Dig up the front yard, kept organic shaped beds and I have a ton of rocks. I'm going to mulch, place rocks, and plant drought tolerant natives. Other than just following my eye on what looks good, is there a method to placing rocks – general rules, etc?
by RatherNerdy
4 Comments
Image: view of front yard, three organic oblong beds shown surrounded by gravel. Beds are currently just dirt. Pile of rocks have visible on walkway.
Southern Maine coast – zone 5b/6a
You already have a good eye, and that is what you need in this situation. Rocks are a beautiful compliment to a landscape. They can also be relocated easily as the garden ages. Please post a photo of your finished product.
I’d build a few small cairns. They look good, and you’re also making habitat for invertebrates.
My google fu is weak today. Look up iwagami principles. That term is used for aqua scaping but the principle comes from zen gardening.
Since you are down to small stones, cairns of various sizes placed properly are all you can do here. The rocks aren’t very large and are going to be swallowed up by the plants but it helps to have that internal ‘skeleton’ anyway.
You may want to adjust the shape and sizes of your islands based on these principles as well. They probably ought to vary a bit more in size and height which might be accomplished with the plants. It looks great now as you do have a good eye but it could be epic.