Rocks are my gardening favorite! I have made raised beds with them, lined walkways, made paths with the flat ones, and used them as accents for some of my favorite plants. They are beautiful. I thought I had way too many when I started landscaping, but last summer I hauled in several more truckloads. You can never have too many rocks! I have a pile in reserve for this summer's projects, and plan to bring home many more this summer! They look really great with my Junk-art too!

EXACTLY! "Rock bottom" and "gravel bottom" - two totally different animals! But people lump them together and say NEVER put rock of any kind on your pond floor. A shallow layer of gravel is never going to collect any more "gunk" than, as you said, a bare bottom pond. It's easy to scoop, easy to swish around and the fish definitely pick through the gravel and find things that interest them. Plus LOTS of people who are way smarter than me will tell you that the gravel provides more surface area for the beneficial bacteria to cling to and grow in your pond. The more the merrier!

It doesn't seem optimum to plant something like ivy that would completely cover and smother the wall, and then move on and start covering nearby things, too. It would be better to plant something that would grow in the cracks but still let the rock faces show. You could plant it at the foreground, too, or plant something low and colorful there. But no one can make suggestions about what to plant unless they know where you live.

I strongly recommend painting the stones if you don't like the pinks, it would create a big impact.. You have to use a water pressure washer adding some vinegar to clean and remove the grease, let dry for 24hrs, You will need an exterior acrylic primer & sealer for the first coat and 1 or 2 coats of exterior paint in the dark rich greige for the stones and much lighter for the walls creating a nice contrast with the roof. You should go to your local paint store for the perfect primer and paint to use for durability in your climat.