Great score!

Our old house was built new for us, in a subdivision under construction. We did a bit of rock scavenging during construction, and ended up with quite a lot of rocks of assorted sizes. We lined the back border with them, tho that actually wasn't terribly practical, maintenance-wise.

Lucky you ! Yes rock is expensive here too. I have dug a big pile but I need more. It is native rock and I can't buy it. I have a friend that has 17 acres and he said I could bring my truck and a wheelbarrow and walk around picking the rocks up as I find them...not sure that is in the plan at present ! Can hardly wait to see your hillside. You have the magic touch. Caroline

We have rock, but it is smaller. My dad hauled rock when we first bought here so he brought us a truckload. We also have old stumps and dead branches. One of the things my dad left when he died was a three legged stump from a huge manzanita. My brothers live in chaparral country so they voted the stump to me, where it would show up in my garden. I like it. My cat likes to sleep on it.

hey steve - great score! Rock is expensive here, too, but I never buy it since we live rural. We live on a ridge between two river valleys and I'm sure the ridge is almost solid rock! We got plenty.

I've always been fascinated with rocks - picked them up, collected them as a kid. The past several years, when we go camping for family vacation, I bring home interesting rocks from the "destination". I've placed them around my gardens. Some small, some not. I can pretty much remember where every rock came from because it has good memories attached.

DH rolls his eyes but he'll help carry them and has even brought one or two home FOR me :) The kids love collecting rocks and driftwood.

Way to go Steven ~ Those rocks will look great in your gardens. DH and I love rocks also and are always collecting them.

FlowerLady

What is any garden without ROCKS!
BORING.

I keep a collection of rocks and beach stones in an old Compost sieve set upon cinder blocks so I can stop to admire them from time to time. These were picked up everywhere I have ever gone. They are not pebbles...they are rocks! I love rocks of all sizes and sorts. My faves are volcanic rocks. I even have a few Meteors. I esp. like Fossils. I have several nice pieces of Pertified Pine I picked up in the desert and two beautiful Ammonite specimens I got down at Lake Texoma eons ago.

I love big rocks, especially smooth granite boulders that I can climb up on, and hop from one to the other. To stand on a hillside on top of a huge boulder with the wind blowing my hair, and feeling like I can see forever is totally far out!

I love rocks.

Rocks are great in the garden to add interest.
They hold the soil and prevent erosion.
What would a dry creek bed be without stones and rocks?
Rocks are what turns an ordinary fish pond into a natural looking "reflecting pool".
Jeez! What kind of a waterfall could you have without them?
Would a brook gurgle and sing without rocks or stones?
Rocks are lovely with grasses, succulents and cactus.

I love my Scottish stone Cairn I built from rocks...and boy do rocks keep the chickens from scratching in my flowerbeds!

I love rocks!

I dig or gather my own native metamorphic red rocks out on the local country roads. I have my little honey of an old pick-up truck to haul them home.

The grader guy that grades the county road below my house stops to tell me where he left me some nice big rocks pushed off to the side in a pile. He has pushed huge boulders a mile to my driveway for me and set them where I needed them by the driveway with my Yellow-flowering Prickly Pear Cactus and native Oklahoma Yuccas. They look really great together. He knows I love rocks. :)

If I had to buy them...well, I just couldn't, so it's a good thing I can get my own...because...What would I do without rocks in my gardens!!!?

~Annie

Steven -

Good score. Sure hope you didn't scratch that nice blue Tacoma with those rocks.

I really enjoy using rocks around the yard here. Maybe you've seen the picture of my rock wall that I posted last year when I was asking for help with plantings on and in it. I also like the looks of rocks that are half-buried in the garden and look like they belong there. I have been able to accumulate some nice ones by grabbing them from a neighbor's fields after he plows the ground. He's happy and I'm happy.

Have a rockin' good time with yours. (Sorry, couldn't resist)

ThinMan

GOOD JOB!!!!!

Eastport is a rock!

Sounds like a home run to me! : ) I like the sound of your plans - sinking them into the soil is a good idea and makes them appear like they've been there all along. I'll be looking forward to pics!

I think rocks make a definite statement in a cottage garden. They lend a casual and relaxed feeling while performing a much needed task - holding soil back and edging beds. They make great stepping stones, too.

Most of my beds are lined with rocks from my property and a nearby, old streambed. I am about half way finished with a bed that spans the length of one side of some fencing out back. is its twin that I did several years ago. My son is helping me on his days off, which is a good things as I think moving all this rock contributed to my needing rotator cuff surgery a few years ago. Be careful! : )

Diana

Rocks, beautiful rocks, Steven how lucky are you. All the rock in our garden DH and I have collected over the years, we'll be out driving along a country road I'll start screaming stop the truck, stop the truck, there's a nice one LOL. We've gone for long walks along abandoned railway grades only to find a rock I had to have, back home, get wheelbarrow, rope, back out, long walk along abandoned railway bed, load rock in wheelbarrow, very heavy, grunt, pull, push, stop, rest, repeat over and over until back at the truck, drive home, have a beer. Can't help it, I love rocks.

A......

Rocks ROCK!

Lucky you, Steven! Rocks will look wonderful on the front slope of your garden.

LOL SweetAnnie, I love your little dissertations. You have a quick mind.

Beautiful flower bed, Diana. You surely don't have far to go for rocks :)

ThinMan, you'll have to post a picture of your rock wall all planted up this year.

I have many rocks but they are more edging size. We pick them up while boating at the dam. I place them around small plants to mark them so I don't step on them. I also place them around in piles to give them a little more umph! I just have one that is of any size and just placed it in my garden this spring. I have my eye on a couple more large ones but will need some serious man power to get them home.

MeMo

Free rocks !?! You're one lucky duck. Can't wait to see how you use them, I know it'll be fantastic.

Carol

Don't forget that most rocks will roll, so you don't always have to pick them up.

A sturdy plank propped on your tailgate, and you and a helper can roll a good sized stone right on up there if it isn't too heavy for the tailgate to hold. Be careful.

Nell

I've been making plans in my noodle all day long for those rocks. I couldn't find anyone to help load today, but the ones I want are very large rocks and not going anywhere.

Like all of you, I've always picked up rocks. I had some beautiful rocks in our courtyard in San Francisco. The neighbors loved them and I didn't have the heart to denude the entire place. I left most of them. I'm being paid back for a good deed. Yay.

I loved your Ode to Rock there Annie. I would say you love your stone. I actually printed it out and put it in my little garden box.

ThinMan, I did scruff up the bed liner in my truck a bit with all that. I'm actually proud of the dings and scratches back there. Shows I'm worth my salt. I remember seeing that picture of your wall. Would love to see you post it again to see how the plantings turned out.

Diana, beautiful and most excellent job with that rock border. It's got a beautiful flow. Not worth surgery, but pretty darned near.

A...you really made me laugh with that wheelbarrow story. I do stuff like that all the time. Years ago when we first moved to San Francisco we had a cat. It loved to get on top of things like the fridge. I wanted to get her one of those cat tree things with all the perches, but they were too expensive for me at the time. I was walking home one afternoon and noticed someone had cut down a birch tree. The main trunk with a few of the branches was intact and about 7 feet tall. Inspiration hit. I dragged that thing about twenty blocks, up and over a steep San Francisco hill to my apartment in the Haight. You should have seen the looks I got along the way! I even had a bus driver slow down while he was going past LOL. I got that sucker home, attached it to a sturdy base, and nailed carpet plywood platforms covered in black carpet on the ends of the trimmed branches, and voila...totally unique cat perch. Masha loved that thing.

Steven, love rocks. I live across the street fom the Napa River and there are many a rock to be had there.
Good score for you...

Kathy in Napa

Oh Steven, I think you and I are kindred spirits. I just about spit my coffee all over myself. I just had a vision of myself dragging home a 7' tall tree for my Cats. Yes, that is something I would do. I remember a time when we couldn't afford to buy much for my garden. DH and I found an Arbutus tree, the branches were all in the right position for hanging baskets, made a really neat plant pole lasted for years. Another time we took the kids to the beach to pick oysters, I found this really neat rock full of holes on the beach. It wasn't that big but when I finished carrying it for about 2 miles back to the car I think my arms were at least 2" longer. You have to do what you have to do. LOL

A......

Steven,
Doing the SCORE dance for you. We've been finding some in our old pasture turned yard. What could be better than free rocks!

georgeanne

Steven,

Boy, I really must be messed up tonight! There for a minute I thought you wrote "you love to get stoned"...

Wow! I can't believe you printed out my post to save in your garden box! I feel like a Rock star or something!
-------------------------------------------------------
Take pictures of the rocks so I can drool...
If you lived around here, I could get some of my local yocal friends to move those babies for you. Some of them have wenches welded onto the front of their trucks. One of their fa-vor-rite things to do in the winter is to go out and pull people out of snow and out of ditches when they get stuck (or mud). I am totally serious. They love it! They would love figuring out how to get those big rocks loaded and back to your house. They might even load those "Suckers" onto a flatbed truck just to save your 'perty little rig" from gettin' all scuffed up! - JK
Keep us informed and post pictures of the process. I really like the idea of big rocks protruding out of that bank.
Lucky you!
~Annie

What a score Steve - that is great. We have alot of native rock here on the property but it is mostly soccer ball size or smaller. I have lines most of my garden beds with then and the few larger ones are in my succulent garden bed. I could not imagine a garden without rock to accent a plant or a small rock wall for plants to tumble over. They bring a garden alive IMO. Please post pictures after you get them in place.....

Lynne

Costa Rica and rocks in the same week? Did you read your horespope for the week? :) It must of said good things are to come.... :) You must of been a good boy lately to be so lucky. Your new gardening/landscaping is fun to watch in progress, keep sharing those pics...it is still only semi green here...we have green grass, and green sprouts but the trees are not yet leafed. Congrats on ALL your recent good news!

Some of them have wenches welded onto the front of their trucks.

Annie - I tried putting a wench on the front of my truck, but she screamed so much I finally gave up.

TM

P.S. Sorry, the devil made me do it. :-)

That is a great score! My friend just bought three large rocks for her garden, and I don't think it was cheap. You did really great! I have never heard of anyone else ever giving up their rocks to someone!

GGG

Great score!!! You are on a roll. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

I love rock, stone, brick. OHHHHHHHHH...I envy you! :-)

Just haul them home, and take your time deciding where they go. I'm sure you will find the perfect placement.

Marilyn

Giggle..did you read your horespope Steven? :) Sorry about that... :)