Gardening With Rock

Gardening with rock was a natural for us as we landscaped our property. We live on a rock – a sandstone based island with thin soil, towering firs and cedars, salal too thick to beat your way through. Our house is built upon and pinned to the solid bedrock that is never far from the surface. In fact, when we built, the house had to conform to the rocky terrain that stepped down in several levels. As we excavated, more and more rocks, of all sized and shapes were lifted and stacked in huge piles.

Flat rocks form a path to the garden door.

So, here I am, someone who loves to garden, working out just how to do that when the biggest component of my yard is – rock. What soil I could find was sandy and stony, too thin to support the gardens I was envisioning. So, I had to learn to work with and around all this rock. And I’ve found rock can be a blessing in disguise.

The biggest rocks have been used for retaining walls and raised beds, created by a skillful artist on a really big machine. Imagine someone who can delicately lift a 500 pound rock, set it gently within an inch of the house wall, and tap it into place without touching the wall!

I’d envision and sketch out a plan, and Gerry would find just the right rocks from the piles to make my visions a reality. He built retaining walls to define the upper driveway, made stone steps leading to the back door, created pathways edged in rocks, and even set a tall, flat stone in place vertically to mark the entrance to our driveway.

Other large rocks, still in their natural original positions made the corner of the raised garden just outside my kitchen door where my herbs are planted. Smaller rocks make low terraces in the gardens. The focal point outside the dining room is a natural rock face that drops 12 feet, sheer and beautiful. A trio of large rocks makes a statement in one of my flowerbeds, surrounded by rhodos, columbine, and ground covers- thanks to my amazing backhoe artist.

My herb garden, built as a raised bed with rock, is just outside the kitchen door

I’ve learned to garden around all this rock. Sure, much of the soil in my raised beds is imported. My yard doesn’t have a pretty lawn – the soil just doesn’t grow nice grass, and besides, we have to be water-wise here where we rely on a well. But my rocks glisten after a rain. The varied levels and the varied textures and colors of the rocks add dimension to the landscape. The thyme is starting to crawl over the edges of the raised beds, and when the winter wet comes, green moss and white snow on the dark rock is beautiful.