How to use rocks in your garden

-

In the past couple of years I've added a lot more rocks to my garden. This is out front, and of course there's the 1/2" gravel. I've also added some nice "craggy rocks", like the one in the foreground, which in addition to being a nice accent to the garden, protect the little plastic sprinkler heads from being kicked (accidentally, usually by me).

But my latest addition is more river rocks. My goal is to make a smooth transition from the river rocks to the 1/2" gravel. So I will need more smaller river rocks (the smooth ones). I just added the big one you see there, and while it's a smooth river rock (not a craggy rock), it's big enough to have some personality, and it will be fine there, especially as I add more smaller rocks around it.

In addition to looking nice, the river rocks help hold in moisture, and discourage the local cats from, uh, "doing their business" under my palm trees. I will probably go back to the rock store and pick up some more, about 2" - 3" average size.

When you add rocks, remember to integrate them. That is, don't just toss them on the surface, where they just look as if they don't belong. Dig down a bit, and give them a place where they seem to fit. Surround them with other rocks, or plants. And for a more natural look, get ordinary rocks, nothing flashy, nothing shiny. The effect of the river rocks should be a pleasing background to your garden, whereas the craggy rocks can be more spectacular.

And always stand back and look at your composition from a distance. There's an old rule of design that if it looks wrong, it is wrong. Go with your instincts. And if someone asks "what's that rock doing there?" it's in the wrong place, reevaluate, and redesign.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to tell if your cycad (sago palm) is alive or dead

-
Image
Cycads are strange plants. They're beautiful, and look like small palm trees, or large ferns. They grow very slowly, and can be very expensive, even common ones like "sago palms". But sago palms, in spite of their common name, aren't palms at all. They belong to a group of plants called cycads. They are wonderfully weird, and grow in strange ways. And sometimes they lose all of their leaves. Of course, if it were a palm tree that lost all of its leaves, you would know that the plant was dead. But it's not true of cycads. So don't dig that cycad up and throw it away! Not yet. If you've recently transplanted a cycad, and the leaves have all faded away, hang on. Take a look at the top center of the plant, at what I call "the pucker". There you will see some stubby, soft fronds, no more than an half-inch or so. At least that's what you should see. That means that the plant is still alive, and has dropped its leaves to focus on building r...
Read more

Rooting sago palm pups for more plants

-
Image
Once a sago palm ( cycas revoluta ) reaches a certain level of maturity, it starts to create pups. Like agaves, these are little plants that are exactly the same as the parent plant, only smaller. And yes, you can trim them off and grow them into new plants. This is how to do it. Cut them off from the parent plant with a sharp knife. If there are any roots at the bottom, try to save them, but chances are there won't be any. That's not a problem. The next step is rooting them. Douse the cut part and the bottom of the plant with some garden sulfur and some rooting hormone powder. Rooting hormone powder is pretty easy to find at your local Home Depot. I had to go to a real nursery to get garden sulfur. Anyway, the idea is to keep the little plant from rotting while giving it time to grow its own roots. Sago palm pups being rooted Bury them fairly deep in some free-draining mix. It should include volcanic pumice, if you can find it, and if not, you can use perlite. I ...
Read more

Growing sunflowers from Pennsylvania in Arizona

-
Image
It's October 21st, and I just received some sunflower seeds from a friend in Pennsylvania. Their season is ending and the season for planting here in Arizona is just beginning, and I'm kinda wondering if the seeds are wondering what's going on? It's spring again already? If you're new to the Phoenix, Arizona area, and are from back east it must seem kinda strange that fall and winter is our flower season, but it is. By springtime it will start to get so hot here that the flowers will die, and of course back east the season is just beginning.  Sunflowers growing in Peoria, Arizona, about a mile from where I live I've seen sunflowers blooming around my neighborhood of Glendale, which is a suburb of Phoenix, in the winter, and although I've never grown them I understand that they're easy to grow. I guess I'll find out - I learn best by doing! The seeds arrived safely, and it's my understanding that they were still connected to the spent flower (I do...
Read more