DavidofDeLand said:A few from here...

Oh my!!! I sooo love this. Sometimes I wish I was in a more tropical climate. But only half the time

Hypertufa Chelle.

Even though tiny, this is a new rock garden too.

It combines lava rocks, coral rock and gravel, with hypertufa 'rock' monoliths.

I love that tiny treasure of a garden, David!

Chelle, I found a pic of the nursery's deep gravel bed. The plants aren't watered or fed. The plants grow how they would in nature, I guess!

The nurseryman told me that when planting in gravel the one thing you must not do is to leave peat-based potting soil on the plant's roots. The peat dries out and the plant shrivels before it has a chance to root into the gravel. If the plant is grown in a soil-based mix, however, it will establish itself in gravel easily.

Oh wow--Rock Gardens--Right On!

jvdubb--I littered the midwest with a few when I lived there. I know how bittersweet it is to look thru old pics of special gardens, especially knowing that they are untended/unappreciated. Oh how my heart breaks for you as well. Thanks for sharing them with us.

I have been viewing growitall's plant list and would very much love to see the panoramas as well.

Previously, I have always gardened with rocks for sure, and not boring but not obscure perennials. Last winter I discovered a world of plants I had never heard of before and had to build some additional rock gardens to try to grow some of them. This spring, I cut out of a chunk of lawn and brought in 35yrds sand/gravel/compost. Here are some pics of a pile of rocks and some little baby plants in May--



and a little later on

and I put another small one one in the backyard too


but then things got busy for me and out of control with the amaranth seedlings that I failed to pull


so it was kind of an epic failure for for the first year, but there are survivors under there heading into winter so I have high hopes for next year


and lots of mugshot pictures like this just to say 'hey look--it's still alive' or 'isn't that cute' or 'check this out!'

What inspiring photos. Here's my boulder outcropping (a repeat from previous forums), designed and built by my son (a bit of mom-pride). I love rocks.

gorgeous rock gardens everyone!

Well, now that I go to look for some, I'm really surprised at how few photos I have where I stood back to show the whole rock garden! (I have tons that show bits and pieces of them though... ) Anyway, here are some that show the tufa beds in their early days (and in spring, as you can tell from the general barrenness!) It's currently 5 beds, created in 3 steps over 2 - 3 years, with walkways in between; these shots show the general structure:



Barren looking, I know, but given a little time, the plants do soften it.


Same story with the crevice beds... I need to remember to take some overall pictures next summer.

All of these gardens are so beautiful!

June,

Thanks for the transplanting advice! It really makes sense to me. I think this was one of my problems when I'd tried dry land plants in the past, and I think those are still at least one step removed from plants the grow in rock crannies and crevices.

Thanks to all; especially for the bare-bones pics from the ground up.


I think that a great many of the plants I'd like to grow need a situation like yours, Lori; nooks and crannies, shelves and slopes over rock. How did you manufacture your tufa mini mountains? Was each rock made separately, placed and then joined to its fellows?

David,

Can you give an outline of the process used to create your magnificent tufa tower?

Holicow this is a great thread. Everyone has such large spaces for RG's
dirt : those quarried pieces are so dramatic and the arrangement is very creative.

The RG here belongs to my daughter. It was established when we bought the house
2008



2009






2010



2012
ugly forsythia
I knew we were making progress when the Jeep and heavy straps showed up to pull out the overgrown forsythias. I stifled my opinion about those bushed.Relief when they were gone.




GONE and revealed some nice boulders



I have the bear and DD has the Owl



DD grows iris successfully because the drainage is so great
Mezmerizer



This year she also dug the siberian iris that had not been divided in 20 years.














DDs Black Iris

Really pretty, Jo Ann.

I like the way the crocus are coming up in between the rocks. Seems a great way to deter pesky squirrels. Plant bulbs, cover with roundish rocks.

chelle. The first spring here was glorious.The former owner neglected her gardens for years but the bulbs kept multiplying. By late May the tragic perennials and weeds took over.DD is a weekend gardener so getting things shaped up for her gardens has taken 5 years.
I do not get involved with here garden,maybe spray her lilies and iris thats it.

Looking at everyone's great pics, I'm starting to get boulder envy!

Someone mentioned squirrels. I have noticed that they don't dig for bulbs planted in gravel. The only creatures I know that like to dig in gravel are turtles at egg-laying time. So if you put gravel near a pond, watch out!

JuneOntario said:Looking at everyone's great pics, I'm starting to get boulder envy!

Someone mentioned squirrels. I have noticed that they don't dig for bulbs planted in gravel. The only creatures I know that like to dig in gravel are turtles at egg-laying time. So if you put gravel near a pond, watch out!

Hmmm...guess I'll need to place some large flat granite pieces upright at the base of mine, then; either that or fence it off for a couple of weeks each year. The legions of turtles here have been nesting throughout our entire yard forever.
Thanks again, June.

June and chelle: Now deer dont seem so bad by comparison.

WOW!!! Sooo many great rock gardens! I want all of them! What an awesome thread.

Jo Ann, my garden has deer too! They cleverly remembered exactly where to dig in the snow to uncover and consume my Helianthemum nummularium 'Annabel' (gray leaves and double pink flowers) several years in succession, until the plant finally gave up the ghost.

I almost forgot: I have another, small rock garden. It's on the north-east side of the house, in an L-shaped area where the garage joins the house wall. The gravel driveway extends into the L, but is not used by vehicles in that area, and so I installed a couple of ornamental rocks. The largest rock has Erica carnea 'Porter's Red' planted on the outward-facing side that receives most sun, and Ramonda myconii in the "crevice" between the rock and a concrete path. Both were planted directly into the driveway gravel. The ramonda gets watered occasionally during the summer, since it is partly in the rain-shadow of the garage.

June: Its unusual for deer to eat grey leaved plants but they will eat anything if hungry enough.