Lilliput Gardens

Rock Gardens are modeled on the high mountain terrain, where you will find colonies of wildflowers, alpine blooms and bushes thriving on the cool sunny dry slopes of the mountain side.

You can easily create one, by planting around an existing stone ledge on your property or by installing a small bed of rocks. You don’t need to create a mini Mount Everest, just a few rocks buried in the right places will achieve the look and effect that you’re attempting to create.

An area of about 8 feet by 8 feet will make an adequate rock garden, can even include a water feature if you like, or a dry rock creek, and won’t take up much space in your smaller yard or garden and only a corner of a larger one.  Small water features such as the one pictured here below are easy to include in your mini rock garden.

The purist will tell you that a rock garden should contain only those plants which grow naturally on rocky slopes in poor soil. Most rock gardens, however, are not located in cool climates with long winters where these plants do well. When selecting your plants, make sure they are right for your climate and exposure. Scope out the rocky areas in your climate and find out whats growing there and try to plant native if you can, selecting grasses, shrubs and flowers that grow well in the rocky areas in your particular environment.

If you’re fortunate enough to have a small rocky area, or a rock ledge on your property, in your back yard or garden, you already have the basics and you just need to add the window dressing. Clear away the unwanted vegetation, including the roots and mix the heavier soil with some lighter quick draining type such as a mixture of these four:

Builders sand
Compost
Gravel
Loam

Pocketing:

If the planting pockets in the rock ledge or outcropping aren’t deep enough to create a decent sized area for the roots, then you can extend them. Use rocks that might have a close or matching texture and color, stacking them at the top or sides of the current rocky area so that deeper pockets are made.

No Rocky Area?

Build your own rocky area, by selecting a sunny site, preferably in an area that is more natural where a rugged rock type garden will blend in well, you can make your own alpine garden, or a reasonable facsimile, using plants that are native to your area so they require less tending.

An existing area with some rocks already there might be ideal, particularly if it faces east, west, northeast or northwest.

Choose a stone that fits into your landscape, preferably something native to the area, such as granite, limestone, sandstone or gneiss which are common native stones. Using the same type stone throughout the garden will help to make it more uniform and natural looking. Arrange the rocks in clusters, odd numbers generally look best and rae easier to group than even numbers of rocks.

Planting the Stone.

You are going to want to plant the rock firmly into the earth. If they are just plopped on top, not only do they look unnatural, but they are difficult to plant in, are not stable and will tend to roll onto your vegetation.

Bury them about a third to a half under the dirt, in a pocket of light soil mixture. St the stone down with the broadest part down, slanted so that it tips backward toward the soil instead of pointing downward. This will help to retain moisture in the garden, and prevent erosion of the soil that you put in surrounding the rocks.

Tamp the stone in tightly and spread more soil mixture, filling the crevices around the stones to eliminate the air pockets.

One a steeper slope, use the larger stones for the base and add more above them.  Leave flatter areas relatively open with a few small rocks to allow for larger plants or plant areas.

Building a Boulder

To make a group of smaller rocks look like a natural rock outcropping, you can arrange them closly together and fill the gaps iwth soil. Several granite rocks arranged closerly will look like a frost shattered boulder once the plants begin to fill out  the crevices between them.

Layering sedimentary rocks such as sandstone that have horizontal striations can be done so that you can achieve a natural look, by setting them with their layers running parallel. Break the monotony of the pattern by tilting one sideways against them as if it has tumbled down naturally.

A Path

Make sure that you can enter the garden to view the plants or to maintain them as needed, by including a small path between the vegetation areas, or in the middle if your rock garden will be lilliputian sized.  A few flat stones buried will make adequate and natural stepping stones.

You can create a stone stream, something that resembles a dry creek bed by arranging rounded type rocks along a flat contour in the garden to make them look as if they were left behind by running water. Tuck low ground cover plants between them at random.

Even if your space is severely limited, you can enjoy a scaled down version of a rock garden by digging out a small site, stripping away the sod and heavier dirt and filling with a layer of gravel, then making a raised bed. This can be very effective near your doorway, or an entryway. Use coarse sand, compost and fine gravel to construct the raised bed then add a surrounding stone or rock wall around it, tucking in a few into the main site as well.

Add rock garden plants, tucked both into the top of the garden as well as in the rocky wall.

One way to get rocks for your garden is to contact utility companies, quarries, construction companies and anyone else who finds it necessary to dig for their job.

Some plants that will be good for your rock garden are: Lupine, Foxglove, buttercups, daisies, violets, on the wild plant side, however..

Annuals

* Blue Eyed Grass
* Desert Bluebell
* Lobelia
* Strawflower
* Summer Savory
* Sweet Alyssum

Perennials

* Balloon Flower
* Dwarf Lavender
* English Daisy
* Forget-Me-Not
* Wallflower
* Penstemon
* Phlox

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