A great way to give character and personality to a garden that is not well-suited for growing plants is to use rock landscaping. You can combine rocks with trees, shrubs, succulents, or flowers to make inorganic mulch. Stones can be used in a variety of ways, but they are eco-friendly and will save water, keep your yard maintained, and help you to use less fertilizer.

Designing a Rocky Landscape

Here are some great ideas for gardens with stones and rocks:

• Mulch substitute: While gravel may be more costly than wood mulch, it still offers many benefits. You should choose rocks for their durability, which will ensure that your garden lasts a lifetime. Stone's pale colors are strikingly different from the leaves of shrubs and flowers.
• Flower bed edging: Stone edging anchors your plants and gives them a sense of permanence, whether you create a raised stone line or place rocks around the edges. This is especially attractive if your home has stone walls.
• Rock garden: Create a space in your yard that includes boulders and small river rocks, as well as low-lying flowers such as ground orchids or portulaca. This allows you to create a beautiful combination of neutral-colored rocks and vibrant foliage on your property that requires much less care than traditional flower gardens.
• Pebble border: To add a little bit of color to your deck, patio, or fence, you might consider putting a few feet more rocks around it before adding the grass. This area is ideal for setting up a container garden to add color to your deck without taking up valuable space.
• Xeriscape: Xeriscaping replaces the traditional lawn with plants that can survive in desert areas. For drought-tolerant succulents, ornamental lawns, and cacti, small stones, and large boulders are the best ground covers.

Installing rocks in your landscaping

Here are some tips to help you arrange your rocks in your garden.



• Prepare the area. Remove all grass, weeds, and other plants. To kill any remaining vegetation, spray herbicide. For the herbicide to fully take effect, it should be allowed to sit for at least 2 weeks.
• Line the ground. To stop weeds from growing between the rocks, lay down landscape fabric. This will prevent erosion from the stones sinking into the ground. Place each fabric strip at the ends by overlapping them by 3 to 6 inches. Next, anchor the edges with U-shaped garden staples.
• Plant wisely. If you are incorporating plants, cut an X in your landscape fabric and pin the flaps before planting them into the soil below.
• Lay the rock. Once your plants are planted, add the gravel, river rocks, or boulders. Now, take a moment to admire the rock landscape you've made.