Cool and dreary? Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that! We show how you can create a beautiful rock garden here.
A rock garden is by no means a piece of land on which barren stones create a bleak landscape, rather a garden with natural stones and colorful plants radiates alpine flair! We'll reveal what is important here.
Creating a rock garden – the preparations
First of all, it is important to plan the area well. Ideally, your future rock garden is on a south-facing slope, alternatively you can create an incline by filling up the garden so that rainwater runs off well and no waterlogging forms – the rock garden plants do not like that at all.
Draw a sketch to scale and then start planning. You should also think about these aspects:
- Would you like to decorate part of the garden with stones, create a mini rock garden in a corner or a bucket, or transform the entire garden?
- Plan sidewalks on your sketch if you want to create a large part or the entire garden as a rock garden.
- A big erratic block as an eye catcher? How much space does one or more take up?
- How much space should plants take up?
- Which plants do you like and are suitable for a rock garden? We have put together an overview for you, see section "20 suitable rock garden plants".
- Note the requirements of the respective plants: do they like it shady, sunny or semi-shady? Are they sheltered from the wind? How big will they be in the end?
- Pay attention to the different sizes when choosing the stones, so you create natural contrasts in the garden.
Create rock garden – material
You need this to create a rock garden:
- Drainage (e.g. gravel or rubble)
- Weed fleece
- stones of different sizes
- plants
- Substrate
- Garden tools
- Possibly. Vole wire
Creating a rock garden – Instructions
- Prepare the soil: remove the top soil by about 30 cm.
- Make sure that the exposed soil is free of roots! Optionally, you can now lay the vole wire.
- Now spread the drainage over the surface as the next layer of approx. 20 cm. This is extremely important since the plants cannot tolerate waterlogging! This is how you ensure that rainwater can drain away easily.
- Now lay the fleece over the drainage. Alternatively, turf that has been accumulated is also suitable, which is turned upside down, i.e. the floor facing upwards and the green (turf) facing downwards.
- In the next step you spread the substrate, preferably sparse plant soil, over the area.
- Now it's time to design! Ideally, you have already considered what is going where and when preparing and planning it. First place the big stones, then the smaller ones, leave spots for your plants.
- If you lay out your garden on a slope, use stones as stairs – so you avoid that the subsoil slips too quickly when you enter.
- Fill in the spaces with gravel or small stones. Ideally, you should give your garden some time to bag.
- Finally, plant your flowers!
20 matching rock garden plants
Not every plant that occurs in a flower bed is suitable for planting a rock garden. But those that come from mountain regions are naturally created for this. They do not need a lot of nutrients, are robust and easy to care for and are therefore ideal for this type of garden. Mediterranean herbs, grasses and succulents blend in perfectly. Here is an overview of the matching green:
- Aloe vera
- Alpine edelweiss
- aster
- Andean cushion
- Heather
- Blue pillow
- Blue lozenge
- Blue fescue
- gentian
- Houseleek
- Japanese azalea
- Lamp cleaner grass
- lavender
- rosemary
- Schillergras
- Bearded iris
- sedge
- Carpet phlox
- thyme
- Dwarf pine
By the way: Here are tips for succulent care.
Stones for the garden
For the rock garden, for example:
- Gravel (various colors)
- Porphyry (purple)
- Sandstone (cream to red)
- Limestone (beige / cream)
- Mine chips (red-brownish)
- Marble (white to gray)
- Granite (whitish to gray)
- Quartzite (gray)
- Gneiss (gray to brown)
- Slate (anthracite)
- Basalt (black)
Ideas for a beautiful rock garden
In your garden you don't have to do without other decorative or practical elements, how about …
- … a (stone) bank
- … clay figures
- … a fountain or
- … solar lights?
Tip: Here we show you how you can make garden decorations yourself!
Can't imagine what your own rock garden should look like? We have a few ideas and examples for you!
Whether the entire garden or just an area becomes a rock garden – it is definitely a real eye-catcher! You can find more tips on terrace design and garden design here. In the BRIGITTE Community you can exchange ideas with like-minded people about the flora.