There are countless ways to design and create a rock garden. However, before you start planning, you should not only think about the desired style, but also about the local conditions and the planned maintenance effort. After all, not all plants can be placed in every location - some prefer a dry and sunny place, others a rather damp or even shady one - and moreover, the later time required for care also plays a role in the design.
Colorful flowers add color to the rock garden
What should the rock garden look like?
The choice of plants and the concrete design of the rock garden determine the maintenance effort. If you only have little time or do not want to invest too much effort, it is better to limit yourself to a smaller "mountain", possibly with the option of later expansion. The maintenance of a larger stone system can be very time-consuming. The choice of plants also determines the amount of care required, because robust and fast-growing cushion plants require less care than more complicated, dwarf species.
The natural rock garden
The best source of ideas for your "garden mountain" is nature itself. Natural rock landscapes can also be reproduced in the garden with the appropriate planning, for which you need different types of stone in different sizes. With different types of rock you can create suitable habitats for many mountain plants, because not every plant thrives on every rock. There is a whole range of lime-escape plants that would sooner or later die on limestone such as shell limestone, dolomite or tuff, as well as plants that absolutely need lime for healthy growth and therefore do not find an ideal habitat on silicate rock such as granite or slate. But not only the choice of rock type, but also the pleasing distribution of different stone sizes from boulders to gravel to fine chippings (€46.95) gives the facility a natural impression.
Variants of the natural rock garden
There are numerous variants for natural rock gardens. The combination of water - for example in the form of a stream and / or small pond - and stone or a rock garden on a slope or embankment is particularly nice to look at. Such conditions can also be created artificially as so-called sunken gardens with the help of dry stone walls. A special form of the natural rock garden is also the fascinating Japanese garden.
Mini rock garden for balcony or terrace
You don't necessarily need a large garden for a lifelike rock garden, because in suitable planters, a mini mountain landscape can also be realized on the balcony or terrace. Examples of suitable vessels are
- (disused) feeding troughs made of stone
- frost-proof clay bowls and coasters
- wooden boxes and barrels
- conventional (frost-proof!) balcony boxes
- (self-made) vessels made of sandstone or cement, etc.
With these mini rock gardens, make sure that there is good drainage, because waterlogging and too much moisture will quickly lead to the death of the plants.
tips
If you own a house or an outbuilding with an easily accessible flat roof, it is even possible to create a rock garden there. Before doing this, however, you should definitely clarify the load-bearing capacity of the construction. After all, the stones put a lot of weight on the roof.