Do You Have Design Ideas for This Rock Garden?
I have a small area of a garden with clay loam soil that was getting too wet. So we built up some mounds of the gritty mix and tried to do some rock garden designs with succulents. Two of the areas are shown in the photos below. How would any of you change this, and what are some ideas for design elements to add to what is already there? I am using Echeveria and Sempervivum succulents here. I would be open to some cactus ideas. Keep in mind that the Echeveria hen and chick plants will fill out a large area eventually, so I left space for that.
Comments (12)
PROPatricia Colwell Consulting
3 years agowestes Zone 9b California SF Bay thanked Patricia Colwell ConsultingRelated Discussions
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Comments (18)Yellow pattypans would be a great choice if I didn't have such troubles with the SVBs. No peashooters in the summer in this climate. I don't usually use them in the game once I achieve the starfruits anyway. I hadn't thought of peanuts. That's a definite possibility. The whole thing was my 10yo's idea really because this fall when we were putting in the cabbages he commented that we were planting cabbage-pults. :-D...See Morecommunity project.. ideas requested- rock gardens
Comments (2)I don't think there will be place to get water closeby. This could be a problem for grandmothers. Do they realize this? Windy is good for alpines. While alpines need excellent drainage, that doesn't necessarily mean they are xeric plants and do well with little water. And remember, most all perennials will not look finished the first year. Would everyone turn their noses up if the one farthest from the water source is cactus and succulents? Even without the cactus part, sedums and sempervivums(Hens & Chicks) are varied enough to provide good diversity in size, color and shape. Rock placement would be integral in such a design. You could use shorter forms of upright sedums like Black Jack, garden variety spreading sedums, Sedum caudicola(or S.c. 'Lidakense'), small leaf forms, Sedum 'Angelina', tiny cobweb type hen & chicks(Sedum arachnoides), ones with large rosettes, and they come in many colors. Sisyrinchium spp. (Blue-eyed grass) would go well with these too. And no fertilizing for this container. BUT, practically no perennial garden is as floriferous as annuals. A major thing to consider. As far as "regular" short perennials that might be good: the dwarf forms of Balloon flower, Sentimental Blue Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium sp) Basket of-gold Aurina saxitilis(Alyssum saxitile)or A.s.'Compacta Pussytoes (Antennaria sp.) Alliums Dwarf Goatsbeard (Aruncus aethusifolius) Low Pinks (Dianthus sp.) Dwarf or spreading forms of Baby's Breath Pasque flowers (Pulsatilla sp.) Thyme (Thymus sp.) Low spreading veronica's like Waterperry...See Morerock garden design advice needed
Comments (2)Hi Marysy, Welcome to GW. Your plant sounds wonderful! I can't wait to see the pictures that you are uploading! I have a sunny rock garden that I inherited from the previous owners of our house and have spent the last 3 years moving things around and experimenting with what survives in hot rocky areas. This summer I finally put in a large shade garden that is approximately 20 x 30 ( or maybe a little longer). This area is also shaded by maples as well as oak and pines. Do you have a photobucket account? If you don't then go to www.photobucket.com and sign up, it is a free picture sharing service. After you have it set up then start uploading the pictures of your Milk House and garden area. Have two tabs open, one for your gw post and the other for your photobucket album. After the pics are uploaded then right click on the html Tag next to the photo you chose. Click on copy, switch over to the GW post and right click again in the follow up message, then click on paste. You will be able to see your picture after you click on preview. While in photobucket you are able to resize your pictures for posting. For better detail I would choose the message board size for posting to message boards....See MoreDo you have rocks in your garden (on purpose)?
Comments (61)Ooohhh, I love all these new rock pics! That glass rock is stunning! And Xuan, your dry garden is really pretty. : ) "Did anyone else notice that there appears to actually be a bear in the second photo of Diane's friend's waterfall? I don't know it that is what it is but it isn't there in the first pic of the same spot. Oh, and by the way, That's a lot of da** rocks! Awesome waterfall". Haha! I forgot about that "bear". It's not real. It's a metal form of a bear. It does look real in the pic, though. If you look at the other pic you can see that it's taken at a slightly different angle, just enough to hide the bear. But these are the San Gabriel Mtns. and we do have bears so I'm sure my friend will be having real fur friends visit this winter. : ) DH and I are digging a pond, which seems to be growing in size everyday (is that a guy thing?), as is the rock pile. We've even found wood attached to some of the rock. Very cool....See Morewestes Zone 9b California SF Bay
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoWe are designing the rock garden into a tiny sliver of available space, between a walking path and a stone circle with a statue in the middle. Hopefully, the constraints on space are clear from the photo below. This area has clay loam soil, and it was not draining well, so succulents never thrive there. We decided to build a raised mound, and for mostly aesthetic reasons we used desert soil (i.e., the gritty mix) for those mounds.
The tubes running throughout this area are an irrigation drip system. To be honest, they installed too many tubes, and they made those 1/4 inch tubes drip lines instead of distribution tubes. So the design is wasteful. It would have made far more sense to install one or two 1/4 inch distribution tubes, and then branch off those to specific plants. Eventually, those tubes will be partially buried by the soil and less visible on the surface.
westes Zone 9b California SF Bay
3 years agowestes Zone 9b California SF Bay
3 years agowestes Zone 9b California SF Bay
3 years agowestes Zone 9b California SF Bay
3 years ago
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