Hi Sven,

I would really like to turn an area of my garden made into a rock garden, but I don't have a clue how to start it. Do you have any advice?

LittlemissJ

Our Gardens Expert replies:

Dear LittlemissJ

You have to be very careful when building a rock garden not to make it look totally out of place. The idea is to make it look as natural as possible and nine times out of ten they don't.

If you have a natural 'hill' or dip in your garden, this would be the ideal spot. You can, of course, create a mound and do it that way, but look at the lay of the land and choose a spot that it will 'sit' in naturally as possible.

To create a mound, strip back the turf and set it aside. Pile up a load of old rubbish - by that I mean old bricks, broken sinks, rubble etc - then cover it with your old turf, face down.

Cover this with some gritty topsoil with a good few handfuls of bone meal mixed in. Try and choose local stone for the rockery and half bury them in lines so they appear like the natural strata in an exposed rock face. Ideally, leave it for a good few months to settle so you can repair any areas that subside.

When it comes to planting, alpines are the obvious choice. Try and include a couple of dwarf conifers such as Juniperus communis 'Compressa' as well as small shrubs for a permanent framework, then you can infill with the smaller stuff, such as Helianthemum, Saxifrage, thymusGeranium sanguineum.

I have seen so many rock gardens that are made out of an old pile of broken concrete 'rocks' or even old breeze blocks and, quite frankly, they don't look good. I know I have mentioned it before, but if you make it look natural and as if it has always been there, you will have done a good job!

Good luck
Sven