What Plants to Use on a Rock Wall Entrance

Matting Plants

• Matting plants such as phlox or rock thyme grow slowly in dry soil. They reach heights of only about 2 to 4 inches, then form mats that slowly creep over the edge of the wall. If your rock wall doesn't have any area to fit a pocket of soil, you'll need to use a small container. Matting varieties such as alyssum sax. compactum, Colorado columbine, wallcress, dianthus and creeping baby's breath grow in the crevices of rock walls.

Ivy Plants

• Ivy plants do well climbing up vertical surfaces. If you plant ivy at the base of the rock wall entrance, the tendrils will find their way up to the top of the wall. English Ivy is a vigorous climber, but you'll need to keep it in check so it doesn't spread farther out into the yard or completely envelope the rock wall. The persistent leaves of the hundreds of varieties of English ivy are available not only in green but in gray, yellow, cream, pink and purple if you want to add more color to your wall.

Ferns

• Ferns such as the Alpine podypody grow well in open-air spaces. Planted at the base of the rock wall entrance, they soften the effect of the rock with their soft plumes. Another fern, scaly spleenwort, tends to make its home in the crevices of rock walls in England. Mixing some crumbled rock with peat moss makes a good soil for ferns, which tend to like the shady side of the wall.

Perennials

• If you landscape a small area near the entrance of the wall to make a place for flowers, the colors will stand out against the rocks. Choose long-blooming perennials such as black-eyed Susans, echinacea or salvia so you don't have to replant every spring. These types of flowers grow consistently with little to no care, except for the occasional removal of competing weeds.