DIY: A Sloped Rock Garden
Landscaping on a slope can be challenging! If your home or part of your lawn is built on a hill, this may place a constraint on your landscaping opportunities.
Understanding how to landscape on a slope can create a beautifully unexpected landscaping feat that will impress onlookers.
A sloped rock garden can boost curb appeal if you’re trying to sell your home, or it can be the perfect way to spruce up a trouble spot in your otherwise gorgeous garden.
On a slope or hillside, water and nutrients will simply slide down your incline making it hard to grow plants. Building a rock garden on a slope creates the ideal natural barrier to slow or stop the loss of essential water, nutrients, and fertilizers.
Read until the end to find out how to build your hillside rock garden.
PLAN YOUR ROCK GARDEN
You’ve already chosen the location for your sloped rock garden, now it’s time to plan the infrastructure.
Consider drainage. If you’re living in Oklahoma, the rock garden combined with the clay in our soil here will create a site where the soil is pushed off the hill by rainwater.
You’ll want to either install perforated pipe or you can terrace your garden space so that rainwater will be guided away from the slope to drain or pooled for plant growth.
Rocks are better to use than railroad ties. Railroad ties have toxins in them that can pollute and damage your rainwater and soil. Rocks are the best solution- they last a lifetime and are completely natural.
ADDING ROCKS
Now it’s time to hardscape your garden. On a slope with a deep incline, use very large rocks to hold the hillside together. You’ll want to seat the rocks into the soil so that the soil covers one-third of the size of the rock.
ADD SOIL AND MORE ROCKS
Once your large rocks are in place, make sure that your soil is good for the growth of the plants you’ll be selecting. If you’ve already dug up much of the topsoil, you’ll need to bring some good soil into the area.
Include smaller rocks to add variation. Use stones of different lengths to help your garden look more natural.
ADD PLANTS
Now it’s time to select your plants. Choose low-maintenance plants that are suited to the lighting in your area. You can also check to see if any native grasses or native plants would be suited to grow here. Look for low-growing plants that spread.
You can try a combination of small trees, dwarf shrubs, and small perennials for your rock garden.
Here are just a few suggestions of plants to add to your rock garden:
Add blooming perennials for color:
Lavender
Salvia
Creeping Thyme
Dwarf Iris
Primrose
Snow-in-summer
Columbine
Cranesbill
Add small trees for height:
Dwarf hemlock
Dwarf Albert spruce
Add dwarf shrubs for variation:
Dwarf junipers
Bog rosemary
You can also add succulents into the mix!
NEED SOIL AND RIVER ROCK FOR YOUR DIY SLOPED ROCK GARDEN IN OKLAHOMA CITY?
We deliver topsoil, screened topsoil, and screen rich mix soils directly to your garden site. We can also deliver 1 1/2” river rock, 2 ½” river rock, 3”-5” surge, coarse stone, or gravel to your home work site.
Call Metro Materials of Oklahoma today for more information. Don’t know how much rock or soil you’ll need? Click here to use our handy calculator.
We can deliver your landscaping or hardscaping materials anywhere in the South OKC metro area, including Moore and Norman. Ready to order?
Use our simple order form here.