Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Plants for rockeries: selection and plantingHaving chosen the type of rocky garden that you are going to build on your site, you need to carefully consider what crops you will plant in it. There are a lot of plant names suitable for rockeries, so looking through catalogs and landscape guides, write out the names you like in a separate notebook, and then try to place them on the graphic plan.

When choosing plants for rockeries, one should take into account the duration of flowering, the color and shape of flowers, leaves and fruits, the height of the plants during flowering, and especially the intensity of growth.

One of the determining factors when choosing plants for rockeries is its illumination. Let us remind once again that before planting plants in rockeries, it is necessary to form a very clear idea of ​​the illumination of all its fragments, taking an hourly account of this factor and noting the most illuminated and shaded places during the day. Only then should the plants be distributed according to the degree of their demand for light.

Photos and names of plants for rockeries, as well as recommendations for planting them, are presented in this article.

Conifers and deciduous plants for rockeries (with photo)

The basis of the composition of a rocky garden in an open place is most often made up of trees and shrubs from open natural rocky habitats: common juniper, mountain pine, honeysuckle, medicinal rosemary, adorable cotoneaster, etc., presented today by numerous decorative forms successfully propagated by domestic and foreign nurseries and botanical gardens.

Of the deciduous plants of rocky gardens, they prefer to bask in the sun:

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Thunberg dwarf barberry “Atropurpurea Nana”

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

“Bagatelle”

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

“Bonanza Gold”

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Japanese spirea “Little Princess”

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

“Japanese Dwarf”

Cotoneaster horizontal, small-leaved, two-row, Dammer, etc.

Conifers for rockeries are suitable:

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Mountain pine and its dwarf forms “Mops”, “Ophir”, “Winter Gold”

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Thuja western and its numerous forms “Hoseri”, “Teddy”, “Woodwardii”

Prostrate and creeping forms of junipers:

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Horizontal “Wiltonii”

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Lying “Nana”

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Cossack “Tamariscifolia”

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

“Variegata”

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Scaly “Blue Carpet”

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

“Blue Star”

The creeping forms of conifers, planted at the base of the rockery or above the stones, look great, in this case they seem to hang from the stones. Columnar forms of conifers are very effective in a rocky garden, placing peculiar vertical accents.

These photos show beautiful rockeries with conifers:

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting
Plants for rockeries: selection and planting
Plants for rockeries: selection and planting
Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

The assortment is complemented by herbaceous drought-resistant perennials and annuals. It should be remembered, however, that the most illuminated areas will generally be drier. Among the light-loving and drought-resistant plants suitable for planting in rockeries, one can recommend young roofing, stonecrop, blueheads, bitter wormwood, common yarrow, sandy cumin, creeping thyme, white-tomentose creeper, narrow-leaved bark-leaved plant, saxifrage plant. in terms of flowering time, you can maintain the decorative properties of a rocky garden from early spring to late autumn.

In early spring, Aubrieta deltoid, crocuses, evergreen Iberis, Caucasian rezuha bloom.

In April, subulate phlox, Apennine sunflower, rock beetroot will add bright colors.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

In May, the most spectacular in sunny rockeries are groups represented by feathery cloves, Bieberstein’s chickweed, pressed Iberis, prickly beetroot, basil-leaved soapwort, shrub resin, etc.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

In summer, blooming carnations, knifofia, purslane, vervains, evening primrose, St. John’s wort, etc. will add accents.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

In the fall, the rocky garden will attract attention with the repeated flowering of Lobularia, styloid phlox, Silena, as well as autumn-flowering ceratostigma, lyriopa, beautifully fruiting shrubs – cotoneaster, Mahonia holly, etc.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Throughout the season, a variety of stonecrops are good in rockeries, rejuvenated, Byzantine chastetz.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

To make rockeries look natural and beautiful, when choosing, you should give preference to plants that match this element of landscaping in style. It is unacceptable to place large, lush, beautifully flowering garden crops here, which will be discordant with the restrained stone landscape. Plants that are naturally characteristic of mountainous, rocky places, sandy and dry hills, limestone or chalk slopes, bright meadows, woodlands, etc. are more suitable. It will be easier for them to take root in rocky gardens and make a single durable composition.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

For rockeries in partial shade from conifers, microbiota, yews, Canadian hemlock, various types and forms of junipers are suitable; from evergreen deciduous – wintering in central Russia, holly holly, boxwood evergreen, holly mahonia, viburnum; from ground cover – tiarella, heuchera, primroses, ferns, tradescantia virginiana, heart-leaved badan, hoof, creeping tenacious, violets, Indian dusheney. Good in the penumbra of rockeries are fragrant kupena, victory onion, bear onion, large-rhizome geranium, oxalis, coltsfoot, ferns.

See how spectacular mixed rockeries with conifers are in these photos:

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting
Plants for rockeries: selection and planting
Plants for rockeries: selection and planting
Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

If the place for the rocky garden is nevertheless chosen in the shade, then the assortment of plants is small. Moreover, shady areas predetermine the color of the entire composition. It will be dominated by various ferns, hosts, large-rhizome geraniums and other shade-tolerant plants. Mosses grow well in the shade. If you used dense sandstone or limestone, then very soon these stones will turn green and seem to “grow” into the landscape.

In a rocky garden, it is better to refuse flowering shrubs, as they will look inharmonious next to stones.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

When choosing plants for rockeries, you should not strive for a wide variety of species. On a slide with an area of ​​10 m2, it will not be possible to place beautifully more than 12-15 species. Ground covers look good only when each species has an area of ​​0,8-1,2 m2. If there are a lot of plants, rockery turns into a collection that will arouse interest only among amateurs and professionals.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

If rockery is located near a reservoir or in a humid place, then it is better to plant moisture-loving plants in it.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Today in nurseries, specialized stores there is a large selection of ground cover plants, without which you cannot create a beautiful rockery. When choosing plants for a future rocky garden, it is better to abandon the now fashionable white-bordered snow, large and small periwinkle, some types of oxalis, which are very aggressive.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Herbaceous perennials that do not form extensive clumps (growing singly or in a small group) most often belong to ornamental deciduous plants that play the role of temporary seasonal dominants, revitalizing rockery and covering up unsuccessful elements of the composition in summer.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

They are planted next to stones, at the joints and at the foot of the terraces. Plants of this type should not overshadow the spectacular elements of rockery. Planting of large herbaceous perennials is carried out immediately after the placement of woody plants. For large rocky gardens they are necessary, for small ones they are not needed at all.

It is better to buy plants with a closed root system. Then they can be placed in their future growing places right in the pots.

As shown in the photo, all plants in rockeries are placed so that it is convenient to water, weed, cut and examine them:

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting
Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

If your rocky garden is in a container, then the selection of stones and plants must be especially careful. You need to choose such plants so that you want to see them up close. For this, gentian, saxifrage, rejuvenated, stonecrops, etc. are suitable.

The following describes the planting place for flowers and other plants in rockeries, their photos and names are presented.

Determination of planting space for plants in rockeries

An important point when planting plants in rockeries is to determine the appropriate planting site.

When planting flowers and other plants for rockeries, the following main types of planting are distinguished: terrace, hole, crevice, slope, stone.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Terrace – a horizontal or slightly inclined platform with a ledge, as a rule, sufficiently illuminated and more humid. It is used in large rocky gardens for planting rather large herbaceous perennials that do not form clumps (shirokokolokolchik, dense-flowered mullein, bellflower, crested serrata, yellow gentian), herbaceous perennials that form clumps (fragrant perennials, bellflower, common bellflower, common oregano , sandy cmin), ground-cover plants (creeping tenacious, creeping veronica, creeping thyme, white-tomentose dubrovnik, thick-leaved berry, pink evening primrose, etc.).

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Hole – an earthen “pocket” or a narrow short terrace formed between the stones when they are laid. It is characterized by isolation, security, good drainage. It is especially suitable for planting rare plants, as well as medium-sized heat-loving perennials (rosemary, lavender, medicinal sage), ephemeroids (tulip, narcissus, hyacinth, spring peel, primroses, yellow goose onions, saffron).

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Cleft – a very narrow horizontally or vertically located gap between stones, path slabs, in the wall of dry masonry. It is preferable for growing rocky species and for plants that do not tolerate excessive waterlogging (roofing rejuvenated, creeping thyme, sandy cumin, creeping tenacious, herbaceous capers, white-tomentose duckweed, bitter wormwood, rosea rhodiola). In the crevices, cymbalaria, centranthus, and Olympic St. John’s wort love to grow.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Slope – an inclined (at an angle of not more than 45 °) rockery surface, not fixed with a stone. This is not a very convenient place for planting plants. However, to prevent soil shedding, ground cover and other species with a densely branched or deeply spreading root system or creeping, rooting shoots should be grown here (creeping thyme, rosemary, lavender, Moldavian snakehead, prickly artichoke, herb creeping, creeping thighs, saxiferous , White-felt Dubrovnik, etc.). On the slopes in the summer, various stonecrops, mesembriantemum, seem to “flow”.

Some types of stones are characterized by porosity (sandstone, calcareous tuff) and are suitable for growing plants.

For planting, depressions are usually made in them, which are filled with soil substrate, and seeds or small seedlings of herbaceous perennials are planted (young roofing, stonecrop, creeping thyme), but sometimes, especially in the countries of Southeast Asia, you can even see a pine tree in the stone.

The most beautiful flowers for rockery are shown in these photos:

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting
Plants for rockeries: selection and planting
Plants for rockeries: selection and planting
Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Soil preparation and planting in rockeries

Before planting plants in rockeries, preliminary soil preparation is necessary. The requirements for soil conditions in plants, as a rule, vary greatly, therefore, before planting each species, it is necessary to read the special literature and find out its preferences.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

So, thyme and grains require loose alkaline soils (pH 6,5 – 8). As an additive, you can use lime or alkaline minerals, fine lime fines with a grain size of up to 8 – 10 mm, crushed stone and alkaline sands are suitable. Hosts and violets thrive in deep soils rich in organic matter. Heathers, eriks, rhododendrons – lovers of acidic soils. For the latter, the substrate is made up by mixing garden soil, peat, quartz sand and rotted needles in a ratio of 2: 2: 1: 1 (pH 4,5 – 5,5).

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Most plants for rockeries prefer a loose substrate that allows air and water to pass through well, with a small amount of organic matter. It is prepared by mixing turf soil with coarse sand or fine gravel in a 2: 1 ratio or by combining garden soil, crushed stone and compost in a 3: 2: 1 ratio.

When planting plants, they adhere to the principle from large to small, that is, first dwarf forms of trees are planted, then shrubs and, in the final stage, various herbaceous plants.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Having decided on the location of coniferous and deciduous woody, for each individual plant a planting place is prepared with a volume of at least 10 liters and a depth of 30-40 cm.It is filled with prepared soil substrate and tree species are planted, making a hole for irrigation around, which should hold at least 10 liters water.

Allocating a place for a specific plant, it is important to take into account its possibility of growth, but to achieve the maximum effect, they make dense plantings in the shortest possible time, then controlling their width.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Plants planted in rockeries – mountain slopes, dry streams, need special attention until they take root. Sometimes, at the time of their rooting, boards are placed across the slope, which are pressed into the ground in order to prevent soil erosion and exposure of the root system. To solve this problem, mulching with chips, shells, etc. is also used, then the mulch is removed.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

After planting plants in rockeries, they are well watered with small portions of water. In this case, the tree species are watered separately from a watering can, filling the holes with water and carefully making sure that the edges of the holes are not washed out.

Herbaceous perennials are planted in an already prepared soil substrate.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

When creating plant compositions in rockeries, it is important to take into account the duration of flowering of plants, the color of flowers, inflorescences, fruits, the color and shape of leaves, the height of plants during flowering and especially the intensity of growth. Before planting a plant in a permanent place, think carefully about how it will be combined in a composition with neighbors.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

From poorly growing plants, static compositions can be created, very valuable for rocky gardens. If the compositions grow strongly, then additional, more intensive care is needed to preserve and maintain them within certain limits.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

Lovers of stone landscapes, who are not able to arrange a real rockery, may well be content with a mini-form. It is easy for a miniature rockery with a diameter of about 1 m to find a place even on a modest area, and a mini rockery in a container can also be carried. It is clear that for such rockeries, small stones and undersized plants should be selected.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

One of the original design options for a miniature rocky garden, taking into account food orientation, can be “salad rockery”. Curly parsley var will be effectively placed here. crispum, round-headed onions, rock onions, shallots, saxifrage thighs, creeping thyme, garden marjoram, oregano “Compactum”.

Rules for placing plants in rockeries:

  • The height of the plants should be commensurate with the size of rockeries: in large rockeries, it is permissible to use plants up to 200 cm high, in medium ones – 50 – 70 cm, in small ones – 20 – 30 cm.
  • Large, rapidly growing plants are placed at a certain distance from the front edge, on the sides of the hill, in the background or in the background; small plants are not planted near them, which can be displaced.
  • Low-growing, slow-growing plants are planted in the foreground, in visible areas.
  • Plants must match the size of the stones. It is impossible that they completely cover the stones. The oversaturation of a rocky garden with plants is unacceptable.
  • It is better to plant ground cover species in small stones, in more massive ones – 1 – 2 large or several small plants.
  • The distance between plants when planting is determined depending on their size. The low ones are usually planted after 5-15 cm from each other, the high ones – after 15-25 cm, unless otherwise indicated.
  • Plants with different texture and color of flowers, inflorescences, leaves should be alternated.
  • It is imperative to comply with the environmental requirements of plants, planting them in the appropriate types of planting sites!

Before planting, ground cover plants are divided into groups in accordance with the color and texture of the leaves, the requirements for soil and moisture, the degree of aggressiveness, and then evenly distributed over the area allotted for this species.

In order not to get unnecessary variegation, it is not necessary to scatter plants of the same species throughout the rockery. They are planted in large colorful spots of the required size and shape. Using plants with silvery, gray or gray foliage (Byzantine chisel, white-tomentose dubrovnik, seaside cineraria, etc.), you can soften the transitions between color spots.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

It is very important to close the top layer of the soil substrate with mineral mulch after planting. This method helps to protect rockeries from washing out the soil, preserves its moisture, and has a beneficial effect on the microclimate of rockeries. for plants of calcareous soils, sieved fragments of crushed limestone with a size of 2 to 16 mm or crushed stone from pumice are suitable. The color of the protective layer must be combined with the color of the selected stone.

Plants for rockeries: selection and planting

The ideal protective layer for plants of acidic soils are crushed stones containing quartz. The thickness of the protective layer depends on how quickly the plants grow. Small creeping dwarf plants prefer a protective layer of 0,5 to 2,5 cm.For larger plants, a protective layer is created with a thickness of 2,5 to 4 cm.

Anna Evans

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