Hi sheshebop! I'm new myself! Welcome. My best friend has a nearly full shade yard and she created a rock garden with a pond in the center. She has tons of hosta, sweet william, peonies and spiderwort in her yard. Many of these around the stone patio and rock garden. You are plenty creative enough for gardening. It's easy after time. Plant what you think will look nice after finding out if they are hardy to the coldest temperature that you live in. Put taller plants to the back of the beds you create and graduate down in height toward the front. After the plants take off, decide if you like them where they are, if not, then move them somewhere else. We all do this. Gardening is trial and error just like making a new recipe! Here is a few links to some online nurseries that offer suggestions on shadey perennials. Take a look and see if anything looks nice to you! http://www.ruthsgardenshop.com/Shade%20Perennials.htm http://www.4seasonsgc.com/main%20files/pages/perennials/shade.html http://garden.superpageshosting.com/shadeloving/ This next site not only has ideas for plants but also design plans for your beds too. If you look further down the page you will find a link to rock gardens as well. http://www.wilsonbrosnursery.com/DesignsPerennialShadeGardens.html Good Luck and let us know what you do!

Arrange the plants in a rock garden design to look natural. Observe a rocky terrain with wild plants growing on it. You probably won't find a hodgepodge of species. What you probably will find are large patches of low-growing plants. If you like creeping phlox, for instance, but never know where to put it, it will be an issue. so keep design in mind first while thinking of your plant choice. To be successful in mimicking nature with your rock garden design, you'll need to be of a certain mindset when it comes to design, in general. Evenness in size or distribution looks unnatural in rock garden design. So always keep that in mind. If you want to take a test to determine your garden design philosophy, please consult History of Landscape Design.

The water has to go somewhere, so no matter what you put in the hole, it’s going to come back out. Can you take a photo from further back so the whole area is visible? Are the larger rocks small enough to move to work on the area? How big is it? Without seeing it, I’m wondering if you can make a “stream bed” with large, medium and small sized rocks to minimize erosion and dig a dry well at the bottom to take the resulting water. Or a drain to divert it elsewhere. Otherwise, I’d consult a professional who can see the site in person for advice.

How is it going? Have you put in any plants now that it's September? I think it takes a real inner "eye" to see what it will look like with plants before there are plants and there's always the chance to change it. I like rock gardens where I can see the rocks. I know some people make rock gardens and then cover up the rocks with plants which I never understood. Yours will look beautiful as things grow and bloom.