Creating a rock garden is certainly the long-awaited dream of manyamateur gardenerand homeowners with enough garden landscape. But we must say in advance that this is not an easy task. On the contrary, it can also prove complicated. You just have to do it correctly and follow a few basic rules and we guarantee that you can do it yourself. You can do your ownDesign a rock gardenand give your garden a real natural flair! Surely you are already excited? Shall we get to work now?
Design a rock garden – choose the right location
First, we would like to emphasize once again that aRock gardensuits every house and every style of garden design. You just have to find the right location for your little piece of “mountain” in your garden. A slope or an uneven surface would be very suitable for designing a rock garden. The specialists also recommend that the area already selected should be at least 10 m2. A hilly area of these dimensions, which also faces south or southwest, would simply be the ideal location for a rock garden.
Design a rock garden with a garden path
Don't be surprised why we recommend this particular location for creating a rock garden. The typical rock garden flowers are drought tolerant. They don't like moisture and love the warm rays of the sun. On a slope, the excess water would drain away easily, so in principle no waterlogging can occur, which is wonderful for the rock garden plants. However, you still need to take such details into account when designing your rock garden.
Designing a rock garden – the right soil
After you have determined the location, now comes the second step that you should consider if you want to design a rock garden. You need to find the right soil for your rock garden. Since you will primarily be planting alpine plants here, a calcareous and sandy soil mixture is best. In principle, a 20 to 30 cm thick layer of soil is required. The soil is particularly important for the good development of your rock garden plants, so you have to think carefully about all the details here too.
And what would a rock garden be without stones? Of course the stones are crucial in this small mountain landscape! They also largely determine the entire look of the rock garden. When choosing them, keep in mind that most of the stones should be of one type of rock. It doesn't look good visually if you pile up a lot of stones in one place. Therefore, lay the stones carefully; large and small stones must be alternated! Make sure that large stones have enough support in the ground. In order to achieve a natural look when designing the rock garden, the stones must be selected in different shapes. And if there is a small stream flowing in between, it looks even more natural! Your rock garden will radiate a lot of harmony and pure nature!
Design plants for a rock garden
When you distribute the stones, gaps are created. These can then be planted with alpine plants, perennials and low-growing shrubs. The golden rule for this step when designing a rock garden is: The rock garden must not be planted sparsely! When planting your rock garden, you must select plants depending on their location and care requirements and also consider their flowering periods and color combinations. Yes, that doesn't seem easy either, but you have a lot of rock garden plants to choose from. The most popular are already known as “the classics in the rock garden”. These include gentian, edelweiss, violets, sedum, as well as various herbs such as lavender and thyme. And the cushion perennials blue cushions and dwarf bellflowers are a must in every rock garden.
Small terrace surrounded by a rock garden
A few more practical tips for designing a rock garden:
– The rock garden plants must be planted carefully!
– Water the soil at the beginning and then water regularly over the next few weeks.
– If the plants grow well, they only need to be watered if there is prolonged drought or extreme heat.
– You don’t need to fertilize at all.
– You can loosen the soil and pull out the weeds regularly. That's all you need to do for care!
Lush rock garden on a hillside
If you take all of this into account when designing a rock garden, you can enjoy the pure harmony of the rock garden you have created every day. But first we wish you much success in planning and a lot of creativity in designing the rock garden!
Create a small rock garden in the front yard
Design a rock garden with stairs and lots of flowers
Rock garden with stream
