Rockary - a spectacular solution!
Rockary - Another unique design composition,which also deals with stones, but here the plants for it may not be the alpine zone at all. In beauty, the rockery is not inferior to the rock garden, and it requires no less effort, although it seems to some that it is easier to create.
For rockaria, a much smaller number of stones are used than for an alpine hill, but the correct ratio of gravel, stones and plants must be maintained. No matter the size of the rockery, it always looks very stylish, especially in combination with ponds, lawns, trees and shrubs.
The main feature of rockaria is the possibility of using different color solutions. By creating such a composition, professionaldesigners combine different stones and plants, applying contrasts of form, height and color. If your site itself has slopes, then you are very lucky, so creating a rockery will be much easier. Well, if the territory of your garden is absolutely level, and the elevations still feel like, then the terrain will have to be made artificially. By the way, you can create a flat rockaria - a copy of the landscape of the highland plateau.
Anyway, place for rockeries is recommended to choose solar, as in the shadow you will havelimited selection of plants. It will be necessary to think about the location of your composition - against the background of the fence rockery will look unnatural, it is better to prefer planting trees or shrubs, best of all - small. If you place the rockery near a large tree, it will always appear smaller than its real size. Spring drops and the snow off the roof are the reasons why it is better not to create a composition very close to home.
The choice of plants for rockaria is not as strict as in the case of rock garden, (it can be not only high-mountainous, but alsoforest, steppe plants), but here there are rules. The greatest preference is given, as a rule, to creeping and stunted plants. In rockeries, the emphasis is not on the beauty of flowers, but on the greatness and mystery of the stones, so the flowers should not overshadow, but complement the stones. Good for compositions suitable plants such as grits, saxifrage, molodilo.
From the trees It is recommended to use decorative low-growing species of conifers, which also only emphasize the naturalbeauty of a stony landscape. Shrubs such as cotoneaster, barberry and wolfberry are an excellent addition. Creating rockeries, it is important to properly arrange plants that differ in size and growth rate.
For example, stunted mountain species (antenna,obrietu, phlox, awl), it is better to place it on the top of the slide, on a flat area. If you have a big rockery and you plan to walk it, then in the crevices of the plates you can plant aromatic spicy plants that will emit a wonderful smell every time you step on them. It can be mint, lemon balm, angelica, monarch.
The right selection of stones is one of the most important tasks when creating rockeries. It is recommended to use stones from the samematerial. Different in origin stones will not be in harmony with each other. Rounded smooth boulders are more suitable for rockaria, which is laid out on a plane, blocks with sharp protrusions - for a high hill, and layered stone slabs - to create retaining walls and stony terraces.
You can create a beautiful decorative slide if you use stones of different sizes. Large stones form the basis of the composition, and their naturalness is emphasized by smaller ones. Only large or only small ones will look monotonous and boring.
