Building A Rockery

Building a Rockery is not as easy as it sounds.

Ideally, a full or afternoon sun situation is best, as most rock plants enjoy the sun.

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You may want to think about incorporating water in some way, anything from a waterway to a pond can appear really natural near rocks.

In order to make it aesthetically pleasing, it needs to look natural.

If you have sloped garden, then, it looks natural to incorporate a rockery into the gradient.

If your garden is flat, then, unless you're doing it on a massive scale, don't just plonk it in the middle.  It is definitely best, coming out from a corner, as you can't see beyond the fence panels behind, therefore making it look as though it is the end of a hill.

Obviously if building a rockery, against a fenced area, then it needs to have a retainer to prevent the soil touching the fence.

The rocks they need to be chosen carefully so they look natural.

Rock have striations or lines in them, and in nature, nine times out of 10, the striations are flat.  It is therefore important to dig shelves for the rocks to sit on and then when you backfill the soil around the rocks, you end up with just part of the front of the rock showing.

I hope the header photographs will give you an idea on what to aim for, when creating a rockery.

The rockery will always look better, if it comes from the region that your garden is part of.

Be prepared to hire a sack truck, to help move rocks around safely.

You may need two people to assist in moving the rocks.  Do not try and lift them, without experience as it is a one-way ticket to a potential hernia.

When your rockery is complete, you need to let it settle, for a few weeks before planting it.

Alpines, miniature and dwarf conifers, dwarf shrubs, small bulbs and small herbaceous perennials can be used.

Keep on top of your weeding while the alpines and other plants are establishing and once the alpines have created a patchwork of colour and interest coupled with your rocks, you will find that there is little room for weeds and therefore a well maintained rockery from the start, can actually be very low maintenance in the long run.

Good luck!!