It is difficult to find a garden without even the smallest rockery. I also wanted to have a substitute of mountains at home. Today, as a happy owner of a rock garden, I want to share my experience with setting it up.
Which rock to choose for a rockery?
The work begins with the choice of stone, because it gives expression to the whole. The best effect is to arrange rocks of one type. It is also worth choosing them to the requirements of the plants that we intend to plant later. In my garden I decided to use sandstone because it has a neutral reaction. Also suitable for rockery are: limestone, limestone tuff or granite. The latter is acidic.
How to choose the number and size of stones for a rockery?
The number and size of the stones depend on the size of our rock garden. Big boulders can be split in half or smaller pieces. Rock fragments will always be useful to fill in the gaps between larger stones. Before we start designing a rockery, it is worth getting sand, gravel and the right type of soil. If we have a problem with rodents, a galvanized mesh with dense meshes will also be useful.
How to prepare the area for the rocky rock?
Work on building a rockery begins with cleaning the ground of weeds. Then we stretch a net that will protect our plants from, for example, voles. The next step is to prepare the drain. This is important especially when the soil is less permeable in the garden. We spread the gravel in the place where the rockery will be built, 10-15 cm thick. Such a layer should ensure faster drainage of water.
How to arrange the stones on the rockery?
Finally, we start arranging the boulders on the rockery. At this stage, it all depends on our idea and imagination. The stones can be placed next to each other (leaving room for plants) in a wavy line or create small hills and hills. In my case, the stone was laid in a straight line, and the wall of the building served as a permanent element, which additionally provides protection against the wind and is a support for larger plants.
Which plants are the best for rockery?
When choosing perennials for rockery, we have a lot of room to show off, because there are dozens of flowering species in various colors and seasons on the market. The best to be planted on a rockery are:
- swarm
- sedum
- azorella
- prymula
- lavender
- feathered carnation, bearded, chinese, frayed
- gailardia
- creeping bug
- phlox
- smagliczka
- pasque-flower
- żagwin
- Staphylococcus or Arends
- seaside
- Carpathian bell
- open
- blue houstonia
- bony feeder
- tridentine cinquefoil
- hebe
- dalmatian geranium
- Caucasian and alpine geese
- grubosz
- evergreen dress
- raulia
- meconium
- thyme
- purslane
Planting on rockery
Remember that each plant has different sun and soil requirements. The plantings must therefore be adapted to the conditions we have in the rockery. Rock plants should also be selected so that they bloom throughout the season and please our eyes all the time.
On my rockery, among the planted perennials, grafted or dwarf varieties of pines, spruces, cypresses or mountain pines also fit nicely. A heart-shaped aptenia is also a beautiful element among the stones. I brought this lovely plant from my holidays in Majorca. It freezes under our conditions, so I have to detach it every year.
Gracja Dąbrowska
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