@@TheMiddlesizedGarden please Alexandra!!!! Subtitles in Spanish!!!! La sigo hace un tiempo ya , pero mi Inglés no es muy bueno por lo que siempre me remito a su blog escrito y pongo el traductor, pero me encantaría poder ver subtitulados sus vídeos, y estoy segura de que toda la comunidad hispanohablante estaría también agradecida!!!! Desde ya muchas gracias por todo lo que comparte y enseña!!!! Un saludo cálido desde Argentina, acercándonos a la Primavera!!!!
When we took out our concrete walkway, we piled up the broken concrete to create the base for a rockery. Not only did we save a lot on disposal fees, but we made our flat front garden much more interesting. 20 years later the trend has caught up with us apparently. :)
Love rock gardens ...seems i love all gardens and want all gardens. . sure going to try an area. Nothing to loose thanks always for these classics. It makes me happy
This could not have come at a better time. This morning, I was staring at this weird little area I have trying to figure out how to make it work (AGAIN!). Filling it with big pebbles, rocks, and plantings will work perfectly. Thank you so very much!
The Kentish ragstone is so very beautiful! When I plant a full sun drought tolerant plant start such as rosemary or lavender, I place a medium sized stone next to it, the stone releases heat when the day cools and the plant grows happily next to it.
I live in Maine where it is cold with lots of snow and to me, this would make me so happy to have a small warm rock garden. I will gather some rocks, stones, logs from the river behing me to have even a sunny spot for my catmint that I love. ♥
That was so amazing.😀 I love all the rocks and plant's. I'm sure it took a lot of time to get the garden's to look like they have always been there. Thank you for the inspiration. 🙌❤
What a wonderful sort of garden to contemplate where I live in Central Texas at a time of extreme heat and drought. And we do have rocks, pretty ones in tones of peach, yellow, gray and brown. Lots of slopes as well.
I've used several large rocks in an area where the roots of my neighbor's large mulberry and maple trees prevent anything from being planted. The annuals I do get to grow between the rocks look great. I like the idea of using tree stumps or logs to add to the effect. Thanks again for another wonderful video. I hope rain comes your way soon. We are in a drought as well in NJ USA.
Lovely. I actually have been tending my rock garden on my back slope for many years. A lot of drought tolerant natives and Mediterranean plants. My husband and I have moved every rock onto that site.
Did y'all get any good rain yet? Here in Central Texas we FINALLY got 4 inches of rain accompanied by 3 days of cool temperatures!! 🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧 It was only 4 inches, but- IT WAS GLORIOUS!!! (200 miles North of me in the Dallas area they got 13 & 14 inches all at once!!) The whole experience made me feel just as refreshed as the plants outside!! Getting the rain also made me think of you and everyone else in Britain. I hope y'all are 💧 ALL WET💧 from rain like we've been!! 💙💧💙💧💙💧💙💧💙💧💙
As always, very interesting, and pleasurable to watch......Love rock gardens Alpines and succulents....I don't have space for such an endeavor, even on a small scale, but I do have a flat roof terrace where I have over 250 pots of succulents and alpines.....No rocks unfortunately, but maybe I could add some hollow lightweight versions made of cement...Now there's an idea..... I love the way you say Good Bye in a musical tone!
Perfect timing. I have a small slope area that has a few boulders and tree trunks and a few drought tolerant plants. I've been adding succulents this year and found some smaller size rocks. This video encourages me to keep going in this direction. Zone 10a, suburb of Los Angeles. We know all about heat and drought! Thank you.
Thankyou for another informative and encouraging video. My only complaint is that your videos just aren’t long enough! I really like your honest and not too “expert-y” style.
This was so helpful! My son is bringing me a river rock today that is 40 inches long by 18 inches wide by 8 inches thick and weighs about 200 pounds. I have a postage stamp size garden so I need to think quick and I need to think permanent. Once this massive rock is placed its likely that will be its permanent home.
Hello new friend here! Thank you for sharing your garden with me. I just love how it’s all coming 🫑🍅🪴👍together and growing so nicely! I love to garden and I also make garden videos. I wrapping up my 3rd year gardening. I’m sad it’s coming to an end. I have so much to still learn. My plans for my off season is to learn as much as I can about gardening and making videos. I’d love it if we could learn more from each other!
আরেকটি মারাত্বক ভিডিও এবং ফাটাফাটি বর্ণনার সাথে পুরো দৃশ্যটি ক্যাপচার করেছো। আমি অবশ্যই বলব তোমার কাছে বিভিন্ন ধরণের আকর্ষণীয় ভিডিও সহ একটি দুর্দান্ত চ্যানেল রয়েছে যা সত্যিই সেরা।
I have a rented garage, which backs onto an embankment for the tram. I have 15 x 9 ft deep concrete yard with a vertical wall of rubble and soil and local stone, then on top of that mound is a flat area 15 x 7 ft deep, then a huge east facing wall which must be 15 ft of local stone, where the tram tracks is high up over the top. You look up to see tbe trams passing. So you can imagine very shady. Lots of natural ferns and moss. I am enjoying finding plants for this difficult rockery. I love how saxifraga looks so natural. Ajara with lovely spread and purple spikes. White grape hyacinth took under the euphorbia that was already well established. Pots of hosta on the north wall. .. A shady delight
I love them and they are an ideal way to make the most of an otherwise usable area. After having a big Leyland tree cut, I was left with a huge root at ground level. Creating a rockery on top of it enabled me to have beautiful plants, when otherwise I would not have been able to plant anything there.
Thank you again for another so useful video. The names of plants are always so welcome, as was the advice NOT to use a membrane. Impatient for the drought to finish, that so we can start gardening again.
I added a little rock garden and I love it so much! It was a fun project with some free cycled rocks and pebbles! I love the alpine plants/ they are so different than other perennials! Thank you for another great video ❤️
Amazing analysis and presentation. I've been scheming a rockery in my front garden for the last few months. Your lovely video solidified my plans. Thank you so much for sharing tips and tricks and interviewing so many experts on the subject. My rock garden is sure to be a success. Cheers
Yes I'd like to make a small tock garden at the centre of my little allotment garden. In the centre I have at the moment herbs in pots and lots of bricks and some stones . Probably broken pots too . I think these might make the basis of a little rock garden. I also have some small sedums and would like more of these succulent type plants , lavender of course catmiint, and then some of these little colourful rock plants. . A good project for next Spring but starting this autumn. Thank-you for the inspiration ! K
The stone walls along my paths attract flowers that find protection between the stones, like violets and Scottish bellflowers. I broadcast the seeds over a large area, but they usually take where the stones protect and support them.
The lovely rock gardens presented in this video was brilliantly helpful and inspiring. I thoroughly enjoyed the knowledge and advice shared by your wonderful guests. Once again, thank you Alexandra for creating another fabulous video. 🙏🏻🌱
In our neighborhood we had some concrete rubble so I put it around the base of our foot bridge to prevent erosion. I need to build up the area with more dirt before I can plant anything, but in the meantime it looks much better than it was.
yes Alexandra, I am thinking about what plants will be able to cope with my dry areas and rock gardens would be a good source of inspiration. Thank you for yet another great video.
I love rock gardens, particularly alpine themed ones. Being someone who loves hiking in the mountains and seeing all the alpine meadows, wildflowers, alpine trees, and rocks, I've really been drawn to recreating that in my own garden. Really loved this video and some useful tips that I liked in there, and some things I had always assumed but never heard confirmed (such as using tulips and daffodils in an alpine rock garden. I thought I was crazy for trying that out this year heh). I've used a lot of native alpine species in my rock garden, including some more rare species I found available at our local native plant nursery, such as subalpine larches (extremely rare to non-existent in the horticultural industry), to beargrass, spreading phlox (which is not the common creeping phlox), glacier lilies (looks like trout lilies), subalpine fir, mountain hemlock, and pink mountain heather (the latter I am still trying to find). I also love seaside daisy (beach daisy), western larch, western columbine, pink (Lewis's) and yellow monkeyflower, subalpine spirea, vine maple, and shooting stars. I also have quite a few exotic plants as well, some alpine exotics too, and other non-alpine plants that I either train to grow in a bushy wild alpine form (like azaleas), or tulips/daffodils like shown in the video. I have a dry creek bed running through the middle, and several rocky hills with plants and alpine tree groupings. I try to stay away from anything that is pruned too formal looking, but I do sometimes include the odd topiary for contrast. I also appreciate the self seeded volunteers (or bird gifts) that shows up (as long as it isn't an invasive species of course). I like using blueberries, huckleberries, deciduous shrubs, and deciduous conifers (larches) for fall interest too. In addition to subalpine larches, I also have western larches, eastern larches (tamaracks), european larches, and japanese larches. I adore larches for their unique look in fall and soft lime green summer/spring foliage.
I do have plans for a rock garden. It is not a priority at the moment. I have a steep slope at the very back of my property, about 450 ft from the house. And I had rocks given to me by someone who wanted to get rid of the pile in their yard, but so far they're just sitting in a pile in my yard. ☺️ Someday..... 🌱
BOULDERS!!!! My husband says I've got rocks in my head. AND HE'S RIGHT!! I'm ALWAYS thinking about rocks and boulders for the garden! Mostly bcuz quite a lot of them came with our property. And I've been arranging them, and rearranging them for years!! I live in limestone country here in Texas. There's quite a few quarries nearby. This means instead of building brick houses, we build limestone houses around here. I also go to building sites where they clad the houses with limestone. I get permission to rummage thru their throw away piles! And they've always got LOTS of good rocks for me to take home! FOR FREE! Since I've collected so many for free, whenever I need to buy a stone or two, it makes it hard for me to be ok with paying for them! Until I get them home of coarse! Then I'm always glad to have them. Alexandra, the photos in your video are STUNNING!!! I paused the video several times to stare at how beautiful the plantings are!!! I also took a screenshot or 2 of some of the stone work. Now I've got THOSE rocks in my head!!!!! Thanks for the inspiration!! 🪨🪨🪨🌾🪨🪨🪨🪨🌻🪨🪨
So many great tips. Excellent point about using local rocks so the effect looks natural. There is a spot in my garden where I’d like to add a few small boulders with ferns. Haven’t pulled the trigger, yet.
I have quite a lot of very large rock, since my home is on a slope. Barberry, weeping Alaskan cedar, everillo sedge, sedums, and creeping juniper play well together in my zone 8b Pacific Northwest garden. Thank goodness my garden is fairly small.
Great video. I wonder how well rock gardens work in the shade? I've got a shady little raised bed in the corner of a patio area. South East facing but up against a fence and currently containing two small conifer lollypops, a large yucca and a Bay tree. Currently covered in purple slate, it looks nice and tidy but it doesn't fill my heart with joy! In my mind rock gardens are very open (as in the one in your video) and are made to simulate exposed alpine slopes. Would any traditional rock garden plants enjoy this shady spot?
Goes without saying what great work I notice the rock garden with a 2 or 3 steps or split in two by a wall each which could be achieved in the smallest garden looks better than a few rocks in a corner of a well groomed golf corse
These gardens are lovely! I live in Southern Mexico with a temperate climate, two seasons. I would like to have a rock garden that also has succulents in a long and narrow rectangular area that has a low slope, just enough so that in the rainy season mud funs down and blocks the garage door. Is it possible to combine things like lavender and rosemary with succulents, and what to do at the end of the garden to eliminate the problem of mud?
Yes, you could certainly plant rosemary, lavender and succulents in the same garden. In terms of mud, if it's frequent, don't fight it, plant it up with plants that are happy in those conditions! It could be worth checking out 'rain gardens', which are boggy areas that can sometimes dry out. Or even just plant plants that are happy in muddy areas. Beth Chatto Gardens have a 'dry garden' in one part of their gardens and a boggy wet one on the other side of the house, so it's worth checking them out and perhaps buying some of Beth Chatto's books. Even though you can't buy the plants where you are, seeing what they sell for damp areas could give you some ideas: www.bethchatto.co.uk/shop-plants.htm
Good morning Alexander, no, I don't think so. Even though a rock garden stay sort of "full" looking most of the time, it is just as much work as your English sweetheart garden. Will you like it, a thought came to me, if you are going to change, look at the plants at the Nursery and see will I love these for many years, do I really wish to change the garden fashion scene, many factors that we should consider. As much a succulents love hot weather, during the summer storms those juicy leaves can get burned and get black marks from hail I don't know, gardening is very tricky!! I have just a few succulents which I am going to repot shortly so they can settle before Autumn next year, they also don't like to be moved about, so pots seem quite suitable as they are small to medium size. Had to smile re the weed suppressing fabric, people forget the wind bring along more weeds to shower your garden and we are back to square one. Gardening is not for lazy people!! Thanks for another most informative show, I am sure many a subscriber will consider a rock garden, but it will be better suited for a large space, I think so. Do take care, kind regards.
Thank you - and I considered whether it would suit a difficult area in my garden, but have decided it won't quite work. But always interesting to think about!
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden I came to the conclusion that you are more smart than you show on the programme :) I passed a house on the way to the Supermarket and what they did I thought was lovely. It is a North side facing wall and they planted it up with succulents as it is right next to the or on the drive which will get quite hot. it looked smashing, maybe if I can get to take a photo I can send it to you Alexander. Byye
I wish I could have seen the brick rock garden that you and Posey spoke of. We have a pile of bricks that we scavenged from a neighbor's property (with permission) We intended to use them as borders and walkway but found they aren't up to the task as they're too old and crumbly.
I did see it a few weeks ago, and quite a few years have passed since the bricks were dumped. It has now grown over completely and just looks like a mound of greenery. There's quite a bit of using crumbling or crushed brick, stone or aggregate in gardens. There's one at 03:00 here: ua-cam.com/video/swdztVfTqUE/v-deo.html and some more in this Short: ua-cam.com/users/shorts7HsCDTQn4xk?feature=share I think you could try just heaping them up and maybe speeding up the process by adding some topsoil - or you could do what Posy's friends have done and just leave nature to sort it out!
Love your videos, thank you. I was hoping to find out how to set rocks into an existing slope (quite steep) that is currently grassed over and mown in summer. I have plenty of local stone - should i cut mini steps into the slope first to provide horizontal "platforms" for the stone to sit on, then fill around?? Any tips gratefully received.
Thank you SO much for your rrply Alexandra. I've just watched the video you kindly linked for me and now have a good idea of how to set about creating a nicely planted and slightly rocky slope!
2:46, 😂 and not only am I a yank, but a profoundly hearing impaired one at that! Since I depend completely on subtitles, I totally missed the excellent video captioning where it clearly states 'turf!' And in my defense, UA-cam captioning and the provided transcript both have it as turbs. 😂
My husband does the transcripts for most of the videos and he, like you, would definitely have questioned 'turbs'. But I'm glad you found it in the end.
Turf is lawn grass. If you're laying a lawn, turf comes in rolls and if you're taking a lawn out, you'd cut sections of the turf out by putting a spade under it. But you don't have throw left over turf grass away. Turn it upside down so that the grass itself is buried and the earth is facing upwards. The grass will rot down and restore its goodness to the earth.
We have just started a rock garden and my husband insisted on barrier fabric.Grrr. He also insisted on rocks being positioned first Grrrrr. Oh well. Lots of cutting to done....
So next to the alpine plant you showed, was mulch of seashells. Rock gardens here in the USA, still burn up in 95 degree days with no rain for 6 weeks or more. There are many parts of this country where 95 degrees is not even that hot🙆♀️ seems that most suitable plants would be short and prefer alkaline soil. Ours here on the east coast is mainly rock and clay. High acidity and in a drought, the soil becomes like a solid barrier. Awful with inability to water too much or the well runs dry the past few years. Climate change has been so obvious for years, if only gardeners would wake up to this reality.
Middle-size gardens rock! 🪨🗿🌱🪨🪨
You got that right!
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden please Alexandra!!!! Subtitles in Spanish!!!! La sigo hace un tiempo ya , pero mi Inglés no es muy bueno por lo que siempre me remito a su blog escrito y pongo el traductor, pero me encantaría poder ver subtitulados sus vídeos, y estoy segura de que toda la comunidad hispanohablante estaría también agradecida!!!! Desde ya muchas gracias por todo lo que comparte y enseña!!!! Un saludo cálido desde Argentina, acercándonos a la Primavera!!!!
When we took out our concrete walkway, we piled up the broken concrete to create the base for a rockery. Not only did we save a lot on disposal fees, but we made our flat front garden much more interesting. 20 years later the trend has caught up with us apparently. :)
Ah, it has! Really great idea
Piles of broken concrete are all over. Upcycling concrete can create a nice rockery. And it's usually free if you ask.
After this hot summer I've been reading a lot about drought tolerant plants and I also like the look of gravel and sempervivums.
Rocks are a very important part of my garden. I love their potential for creating habitat for wildlife.
Love rock gardens ...seems i love all gardens and want all gardens. . sure going to try an area. Nothing to loose thanks always for these classics. It makes me happy
Thank you!
This could not have come at a better time. This morning, I was staring at this weird little area I have trying to figure out how to make it work (AGAIN!). Filling it with big pebbles, rocks, and plantings will work perfectly. Thank you so very much!
So glad!
The Kentish ragstone is so very beautiful! When I plant a full sun drought tolerant plant start such as rosemary or lavender, I place a medium sized stone next to it, the stone releases heat when the day cools and the plant grows happily next to it.
Lovely1
I live in Maine where it is cold with lots of snow and to me, this would make me so happy to have a small warm rock garden. I will gather some rocks, stones, logs from the river behing me to have even a sunny spot for my catmint that I love. ♥
That sounds delightful.
What a lovely episode … the serene feel of the rock gardens is simply magical. Really love the wide breadth of subjects you cover.
Thank you!
That was so amazing.😀 I love all the rocks and plant's. I'm sure it took a lot of time to get the garden's to look like they have always been there. Thank you for the inspiration. 🙌❤
Thank you!
What a wonderful sort of garden to contemplate where I live in Central Texas at a time of extreme heat and drought. And we do have rocks, pretty ones in tones of peach, yellow, gray and brown. Lots of slopes as well.
Sounds perfect!
I've used several large rocks in an area where the roots of my neighbor's large mulberry and maple trees prevent anything from being planted. The annuals I do get to grow between the rocks look great. I like the idea of using tree stumps or logs to add to the effect. Thanks again for another wonderful video. I hope rain comes your way soon. We are in a drought as well in NJ USA.
Thank you, that sounds like a good use of rocks. We've just had some rain, hope you have too.
Great video, such useful information about rubble, turf, rocks and soil. Got me thinking about an area in my garden. Thank you Alexandra 🤗
Thank you, that's lovely to hear.
Lovely. I actually have been tending my rock garden on my back slope for many years. A lot of drought tolerant natives and Mediterranean plants. My husband and I have moved every rock onto that site.
I’ve always loved the look of a rock garden and I’m incorporating little pockets of rock plantings in my garden.
Did y'all get any good rain yet?
Here in Central Texas we
FINALLY
got 4 inches of rain accompanied by 3 days of cool temperatures!!
🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧
It was only 4 inches,
but-
IT WAS GLORIOUS!!!
(200 miles North of me
in the Dallas area
they got 13 & 14 inches
all at once!!)
The whole experience made me feel just as refreshed as the plants outside!!
Getting the rain also made me think of you and everyone else in Britain.
I hope y'all are
💧 ALL WET💧
from rain like we've been!!
💙💧💙💧💙💧💙💧💙💧💙
We've had a little rain and like you, we are so grateful. and some seemingly dead plants have perked up.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden oh GOOD!
That keeps things hopeful in the moment!
As always, very interesting, and pleasurable to watch......Love rock gardens Alpines and succulents....I don't have space for such an endeavor, even on a small scale, but I do have a flat roof terrace where I have over 250 pots of succulents and alpines.....No rocks unfortunately, but maybe I could add some hollow lightweight versions made of cement...Now there's an idea..... I love the way you say Good Bye in a musical tone!
I just built my first one today! What awesome timing
Lovely to hear that!
A front garden is the perfect place for a rock garden, instead of a lawn. So many people have lawns in their front gardens, but rarely use them.
Good point!
Perfect timing. I have a small slope area that has a few boulders and tree trunks and a few drought tolerant plants. I've been adding succulents this year and found some smaller size rocks. This video encourages me to keep going in this direction. Zone 10a, suburb of Los Angeles. We know all about heat and drought! Thank you.
Thank you!
Thankyou for another informative and encouraging video. My only complaint is that your videos just aren’t long enough! I really like your honest and not too “expert-y” style.
Thank you!
This garden is breathtaking! I have already watched this video a dozen times. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you!
This was so helpful! My son is bringing me a river rock today that is 40 inches long by 18 inches wide by 8 inches thick and weighs about 200 pounds. I have a postage stamp size garden so I need to think quick and I need to think permanent. Once this massive rock is placed its likely that will be its permanent home.
Hello new friend here! Thank you for sharing your garden with me. I just love how it’s all coming 🫑🍅🪴👍together and growing so nicely! I love to garden and I also make garden videos. I wrapping up my 3rd year gardening. I’m sad it’s coming to an end. I have so much to still learn. My plans for my off season is to learn as much as I can about gardening and making videos. I’d love it if we could learn more from each other!
আরেকটি মারাত্বক ভিডিও এবং ফাটাফাটি বর্ণনার সাথে পুরো দৃশ্যটি ক্যাপচার করেছো। আমি অবশ্যই বলব তোমার কাছে বিভিন্ন ধরণের আকর্ষণীয় ভিডিও সহ একটি দুর্দান্ত চ্যানেল রয়েছে যা সত্যিই সেরা।
Incredibly valuable advice delivered in a beautiful voice.
Thank you!
I have a rented garage, which backs onto an embankment for the tram. I have 15 x 9 ft deep concrete yard with a vertical wall of rubble and soil and local stone, then on top of that mound is a flat area 15 x 7 ft deep, then a huge east facing wall which must be 15 ft of local stone, where the tram tracks is high up over the top. You look up to see tbe trams passing. So you can imagine very shady. Lots of natural ferns and moss. I am enjoying finding plants for this difficult rockery. I love how saxifraga looks so natural. Ajara with lovely spread and purple spikes. White grape hyacinth took under the euphorbia that was already well established. Pots of hosta on the north wall. .. A shady delight
A wonderfully challenging space but it sounds as if you're doing great things with it.
I love them and they are an ideal way to make the most of an otherwise usable area. After having a big Leyland tree cut, I was left with a huge root at ground level. Creating a rockery on top of it enabled me to have beautiful plants, when otherwise I would not have been able to plant anything there.
Rockery and woodland do go very well together
I have one in our new home that I’ve been working on/ in for 4 yrs! Neverending🌿
Good to hear!
Thank you again for another so useful video. The names of plants are always so welcome, as was the advice NOT to use a membrane. Impatient for the drought to finish, that so we can start gardening again.
thank you and me too! We did have a little rain this morning, but so brief
I added a little rock garden and I love it so much! It was a fun project with some free cycled rocks and pebbles! I love the alpine plants/ they are so different than other perennials! Thank you for another great video ❤️
Thank you!
Amazing analysis and presentation. I've been scheming a rockery in my front garden for the last few months. Your lovely video solidified my plans. Thank you so much for sharing tips and tricks and interviewing so many experts on the subject. My rock garden is sure to be a success. Cheers
Hope it turns out well, what a lovely project.
Yes I'd like to make a small tock garden at the centre of my little allotment garden. In the centre I have at the moment herbs in pots and lots of bricks and some stones . Probably broken pots too . I think these might make the basis of a little rock garden. I also have some small sedums and would like more of these succulent type plants , lavender of course catmiint, and then some of these little colourful rock plants. . A good project for next Spring but starting this autumn. Thank-you for the inspiration ! K
Broken pots used as planters often looks so pretty, especially with succulents
Very timely thank you ,,, I was debating to get rid of my rock garden but i will reinvent it ,,, with the help of a couple of strong youn men !
The stone walls along my paths attract flowers that find protection between the stones, like violets and Scottish bellflowers. I broadcast the seeds over a large area, but they usually take where the stones protect and support them.
The lovely rock gardens presented in this video was brilliantly helpful and inspiring. I thoroughly enjoyed the knowledge and advice shared by your wonderful guests. Once again, thank you Alexandra for creating another fabulous video. 🙏🏻🌱
Glad you enjoyed it!
In our neighborhood we had some concrete rubble so I put it around the base of our foot bridge to prevent erosion. I need to build up the area with more dirt before I can plant anything, but in the meantime it looks much better than it was.
yes Alexandra, I am thinking about what plants will be able to cope with my dry areas and rock gardens would be a good source of inspiration. Thank you for yet another great video.
Thank you!
I love rock gardens, particularly alpine themed ones. Being someone who loves hiking in the mountains and seeing all the alpine meadows, wildflowers, alpine trees, and rocks, I've really been drawn to recreating that in my own garden. Really loved this video and some useful tips that I liked in there, and some things I had always assumed but never heard confirmed (such as using tulips and daffodils in an alpine rock garden. I thought I was crazy for trying that out this year heh).
I've used a lot of native alpine species in my rock garden, including some more rare species I found available at our local native plant nursery, such as subalpine larches (extremely rare to non-existent in the horticultural industry), to beargrass, spreading phlox (which is not the common creeping phlox), glacier lilies (looks like trout lilies), subalpine fir, mountain hemlock, and pink mountain heather (the latter I am still trying to find). I also love seaside daisy (beach daisy), western larch, western columbine, pink (Lewis's) and yellow monkeyflower, subalpine spirea, vine maple, and shooting stars.
I also have quite a few exotic plants as well, some alpine exotics too, and other non-alpine plants that I either train to grow in a bushy wild alpine form (like azaleas), or tulips/daffodils like shown in the video.
I have a dry creek bed running through the middle, and several rocky hills with plants and alpine tree groupings. I try to stay away from anything that is pruned too formal looking, but I do sometimes include the odd topiary for contrast. I also appreciate the self seeded volunteers (or bird gifts) that shows up (as long as it isn't an invasive species of course).
I like using blueberries, huckleberries, deciduous shrubs, and deciduous conifers (larches) for fall interest too. In addition to subalpine larches, I also have western larches, eastern larches (tamaracks), european larches, and japanese larches. I adore larches for their unique look in fall and soft lime green summer/spring foliage.
That does sound stunning, what a marvellous collection of plants.
Great gardens with many colour
I do have plans for a rock garden. It is not a priority at the moment. I have a steep slope at the very back of my property, about 450 ft from the house. And I had rocks given to me by someone who wanted to get rid of the pile in their yard, but so far they're just sitting in a pile in my yard. ☺️ Someday..... 🌱
A lovely project...when the time is right
BOULDERS!!!!
My husband says I've got rocks in my head.
AND HE'S RIGHT!!
I'm ALWAYS thinking about rocks and boulders for the garden!
Mostly bcuz quite a lot of them came with our property.
And I've been arranging them, and rearranging them for years!!
I live in limestone country here in Texas. There's quite a few quarries nearby.
This means instead of building brick houses, we build limestone houses around here.
I also go to building sites where they clad the houses with limestone.
I get permission to rummage thru their throw away piles!
And they've always got LOTS of good rocks for me to take home! FOR FREE!
Since I've collected so many for free, whenever I need to buy a stone or two, it makes it hard for me to be ok with paying for them!
Until I get them home of coarse! Then I'm always glad to have them.
Alexandra, the photos in your video are STUNNING!!!
I paused the video several times to stare at how beautiful the plantings are!!!
I also took a screenshot or 2 of some of the stone work.
Now I've got THOSE rocks in my head!!!!!
Thanks for the inspiration!!
🪨🪨🪨🌾🪨🪨🪨🪨🌻🪨🪨
Thank you, it is such a beautiful rock garden
Love rock gardens, thanks for sharing your visited gardens. 👍❤️😊
Thank you
Great plant ideas for drought tolerant garden.
thank you!
Thank you Alexandra. 👌💕
Thank you!
So many great tips. Excellent point about using local rocks so the effect looks natural. There is a spot in my garden where I’d like to add a few small boulders with ferns. Haven’t pulled the trigger, yet.
Interesting project!
Fabulous video! Very interested in putting a small rock garden in my zone 5b MA, US garden.
I have quite a lot of very large rock, since my home is on a slope. Barberry, weeping Alaskan cedar, everillo sedge, sedums, and creeping juniper play well together in my zone 8b Pacific Northwest garden. Thank goodness my garden is fairly small.
Sounds great!
Another wonderful video! ❤
Thank you!
I use my rubble rock for making borders but have also come across a few large ones that I put in the garden or near the pond as focal points.
Sounds lovely
This is right on time, I have an area in my garden which would benefit from this, thank you, P.S. It was so nice to see Pozy Gentles.
Thank you!
Just what the doctor ordered. Very on point! For me at least
Glad to hear that!
I’m always looking out for any free rocks for adding to corners of my garden.
I was going to do a brick raised bed, but now I am contemplating a rock garden in lieu...my friend has a pile of rocks that would be helpful.
Great video. I wonder how well rock gardens work in the shade? I've got a shady little raised bed in the corner of a patio area. South East facing but up against a fence and currently containing two small conifer lollypops, a large yucca and a Bay tree. Currently covered in purple slate, it looks nice and tidy but it doesn't fill my heart with joy! In my mind rock gardens are very open (as in the one in your video) and are made to simulate exposed alpine slopes. Would any traditional rock garden plants enjoy this shady spot?
Goes without saying what great work I notice the rock garden with a 2 or 3 steps or split in two by a wall each which could be achieved in the smallest garden looks better than a few rocks in a corner of a well groomed golf corse
I agree
These gardens are lovely! I live in Southern Mexico with a temperate climate, two seasons. I would like to have a rock garden that also has succulents in a long and narrow rectangular area that has a low slope, just enough so that in the rainy season mud funs down and blocks the garage door. Is it possible to combine things like lavender and rosemary with succulents, and what to do at the end of the garden to eliminate the problem of mud?
Yes, you could certainly plant rosemary, lavender and succulents in the same garden. In terms of mud, if it's frequent, don't fight it, plant it up with plants that are happy in those conditions! It could be worth checking out 'rain gardens', which are boggy areas that can sometimes dry out. Or even just plant plants that are happy in muddy areas. Beth Chatto Gardens have a 'dry garden' in one part of their gardens and a boggy wet one on the other side of the house, so it's worth checking them out and perhaps buying some of Beth Chatto's books. Even though you can't buy the plants where you are, seeing what they sell for damp areas could give you some ideas: www.bethchatto.co.uk/shop-plants.htm
Good morning Alexander, no, I don't think so. Even though a rock garden stay sort of "full" looking most of the time, it is just as much work as your English sweetheart garden. Will you like it, a thought came to me, if you are going to change, look at the plants at the Nursery and see will I love these for many years, do I really wish to change the garden fashion scene, many factors that we should consider. As much a succulents love hot weather, during the summer storms those juicy leaves can get burned and get black marks from hail I don't know, gardening is very tricky!! I have just a few succulents which I am going to repot shortly so they can settle before Autumn next year, they also don't like to be moved about, so pots seem quite suitable as they are small to medium size. Had to smile re the weed suppressing fabric, people forget the wind bring along more weeds to shower your garden and we are back to square one. Gardening is not for lazy people!! Thanks for another most informative show, I am sure many a subscriber will consider a rock garden, but it will be better suited for a large space, I think so. Do take care, kind regards.
Thank you - and I considered whether it would suit a difficult area in my garden, but have decided it won't quite work. But always interesting to think about!
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden I came to the conclusion that you are more smart than you show on the programme :) I passed a house on the way to the Supermarket and what they did I thought was lovely. It is a North side facing wall and they planted it up with succulents as it is right next to the or on the drive which will get quite hot. it looked smashing, maybe if I can get to take a photo I can send it to you Alexander. Byye
Inspirational thank you
Glad you enjoyed it!
I wish I could have seen the brick rock garden that you and Posey spoke of. We have a pile of bricks that we scavenged from a neighbor's property (with permission) We intended to use them as borders and walkway but found they aren't up to the task as they're too old and crumbly.
I did see it a few weeks ago, and quite a few years have passed since the bricks were dumped. It has now grown over completely and just looks like a mound of greenery. There's quite a bit of using crumbling or crushed brick, stone or aggregate in gardens. There's one at 03:00 here: ua-cam.com/video/swdztVfTqUE/v-deo.html and some more in this Short: ua-cam.com/users/shorts7HsCDTQn4xk?feature=share I think you could try just heaping them up and maybe speeding up the process by adding some topsoil - or you could do what Posy's friends have done and just leave nature to sort it out!
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden Thank you Alexandra!
With these droughts the new trend is set.
I think so!
Love your videos, thank you. I was hoping to find out how to set rocks into an existing slope (quite steep) that is currently grassed over and mown in summer. I have plenty of local stone - should i cut mini steps into the slope first to provide horizontal "platforms" for the stone to sit on, then fill around?? Any tips gratefully received.
Roughly speaking, yes - there's a bit more about this on How to Plant on a Slope video: ua-cam.com/video/-WjJECOF7wE/v-deo.html
Thank you SO much for your rrply Alexandra. I've just watched the video you kindly linked for me and now have a good idea of how to set about creating a nicely planted and slightly rocky slope!
Thanks!
Thank you so much!
At time frame 13:19 what is that plant? It is so gorgeous.
2:46, 😂 and not only am I a yank, but a profoundly hearing impaired one at that! Since I depend completely on subtitles, I totally missed the excellent video captioning where it clearly states 'turf!'
And in my defense, UA-cam captioning and the provided transcript both have it as turbs. 😂
My husband does the transcripts for most of the videos and he, like you, would definitely have questioned 'turbs'. But I'm glad you found it in the end.
Can you say more about the "upturned sections of turf?" I don't understand what that is. Sod? Anyone? Thanks!
Turf is lawn grass. If you're laying a lawn, turf comes in rolls and if you're taking a lawn out, you'd cut sections of the turf out by putting a spade under it. But you don't have throw left over turf grass away. Turn it upside down so that the grass itself is buried and the earth is facing upwards. The grass will rot down and restore its goodness to the earth.
We have just started a rock garden and my husband insisted on barrier fabric.Grrr. He also insisted on rocks being positioned first Grrrrr. Oh well. Lots of cutting to done....
Well, at least the barrier fabric will mean less weeding for the next few months. And after that, you can see whether it's doing any good.
So next to the alpine plant you showed, was mulch of seashells. Rock gardens here in the USA, still burn up in 95 degree days with no rain for 6 weeks or more. There are many parts of this country where 95 degrees is not even that hot🙆♀️ seems that most suitable plants would be short and prefer alkaline soil. Ours here on the east coast is mainly rock and clay. High acidity and in a drought, the soil becomes like a solid barrier. Awful with inability to water too much or the well runs dry the past few years. Climate change has been so obvious for years, if only gardeners would wake up to this reality.
The seashell mulch is a byproduct of the food industry, so it is a nice way of using up something that would otherwise be discarded.
When you speak of upturned turbs, you totally lose me. Even google won't help. What are turbs?
Oh dear it has even flummoxed me! What time point is it at?