Most rock gardens are created in a garden area that is specifically picked for this purpose but the fact is, you can create it on any area of ground that is vacant.
The only key requirement for creating a rock garden is good drainage as mountain and rock growing plants don’t do that well in water-bound soil.
Base Matters
If you want our Sydney NSW landscape company to create a rock garden, then you should know that the best base for a rock garden is a sloping area that allows water to run off easily.
Remember that inability of water to run off can be a problem but presence of water is not a problem. It is a fact that many rock gardens have excellent streams.
How to Create a Rock Garden in Sydney
While creating a rock garden in Sydney, you should ensure that the soil areas are gritty rather than being well composted in order to simulate the natural environment of plants. The plants should be bedded in rich soil as it will help them to establish. You should also know that rock garden is often called an Alpine garden and Alpine conditions are connected with drainage through the loose gritty soil.
The next step is to remember that a rock garden is nor a currant bun that is constructed by stacking stones and rocks into a mound of earth. The area that is chosen for it should be excavated and the bottom perimeter should be lined with stones.
After that one or two large rocks should be laid and they often protrude above the surface when the process of creating this garden is completed. They are main rocks around which you can lay other rocks and stones.
The spaces between all these rocks should be filled not only with increasingly smaller stones but with gritty easily drained soil on top. You can mix sand with topsoil to promote drainage.
Best Stone
The best stone that you can use in order to create a rock garden is limestone. But if you can’t use it then you can go for granite or any other local stone that you can find in your area.
After you set up the garden, you need to make pockets among the stones and rocks and fill it with well composted soil that can be further used to place the plants.
You also have the option of mixing the soil with washed sand in order to get rid of any residual salt. Sow seeding is not a good idea. Instead, you should buy bedding plants like heathers and other ericaceous plants that do quite well in a rock garden. You can also go for Alpine plants. Perennials are the best choice but you can also use some annuals.
Alyssum, geraniums, delosperma, and verbena do quite well in rock gardens. You can use some gypsophila to break it up. If you don’t have an idea on the best plants to choose for your area, contact a landscape expert or the local garden centre.
Successful Factor
A key secret behind a successful rock garden is to make sure that the rock foundation is built first, then drainage and gritty soil are added.
After that extraction of small pockets for plants between the rocks should be done and these pockets must be filled with rich compost along with the plants.
A Mistake to Avoid
A thing that you mustn’t do is to build a mound of earth, stick in some stones & plants. This is not a rock garden, it’s a currant bun.
An Innovative Idea
You can also construct a running stream with some 1st plastic piping, polythene, a water pump and some water. Just lay the polythene or any flexible plastic between lots of rocks and stones to ensure that plants enjoy the running water.
Lead the running water to a pool that has about a foot diameter. You can also pump the water form this pool back to the top of the stream. It’s quite easy and attractive.
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