How to Plant a Rock Garden

Choose the location of your rock garden and the plants you include wisely for a care-free design. You may use an already rocky area of your yard or import stones into a newly created bed. Rock gardens can fit into small spaces or more sprawling areas. Either way, select the best plants for your particular climate and color needs for best results. Choose rocks that are angular and vary in size for a more natural appearance.

Create a new rock garden by preparing the ground to create a clean area. Lay newspapers on the ground to smother grass or weeds. They will eventually decompose. Use rocks to outline the entire garden. Then fill the garden with a layer of sandy soil to provide drainage. Walk on the soil to tamp it down. Add another set of rocks inside the the first outline. Reserve additional soil for planting.

Determine the color scheme of your plants and their growing climate requirements. Plants should meet your sun, water and temperature limitations to thrive. Choose drought-tolerant perennials for years of care-free plants. Select annuals for brighter colors if you are willing to replace them each year. A mix of both can be quite attractive. Also mix the height and texture of the plants for visual interest in your completed rock garden.

Avoid putting too many plants or too many types of plants in your rock garden. Plants will grow. Beginning with too much will make your garden look cluttered. Overfilling the rock garden will also increase maintenance as you will need to prune the plants more often. Chose groups of three plants of each type for an easy attractive layout. Make planting easier by adding more rocks after you plant each group of plants. Cover as much of the surface as possible with plants and rocks until you have your rock garden arranged in a way that pleases your eye.

Fill the remaining cracks between the larger rocks with smaller stones. The plants will fill in and grow over the years. If you've chosen wisely, you shouldn't need to replace them or water often.