Rock garden?

[CarolynM]

earwig, what a great rock garden, thanks for sharing your photos, must have been a ton of work but well worth it in the end.

[curlysue]

wow your rock gardens are lovely!!I have a slope at the front of my house thats hard for me to mow ,thinking maybe a rock garden would be a good solution?

[earwig]

Curlysue it could be a very good solution. Do some research first as although a fair amount of work to make, I find the maintenace can be fairly low if done properly.

I like my second one much better than the first as I learned from my mistakes on the first. Planning to do another area next year as I am trying to make more of my garden low maintenance.

[Blossom]

Earwig - I just love what you have accomplished in your space. What a dedicated gardener you are.I was considering putting in a rock garden in a spot that was just created as a result of my stupidity. I decided to trim a very old lilac tree that was overgrown. Now, I admit I do not trim well. My late husband was the one that would do all the trimming and shaping of shrubs and trees. Well I started hacking and cutting until I completely destroyed it. Had to call my son with the chain saw to finish the job. After seeing your pix of what it involves I think I will just leave the space for now. . . I'm trying to have less work around here, but I do love looking at your photos.

[samthomas]

Winter weather in the Hawaiian North west generally means water. And lots of it. Once it begins, most vegetation turn to mush, except the little vegetation in my mountain yard (rock garden). It's awesome to have something to look at and appreciate in winter. As I'm committed to a geologist of types, we have obtained a pretty mountain selection around which I've placed my vegetation.

[Mygrandmeresgarden]

I have a different spin on rock gardens. The previous examples are fabulous by the way. I have a hard time keeping trees alive and growing-- especially mugos and cedars. So, I did an experiment and planted two low growing cedars and then left one in a worked up bed and the other, I mulched with thick newspaper and then put rocks on top to cover the paper. I did not water nor fertilize and the cedar that was mulched grew at least twice as fast as the non mulched cedar. So then, I started to plant perennials in a bed and mulched in between the plants in the same manner. I lost a lot less. I live in a dry area in the middle the of the grain belt and during the summer, it gets really hot and dry. So in this manner I created an oasis in my yard that I don't need to water. The plants are really starting to grow in now and more and more the rocks are covered. It is virtually maintenance free!

[earwig]

It is virtually maintenance free!

Now that is the kind of garden we all need.

Here is a photo taken this morning of the rock garden. It is filling in quite nicely. Still have some tweaking to do (as will as weeding). Not sure if I really like that container although once it is filled it may look OK. I wanted a really heavy one there as I get a lot of wind and I have already had one break when it hit the rocks.