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GLT's Grow: Adding Rocks To Your Landscape

Stonescape
/
Flickr via Creative Commons
Rocks add tasteful harmony to the landscape.

You can add some serious beauty to your yard and not have to worry about watering or fertilizing.

  • Adding rocks to the landscape is an ancient tradition that first caught on in Japan.
  • Japanese garden arts can guide you in the selection and placement of rocks and stones in your landscape.
  • Smooth river rock can be used to simulate a creek bed running through your property. Be sure and select stones that have a darker, blue or black color to best simulate water.
  • Let nature be your guide when placing larger rocks in your landscape.  Don't just plop a large boulder in the middle of your yard—someone might think a meteorite landed there! Incorporate it more naturally with your plantings. Tuck a large round rock among trailing vines or ornamental grasses to soften edges and make it appear as it it had been there for years.
  • You can even partially bury larger stones to make them appear more natural.
  • Rocks as a path last longer than mulch. Use circular pavers or pea gravel to create a path.
  • Use colors that go with your landscape. Coordinate rock color with the colors of the flowers and your home. Find harmony and avoid contrivance.

GLT's Grow is your source for sage gardening advice and down-to-earth tips. Host Patrick Murphy and co-host Laura Kennedy are ready to take on all your gardening questions. Submit your question today.

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Reporter, content producer and former All Things Considered host, Laura Kennedy is a native of the Midwest who occasionally affects an English accent just for the heck of it. Related to two U.S. presidents, Kennedy appalled her family by going into show business.