plant height and leaf texture for maximum visual impact and interest.

   David Beaulieu

4. Plant Your Rock Garden

   Arrange the plants in your rock garden while they are still in their pots. Usually, it's best to plant in threes: grouping three of the same kind of plant together or in a strategic arrangement. Keep in mind that you will intersperse rocks among the plants.

   Once you've settled on a layout, begin planting with additional soil as needed, adding rocks for decorative effect as you go (if you add all the rocks before planting, they'll just be in the way of your digging.) 

   If you want to cover small areas of soil with rock mulch (to prevent weed growth), use small stones of the same type (or at least similar coloring) as the major stones forming the rock structure.

   David Beaulieu

Sample Rock Garden Design

Here is a good sample selection of plants for a small rock garden, chosen for color, care requirements, size/height, and texture:

• 6 pots of Scotch moss (Sagina subulata Aurea) for short plants with a touch of yellow
• 1 yellow daffodil (Narcissus) for more yellow; miniature varieties are best for small rock gardens
• 3 pots of wood spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides Purpurea) for their yellow blooms and red stems; taller plants that give the composition some depth
• 3 pots of hens and chicks (Sempervivum tectorum) for more red color, along with some low-growing foliage
• 3 pots of snow-in-summer (Cerastium tomentosum) for silver foliage and white blooms
• 1 lamb's ear plant (Stachys byzantina) for more silver foliage
• 3 pots of candytuft (Iberis sempervirens Purity) for their striking white flowers

This rock garden will look nicer in spring and early summer (when the plants are in bloom) than it will in late summer. That's an example of a compromise you must make unless you have a space large enough to implement a sequence-of-bloom agenda. For colorful blooms throughout the summer, you can easily add the annual, portulaca, to the mix.

Another compromise is made with Scotch moss, which is not drought-tolerant. This is a case of sacrificing longevity for a temporary pop of color and texture. Scotch moss is suited to planting zones 4 to 9 and bears small white flowers, but it is grown mainly for the solid carpet of yellowish-green that it provides. It grows in full sun to part shade.

The only plant in this sample design that is grown more for its flower than its foliage is the daffodil. The relatively coarse textures of the lamb's ear, wood spurge, and hens and chicks contrast well with the other plants, all of which have more delicate foliage. As the years go by and the daffodil and lamb's ear spread, you can divide them. If you decide that they clutter up your rock garden too much, transplant them to somewhere else in the yard.

Tip

Give your rock garden a "grown-in-place" look by layering while you plant. Set a few plants first, then add rocks around them, as though the plants have grown up through the "cracks" in the rocks. Try to cover as much of the surface as possible with rocks and plants.

Watch Now: Painted Rock Crafts

How to choose stones for rockeries

A gardener who loves his land strives to create places that are dear to his heart. One of these places will be rockeries. An unusual stone and plant ensemble can be created on any territory.

How to choose stones for rockeries? What other elements should be used? Let's talk about it in the article.

Contents:

• 1 What is the difference between rockery and rock garden
• 2 The best place to create a rockery
• 3 Rock garden style
• 4 Dimensions of Rocaria
• 5 Selection of Stones
• 6 Soil for Rocaria
• 7 Assortment of Plants
• 8 Stages of the device

The difference between rocaria and mountaineering

The creation of a man -made landlord on the site has long captured gardeners in their creative flight . Every owner wants to have something "outstanding" on his site.

Ordinary flowerbeds and mixborders are easier to create than a creation that has a stone in its composition. nine0003

Rockery in the garden

Despite this, rockeries and rock gardens, as an element of the garden interior, are very popular among the townsfolk and designers.

To understand the terms and determine the appearance of the future masterpiece of landscape art, you need to understand the difference between rocky formations.

A rock garden is a large structure that requires extensive earthworks. In order for it to naturally fit into the design of the garden, an appropriate environment is needed. A mountain landscape against the backdrop of garden beds or a fence will look ridiculous and illogical. nine0003

The plant assortment of this rock garden is capricious and requires special care. In an artificial landscape, growing real mountain plants in their original form is not easy.

If you want to have an unusual ensemble of stones and plants on your site, it is much easier to create rockeries. This name comes from the English word rock - stone.

Creation of rockeries does not provide for the global shoveling of the entire site in order to create an artificial change in height. This structure can be located on the usual territory of any site. nine0003

If there is a natural elevation difference on the site, then the union of conifers and stones fits perfectly into it.

If the site is flat, then rockeries will be more logically perceived from the entry in the form of a rocky embankment and ground cover plants and ending with interspersed stones among the flower beds.

When creating this element in the garden, the main thing is a sense of proportion. There should not be too many stones, as well as flowers. This is a kind of flower garden. It is characterized by brevity and simplicity. nine0003

The best place to create a rockery

The next step in creating this element of the garden is to determine the place where the rockery will be located. Best for rocky garden:

Sunny location. Otherwise, the range of plants for it will have to be greatly reduced. Almost all ground cover plants used to create mountain landscapes love sunlight.

No big trees too close. A stone of any size in relation to tall trees will always appear smaller. And then the rockery itself will seem like a toy heap of stones. nine0003

Rockery with large stones

Not close to the wall of the house. Rain from the roof, pouring down on the flowers, or snow falling can damage the plants. Conifers, often planted among stones, will not be delighted with such procedures.

Background in the form of shrubs and distant trees. A smooth transition in the form of a rocky embankment or a dry stream from trees to rockeries will harmoniously fit it into the garden.

Compliance with these conditions will help create an unusual rocky landscape in the garden. nine0003

Expert opinion

Yuliya Yuryevna

I have a large garden and vegetable garden, several greenhouses. I love modern methods of plant cultivation and soil mulching, and I share my experience.

Ask a question

We would like to note that rockery should look harmonious in the landscape of the site, it is also better to take this into account when choosing a place. Such decor can be very different in concept and execution. Both in a natural natural style, and with more regular, geometric outlines. nine0003

On a lawn or near an artificial reservoir, the composition of untreated stones, laid out as if they had always been there, will look very harmonious.

If there are some auxiliary structures or premises nearby, a garage, a tool warehouse or something similar, you can place something equally functional on such a site, and move the recreation area and, accordingly, the decor. Otherwise, the discrepancy will spoil the overall look.

Rock garden style

Before starting work on creating a rockery, the gardener must decide on the style of his creation.

If you have beautiful stones at your disposal and you want to emphasize their originality, then a small area is allocated for plant exhibits in this corner of nature. In this style, which is called Japanese, the famous rock gardens are created. Nothing should distract the owner or visitor from contemplation.

A large number of conifers and grasses allows us to classify such rockery as an English style. Here you can add various types of polynyas. nine0003

Rockery in front of the house

Ground cover plants of mountain origin, various thymes, St. John's wort, oregano and the famous lavender distinguish the Provencal style of rockery.

The combination of wormwood, alyssum and creeping coniferous plants characterizes the style as European. It has many flowering ground cover plants.

You can create rockeries based on the range of plants and stones. The style of the garden itself and the house is often a hint in which direction to move the gardener to make a dream come true. nine0003

Expert opinion

Yuliya Yuryevna

I have a large garden and vegetable garden, several greenhouses. I love modern methods of plant cultivation and soil mulching, and I share my experience.

Ask a question

Before choosing plants for a joint composition, it is better to inquire about their requirements for care and cultivation in general. Lighting and watering are especially important. Otherwise, some specimens may look depressed, which will significantly reduce the decorative effect of the composition. nine0003

It is better to allocate enough space for each plant. It is important that they do not suppress, do not oppress each other. And free space can be easily decorated, given the general direction of design.

When planning a rockery, which will be additionally decorated with plants, you can use the same technique as for flower beds. Larger, tall specimens should be placed in the center or at one border of the flower bed. Next, arrange the varieties so that each next circle is lower than the previous one. nine0003

We recommend hiding the transition from the garden to the rockery so that the latter does not seem taken out of context. In this case, gravel or other small stones work well. You can also choose special original options. Also, for the same purpose, you can plant ground cover plants or lawn grass.

Dimensions of rockery

The size of the future masterpiece depends on the possibilities and desires of the gardener. Be sure to consider the size of the garden. A small heap of stones, even chosen with great taste, often resembles unfinished construction. Such a structure spoils the design and can in no way be considered an example to follow. nine0003

The times when gardeners tried to create a full-fledged alpine landscape on any, even the smallest plot, are already in the past.

The best is rockery, prompted by nature. And in nature there are no mountains and stones in an empty place. Therefore, for any creation of stones, there should be an introduction from inclusions in flower beds of stone chips and plants, which will then be repeated in the rockery itself.

In small Japanese courtyards, you can peep the art of creating stone landscape masterpieces in a small area. It is not a shame to copy and repeat these examples, adding your imagination and color. nine0003

Selection of stones

The main thing when creating a rockery is the correct selection of stones.

There are some rules:

Stones must be of the same or similar material. It's like in nature: one mountain cannot be from several rocks at once.

If there are beautiful stones in a single specimen, then specimens different in nature, color and structure can be placed in opposite corners of the garden.

Rockery on the lawn

Each such specimen is well played with plants, remaining a soloist. Collected together, stones of various origins look like a collection of a mineralogical museum. nine0003

Valuable stones can play the role of exhibits in such a museum. Why not? But it will no longer be a rockery.

Depending on the style and shape of the stony masterpiece, the stones can be:

Smooth boulders. In this case, they are more suitable for creating planar rockeries.

Lumps with sharp and sharp protrusions. Such instances logically fit into the mountainous landscape.

Laminated stone slabs act as retaining walls and rocky terraces for the stepped landscape. With their help, steps are strengthened and plants are planted between them. It can also be ampelous forms. nine0003

Stones must be of different sizes. A lot of stones of the same size subconsciously creates a feeling of anxiety in a person. This has been scientifically proven.

Large or huge stones must be present in the creation of rockeries. They symbolize solidity, support, reliability. Small and medium stones brighten up the transition from the flat part of the garden to the mountainous one. They can be laid out on the approaches to rockeries and after it, so that the rocky landscape is more natural.

The creative process of creating a rock garden requires imagination and a sense of contact with nature. This is responsible, because it is done for many years. But very interesting! nine0003

Soil for rockery

Rockery with sand

To create a rock garden in the garden, or simply "alpine slide", each plant needs its own soil.

Nothing but unbearable expenses and unfulfilled fantasies will result from a simple planting of mountain plants on a man-made mound.

A rock garden in all its glory can appear before the gardener's eye only after careful study of the material. It is more reliable to involve a professional in this difficult task. nine0003

For most plants involved in rockeries, a common soil mixture is needed, the formula for preparing which is:

• Sand
• Peat
• Garden soil

These ingredients are mixed in a ratio of 1: 1: 2. The land from the garden should not be too fertile, without a lot of manure and humus.

Rockery of large and small stones

When creating the soil for rockeries, you must follow the principles:

• It must be loose
• The soil must be water-retaining. It is for this that riding peat is introduced into it.
• Soil for mountain plants in rockeries should be rather poor than fertile
• There should be very little nutrient component in the ground

lose their attractive appearance.

The soil for the future rockeries needs to be sifted in order to get rid of weeds under the stones as much as possible. nine0003

Other weeds will be sown between the stones, but they can simply be weeded out. But it is difficult to extract these malicious violators of the planned picture from under the stones.

Expert opinion

Yuliya Yuryevna

I have a large garden and vegetable garden, several greenhouses. I love modern methods of plant cultivation and soil mulching, and I share my experience.

Ask a question

Considering that it is necessary to take care of the plants that are in rockeries, like any others, it is worth taking care of the looseness of the soil and other parameters in advance. nine0003

One of the elements of care is the removal of weeds. This can be problematic given the features of the described composition. To avoid such problems, you can try to place agrofibre under the rockery. At least in its central part, and lawn plants along the edge will cope with weeds themselves.

Places where this material can protrude and spoil the view can be decorated with small pebbles.

Assortment of plants

Shrubs must be present in plant rockeries. They create the overall architecture of the landscape. nine0009 Nostalzhi Nostalzhi Nostalzhi

early spring 9,0009 9000 9000 9001 Muscari

Garden decoration with rockeries

It is recommended to plant ephemeroids that quickly disappear in such a way that after flowering their foliage is covered by other plants that have already gained strength. nine0003

Many designers, when creating rocky gardens, refuse to plant flyers between stones. The rockery itself requires care like any other flower garden, and with the planting of flyers, these worries increase.

Being categorical in this matter is not a very good helper. Any experiments have the right to exist. Not all perennials are able to decorate rockeries throughout the season. Letniki bloom until frost.

Letniki can be grown from seedlings and ready-made plants can be planted between stones:

• Viola
• Lobelia
• Cineraria maritime

On small plots of free land, you can sow allisum maritime in early spring. A week later, with daily watering, sprouts appear and already in June you can enjoy the honey smell and rapid flowering of various colors.

When choosing plants for rockeries, you need to remember that after flowering they should not be lost in the overall picture. To do this, they must have:

• Juicy green foliage
• Beautifully shaped leaves
• Foliage of different colors
• Interesting crown shape

It is very logical and concise to place a real highlander - edelweiss in rockeries. Fluffy silvery leaves that are pleasant to stroke adorn the plant all season long. It is easy to grow from seed.

Installation stages

For the installation of rockeries you will need:

The stage-by-stage arrangement of rockeries looks like this:

• Choose a site
• Clean the place
• Choose boulders
• to place stones so that the natural picture is obtained
• on the ground to outline the contours of the boulder
• to shift it to the side of
• to dug up the depths of the boulder
• Dimalize the soil at the bottom of this recess
• to load the excreted land in the bottom wheelbarrow and take it to another place
• Pour a sand and gravel mixture on the bottom and level it
• Place a boulder in a recess
• Outside, pour a little mixture along the contour of the stone
• Plant plants

Creating a rockery is not a difficult task, but very interesting. In its implementation, the main thing is desire and creativity.

While watching the video, you will learn about the creation of rockeries.

Create! Create! Let your garden be a place for creativity and relaxation!

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Landscaping

Which stones are suitable for rockeries?

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• Which stones are suitable for your rockery?

When creating a rockery in the garden or on a summer cottage, the main issue will be the selection of stones. Since they are the main part of the composition when creating this type of landscape design, you should seriously prepare for this task.

Features of the choice of stones for rockeries

Stones for compositions in rockeries are selected of the same breed and similar in color. They should not have traces of mechanical processing. Broken and aged stones look good. A smoothed or non-uniform stone can also be used, but then difficulties may arise when creating a composition.

Not just a part of landscape design

Any stone used for landscape design performs a decorative function and at the same time creates the basis of a small ecosystem with its own microclimate, where certain plants grow. The most natural look are stones with a weathered surface, overgrown with mosses and lichens. nine0003

Each stone is securely laid on the ground, buried in the ground for stability, sometimes up to two thirds of their height. In this position, the stone looks natural, as if it were not placed on the territory of the garden, but the garden with all its details and vegetation was created around it. The sharp edges of the stone turn down or to the side. For rockeries, granite, limestone, tuff and stones of other rocks are used.

Types of rocks and types of stones suitable for rockeries

• Granite is a decorative and expensive stone, but, according to connoisseurs, is not well suited for rockeries. Although, we must give him his due, granite does not age and does not collapse for a long time. The soil around it becomes acidic over time. nine0010
• Sandstone has a noticeable granularity, creamy-grayish, sandy, reddish. Sandstone weathers, but not as quickly as limestone.
• Tuff is a light, porous rock. It provides air access to the roots of plants planted nearby, thanks to which they grow well near tuff placers. Tuff, due to its calcareous and siliceous base, deoxidizes the soil.
• Limestone decorates the site well and is subject to weathering, due to which it does not have sharp edges and promotes the appearance of moss on it. Lime rocks, for example, pudost stone, calcareous tuff (travertine), are indispensable for creating a stone composition. nine0384 A few months later, the stone is overgrown with moss. Ground cover plants feel great in the neighborhood with him. If over time the stone cracks, then the overgrown plants will hide the cracks from the gaze of the observer. Blocks and even slabs are often used for retaining walls, paving the surface of the site and building stairs between terraces.
• Pebble stones, rounded with water, do not blend well with one another in color or shape. However, they look good next to the lawn, the composition of their conifers or ground cover perennials. nine0010

What about concrete?

Concrete or pressed stone is not used in rockeries, but if necessary, they can be used as a basis for hand-made artificial stones. As a filler, fragments of brick or concrete are taken. The stones are shaped by hand, using cement mortar, using a creative approach and artistic taste. The resulting cement "stones" are recommended to be painted using automotive enamel. The color for products is selected by combining black, brown, gray paint.

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