Rock gardens are particularly suitable for particularly sunny areas. They are modern and easy to maintain as they consist mainly of larger stones and gravel. Strong, green plants loosen up the bright area. Below you will find numerous planting ideas for your rock garden.
Shrubs and grasses are particularly popular in the easy-care rock garden
The best plants for the rock garden
Flowers are rarely found in the rock garden, but they are definitely possible to give it pretty splashes of color. Evergreen shrubs, ground cover and beautiful grasses are often used.
- shrubs
- ground cover
- flowering plants
- succulents
- grasses
Shrubs for the rock garden
If you have a creative garden vein, you should buy trees that are easy to cut for your rock garden and cut them into shape. If you want to enjoy the rock garden in winter, you should plant evergreen shrubs and trees. Below is an overview of beautiful shrubs that you can plant in your rock garden:
| Surname | periwinkle | features |
|---|---|---|
| barberry | no | Edible fruits |
| boxwood | fan maple | no |
| medlar | no | Red fruits |
| cinquefoil | no | Beautiful yellow flowers |
| Japanese fan maple | no | Red foliage in autumn |
| Carpet Cotoneaster | Yes | Poisonous |
| creep spindle | Yes | Grown both as ground cover and as a shrub |
| mahonia | Yes | Poisonous |
| stone gorse | Yes | Yellow flowers in May/June |
| Dwarf Goldspiers | no | Long flowering period |
Plant the rock garden with ground covers
Some ground covers spread quickly and overgrow the beautiful gravel. Therefore, rather small carpet plants should be chosen for the rock garden. They should also be hardy. The following ground covers stay small and are also evergreen:
- Mountain Alyssum
- Blue-grey fat leaf
- blue pillow
- Brown feather pad
- Variegated Bacopa
- Compact tomentosum
- Olympus rockflower
- Cushion Bellflower
- Spicy stonecrop
- different strawberry varieties
- Carpet phlox or upholstery phlox
More evergreen ground covers can be found here.
Flowering plants for planting in the rock garden
Plants in the rock garden should be as easy to care for as possible and be able to tolerate a lot of sun, which considerably limits the choice of flowering plants. Flowering plants that require little water are e.g.:
- alpine aster
- Alpine edelweiss
- Alpine toadflax
- blue diamond
- bitterroot
- Echinacea
- sweet thistle
- Verbena
- gentian
- fuchsia
- Thrift
- junker lily
- mullein
- lavender
- girl eye
- cloves
- pearl basket
- Pink evening primrose
- roses
- sage
- candytuft
- shrub rose
Succulents for the rock garden
Succulents need very little water and do well in full sun. Therefore, they are a very good choice for the rock garden. However, make sure your succulents are hardy so they don't freeze to death in the winter. Some hardy succulents:
- mountain cactus
- Echeveria elegans
- Echeceria agavoides
- Echinocereus viridiflorus
- prickly pear
- spherical cactus
- the Opuntia species: Opuntia ficus-indica, Opuntia imbricata, Opuntia tortispina
- Sedum species
- Sempervivum species
- the Yucca species: Yucca baccata, Yucca elata, Yucca brevifolia, Yucca filamentosa
For more information on hardy succulents and their care needs click here.
Grasses for the rock garden
Rock gardens are reminiscent of the south and warmth. This effect can be accentuated with sparse grasses swaying in the wind. The twelve most beautiful grasses for planting in the rock garden are:
- bluegrass
- feather grass species
- oats
- grove rush
- Pennisetum grass
- mosquito grass
- pearl grass
- Purple Love Grass
- rainbow fescue
- iridescent grass
- fescue species
- sedge species
tips
Create a small watercourse in your rock garden. You can also place moisture-loving plants near the water. Here you can find out how.