How to establish a rockery garden

HOW TO DESIGN A ROCKERY GARDEN

Little by little, if we are designing our garden, we will find areas where it would be ideal to establish a rockery garden . For those of you who do not know what it is about, it consists of a garden made up of rocks and plants that adapts to this environment. If you need ideas on how to do it, here we tell you what a rockery would consist of. For this you need a small space in your garden, rocks and gravels and xerophytic plants. We will tell you!

WHAT EXACTLY IS A ROCKERY?

The rockery is a type of garden design in which the rustic style predominates , with dry environments. A rockery is characterized by constituting under a terrain, an environment of stones, gravel, rocks and others that are located in stages and in which, on some occasions, areas of water are added such as fountains or ponds .

Given the conditions of this garden design, we need plants that are resistant to drought and that do not have growth problems in rustic, poor environments, close to rocks, etc. It is what is known as rupicolous plants , which are plants that tend to grow in environments such as cliff edges, very steep slopes, marine ecosystems, etc.

HOW TO DESIGN A ROCKERY GARDEN

The rockery is made up of several successive layers of rocky materials. We start by clearing an area of ​​weeds where we are going to make the design. The important thing is to have an area with good drainage , and a clay soil does not allow us this design. We can modify the properties of the soil, adding layers of sand or gravel.

Large rock fragments, of different sizes and shapes, take center stage in this garden format. The ideal is to place them in a chaotic but controlled way, marking an area. We can establish several levels of stones , on which our rupicolous plants will grow. A tip is to first arrange the large stones, occupying the spaces provided, and then arrange the small stones between the spaces of the large ones, so that the remaining gaps will be used to place our rockery garden plants.

It is not enough to place the stones as is, since we need a certain stability. We must bury them 1/3 or ½ (depending on the shape and size) on the ground.

THE ROCKERY AND THE POND OR WATER BED

A very common additional feature is to have, near the rockery garden, a stream of water, either moving or stagnant. This adds a higher difficulty gradient but the result is much more impressive. It all depends on the availability of materials, the area and the interest in adding a stagnant water source. In case you dare, here is the link on how to build a pond.

IDEAL SPECIES TO PLANT IN A ROCKERY GARDEN

In this regard, succulents have a lot to say. Plants such as cacti, aloe and other xerophytes thrive in this garden. Among these plants have variety, such as agave, aloe vera , The Aloe ferox, Sedum sieboldii , cactus, etc.

Bulbous plants as hyacinths, lilies, tulips, dahlias, tulips, fragrant as thyme , the rosemary , chamomile , etc . Vivacious plants such as violas, veronicas, carnations, lobelias.

Species of the genus Gentiana , small bells, of the genus Aster , Armenia, etc.

As you can imagine, a rockery garden does not have an established design, you can do it however you want. From a simple one with less than 5 large stones bordered by a gravel bed, or more complications where you group different species of plants. It all depends on your imagination, time and availability of plants.

Here are some rockery garden ideas for you to take a look at and help you shape your future rockery garden:

Photo 1:  eljardindebemi

Photo 2: plant holder

Photo 3: gracilis

Photo 4: Maipue

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