How to Landscape With Rocks, Stones & Plants

Choose plants that suit your yard’s growing conditions, including sunlight, drainage and soil type. Create a plant bed near the patio, along the front of the house or in another spot where you want to add growth. Dig out the bed with a shovel, removing the topsoil to a depth equal to the root ball, plus 1 inch. Arrange the plants with the larger ones in the back so sunlight and air can filter through. Place each root ball in a planting hole and cover it with soil.

Fit the plant bed with strips of weed barrier fabric. Cut slots in the fabric with scissors to fit around the base of each plant. Set the fabric over the soil and overlap each strip by 3 inches. Pin the corners down with lawn spikes so they don’t show.

Cover the plants with a 2-inch layer of small, decorative rocks like river rocks or pea gravel. The rocks will conserve soil and insulate the roots without requiring replenishment each season.

Line the plant bed with a border of medium sized stones. Dig out a 4-inch deep trench as wide as the stones and line the bottom with gravel to keep the stones from sinking. Set them flush against each other and backfill the trench with more gravel so the stones are partially buried.

Mark spots with poor drainage with a garden stake. Use a rope to lay a course for a dry creek bed running from the problem area to a safe outlet like a ditch. Dig out a U-shaped trench 10 inches wide and 12 inches deep, and dump the soil on a tarp so you can reuse it to fill in dips in the yard. The trench will draw excess water from the yard and distribute it to the outlet.

Line the inner walls of the trench with a 6-inch layer of small and medium sized gravel. Set medium stones in random places along the bottom of the trench to add visual interest. Plant flood-resistant plants along the top edges of the trench to absorb moisture and beautify the trench.