I love rock: smooth river rock, crunchy gravel, moss-covered boulders, chop rock limestone–I use rock in nearly every project I design. Even potted plants usually get some gravel or river rock topdressing from me! I love the organic feel and the added texture, not to mention all the practical uses for rock in the garden. But, so many times I see landscapes that use rock in ways that don’t really work, so I ask myself: what works? What’s a cool or unusual use of rock? How can rock be a part of a landscape design rather than a well-meaning after-thought? I found some examples (both mine and others’) to get you going:
While visiting my friend David in CA this past summer, I loved how his landscape designer placed a boulder right in the middle of the edging! And it’s simple to do: just run your edging material right up to one side of the boulder and continue on the other side, remembering to get as close as possible to the rock to avoid grass creeping in. I love this unexpected twist to boulder placement; it almost looks like the boulder was there originally and the garden planned around it. Maybe it was; I’ll have to ask David!
This is a design of mine; I like how the boulder is place beside the river rock bed that meanders under the footbridge. In this landscape, I arranged groups of boulders in 3’s–usually two larger ones and then a smaller one placed in front. The edges of the boulders usually touch or butt up to one another. Experiment with what “face” or side of the boulder works best in relation to the one next to it, but think it through when working with large boulders, as they are very heavy to move around!
Here is a different angle of the previous pic: you can see that the boulders I’ve placed are really large but flat on the top. We chose these specifically for the size and shape, as the homeowners have kids and they wanted the garden to be a lively, safe, interactive place for them. I’ve visited the clients several times and am delighted to find the kids scampering over the boulders, and even playing on top of them!
Here’s an example of how using moss rock boulders lends an old, established look to a new garden–that moss just adds a quaintness that I love in more cottagey gardens . In this pic we added a blue-green glass rock puddle around the base of the boulders, with a Cibolo river rock bed meandering through the grouping and snaking through the plants.
Experiment with boulders in your landscape–they add an organic feel to the garden, can help break up large expanses of landscape area, provide a place to play for the kids and add dimensional interest to a river rock bed. Remember to vary the sizes and place them in relationship to one another and the plants around them and your garden will take on a whole new look!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I love how the boulders compliment that gorgeous bridge! =]
Thanks Hazel! That was a united effort with the client–I had the bridge in the master plan, but the homeowners found the kit online!
Long ago I realized that big rocks to play on in a garden beat out a bought playscape any day. Unfortunately, I had this epiphany after we’d already installed an expensive playscape for our kids.
I love rocks too, and your pictures are inspiring. The key to making them look natural—especially those big, round stones like you show in your top pic—is burying them to at least 1/3 of their height.