Rock Garden Plants

Provides information on selecting plants and includes cultivation descriptions for each plant

AHS Book Award winner Rock gardening —the art of growing alpines and other miniature plants in the company of rocks in order to recreate the look of a rugged mountaintop—has been surging in popularity. Time and space constraints, chronic drought in the American West, and a trend toward architectural plants are just a few of the reasons for the increased interest. Rock Gardening brings this traditional style to a new generation of gardeners. It includes a survey of gorgeous rock gardens from around the world, the techniques and methods specific to creating and maintaining a rock garden, and profiles of the top 50 rock garden plants.

Table of Contents A Beginner’s Guide to Rock Gardens Introduction Wrong Way Of Placing Rocks The Right Way to Place Rock Stones Good Rock Work- Flat Ground Wall Stones on Slopes Choosing the Best Soil Building Your Rock Garden Planting Your Rock Plants Maintenance Conifers Bulbs List of Rock Plants, depending on the Particular Conditions and Places Rock Plants For Walls Crazy paving plants – Conclusion Author Bio Publisher Introduction Rock gardens have been part of landscaping and gardening lore for millenniums. In the East Japanese rock gardens or Zen gardens have been places where people could meditate in serene and harmonious surroundings. Why are more people designing their own gardens incorporating at least one rock garden in the design? Even if the rock garden is quite small, it is going to add a touch of distinction to the landscaping of your garden. In Japan, rock gardens were normally built as dry landscape gardens, where a number of landscapes were made up of natural compositions made from natural products incorporated into a landscape. These natural items included bushes, trees, Moss, water, rocks and sand. One believes that the concept of rock gardening originated in China, especially when the ancient religion of Shintoism spoke about places of harmony where one could commune with nature and the spirit in serenity. These were normally made in monasteries, where they could be seen from one focal point, like say the porch of the head priest of the monastery. These dry Landscape gardens which you call a Zen garden in Japan were built to be seen from one viewpoint, with the walling closed around it in ancient times. Nowadays they stretch on for miles incorporating all the natural features available and present in the area to make up harmonious surroundings. Japanese Zen gardens go back to 784 BC. Chinese gardens have been around for even longer. The incorporation of gravel and white sand in a Zen or rock garden was an important feature. These were the symbol of distance, emptiness, purity, white space and water. All these symbols were supposed to aid in meditation. White sand and gravel used harmoniously together were also used around temples, shrines and palaces.

This vintage book contains a classic guide to building and maintaining beautiful rock gardens in both small and large spaces, as well as planting and propagating of a variety of suitable plants and shrubs. “Making A Rock Garden” will be of considerable utility to those wishing to create a interesting rocketries or incorporate new plants into existing rock gardens. Contents include: “Selection of a Site”, “Construction of Rockeries”, “Aspect and Position”, “Materials for Rockeries”, “Principles of Rockery Building”, “General Construction”, “Rock Gardens in Miniature”, “The Simple Rockery”, “Rock-Studded Banks”, “Culture and Management”, “Suitable Soils for Alpines”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new introduction on the history of gardening.

Create a yard that is pleasing in design and usefulness, yet low in maintenance and not another threat to our fragile environment. Everything you need to know about xeriscaping.

The aim of this book is to deal with the practicalities of rock gardening, not merely to supply a list of plants. After discussing how and where the plants grow in the wild, the author turns to consider the various man-made habitats that can be created. The main emphasis is on the rock garden and the alpine house, but alternative sites, such as raised beds and troughs, are also described in detail. Information is given on the construction, planting and care of the various areas of the garden. Detailed instruction is also given on acquiring plants either by purchase or propagation - the latter being dealt with at length.