Creating A Rock Garden

Creating A Rock Garden

Creating A Rock Garden

To build a great rock garden careful planning is essential before you begin. You must remember that the aim is to produce a rock garden which will look as natural as possible. At all costs avoid scattering stones over a flat bed. Choose a basic design, as a general rule a sloping rock garden is more attractive than a level one. The chosen site should be free from shade for most of the day - a background of trees and shrubs will improve the natural feel, but the trees must be far enough away so that they do not have any harmful effect on the plants. Visit a good rock garden or two to see what an outcrop or terraced rockery should look like. Draw a rough sketch, but a detailed plan at ths stage is impossible. Mark out an area with string which is slightly larger than your planned rock garden.

Prepare the site. Choose a day when the soil is relatively dry. Strip off the turf if you have any and remove all perennial weeds. This weed removal is vital as couch and bindwees etc can run a rock garden. Dig out all of the roots, if the site is badly infested you will have to use an appropriate weed killersuch as glyphosate and leave the site unplanted for the period recommended on the label. Good drainage is another vital need. With a sloping site in a non-clay area no extra preparation will be required, but if the subsoil is heavy then a drainage layer will be necessary.

Move stones around. You will be able to move small stones around by simply carrying them, either alone or with assistance from a helper. Always wear leather gloves and stout boots. Remember the golden rules, knees bent, back straight, hold the load evenly and then straighten the knees with elbows as close to your thighs as possible. Never stoop over to grasp the rock and never jerk up suddenly to lift it off the ground. You will be able to tackle rocks weighing up to about 1cwt in this way, but in a large rockery you will need some stones which weigh appreciably more. One of the best aids for medium sized rocks is a sack trolley. You will have to lay down a trackway of boards on soft ground. Do not use a single wheeled garden wheelbarrow as the load can easily tip over. Some stones are just too large to use a sack trolley and these pose a big problem. You can make a track of wooden planks and roll the rock along by turning it over and over with a bar or a lump of wood.

Set the stones in position, you will need a crowbar, spade, some wooden planks and a stout stick for ramming soil between the stones. Unless the proposed rockery is tiny. You will also need one or more capable helpers. Ideally you will have chosen a bank with a gentle slope of about 10 degrees, if the site is flat and you plan to build a sloping rock garden then you will need at least 1 ton of topsoil for every 20 sq. ft. Buy good quality topsoil if the earth in your garden is clay. Look at the stones and choose one which is large and has an attractive face - this will be the key stone and serve as the centre point for the first tier of stones.

Dig out a hollow which is larger than the base of the key stone and roll this rock into place. Use the crowbar to lever it into its final position. Push the rubble under the key stone ans add soil both under and behind it. Ram this down firmly with a stick to ensure that there are no air pockets. Stand on the rock to make sure it is firm. Follow the same procedure with stones of various sizes on either side of the key stone, this will complete the first tier. Some stones should be pushed tightly together using the crowbar but you should avoid a continuous line one stone high. It is much better to arrange the stones in groups, declining in height as the edges of the rock garden are reached. You must make sure that all of the strata lines on the stones run in the same horizontal direction and soil should be pushed into the cracks. Alpines can be planted into these joints as you proceed - now move on to the second tier of stones. It may be necessary to put down wooden plank ramps to enable the stones to be rolled up to the upper tiers.

Continue until all of the stones have been set in position, stand back now and then to make sure that you are achieving the desired effect. The last step at this stage is to add some more soil between the stones, but do not fill the planting pockets to their final level - leave a space for the planting mixture.

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