Rock gardens can be so much more than a traditional display of varying types of stones. Incorporating stone into your landscaping plan—whether small gravel, large boulders, smooth river rocks, or flat flagstone—allows you to add natural texture and visual interest to accent your flowers, trees, and shrubs. Rocks can also camouflage areas where the soil isn’t ideal for plants, and they’re a low-maintenance alternative for homeowners without a green thumb. Find the inspiration that’s right for your home in one—or more—of these nine garden ideas that make use of rocks.
Use boulders to create a waterfall.
A hilly outcropping on this property offers an ideal spot for a collection of boulders installed at different heights and surrounded by pink flowering shrubs, soft grass, and growing vines. The natural slope of the garden allows a small waterfall to run into a pond.
Spanish garden with stone and rock accents, with flowers in foreground Credit: Getty / Simon McGill
Surround a pond with smooth stones.
At a public park in Spain, lush landscaping and bright flowers surround a shallow paved pond bordered by smooth stones. Other rocks create a curved archway around a dramatic water feature that provides the soothing sound of a trickling stream.
traditional zen rock garden with sand and moss Credit: Getty / Tetra Images
Accent stones with sand or gravel.
In a Japanese Zen garden, paved pathways and large trees border a central focal point, where oversized stones sit in a bed of smaller pebbles or sand raked into a rippled wave design.
close-up of rock steps in desert garden Credit: Getty / AnnBaldwin
Use stones to create steps.
In this tiered garden, flat stones form steps while gravel and smaller, smooth stones offer a visual contrast to the wispy plants and purple blooms in the nearby landscaping.
cactus in japanese rock garden Credit: Getty / Chittanun Luangrangwech / EyeEm
Add smaller stones to your garden beds.
Instead of surrounding your plants with dirt, mulch, or ground cover, use tiny pebbles or gravel in garden beds to provide contrasting color and texture that helps your greenery and foliage to stand out. It looks especially nice next to cacti.
stone wall pink flowers roses
Build a wall.
Stacked stones in organic shapes create a low, natural garden wall—or a dramatic Secret Garden-inspired enclosure—while a trailing vine of delicate, bell-shaped flowers adds pretty balance.
catskills garden fence
Incorporate multiple types of stone and rock.
Use a variety of different materials and shapes—from flat patio stones and abstract steps to a stacked stone wall and gravel bed—to create a unique rock garden that complements tall trees and low flowers.
beverly steve wedding ceremony garden Credit: Anne Rhett
Dress up your driveway.
A paved driveway leads through a garden featuring neatly-trimmed shrubs, soaring trees, and traditional brick bed borders.
wall of flowers and stone path leading to english home Credit: Peden + Munk
Create a garden path.
Precisely-cut square and rectangular stones set directly into the grass allow patches of bright greenery to peek through, accenting the geometry of the stones and the wild nature of the adjoining garden.
Spanish garden with stone and rock accents, with flowers in foreground Credit: Getty / Simon McGill
Spanish garden with stone and rock accents, with flowers in foreground
Credit: Getty / Simon McGill
traditional zen rock garden with sand and moss Credit: Getty / Tetra Images
traditional zen rock garden with sand and moss
Credit: Getty / Tetra Images
close-up of rock steps in desert garden Credit: Getty / AnnBaldwin
close-up of rock steps in desert garden
Credit: Getty / AnnBaldwin
cactus in japanese rock garden Credit: Getty / Chittanun Luangrangwech / EyeEm
cactus in japanese rock garden
Credit: Getty / Chittanun Luangrangwech / EyeEm
stone wall pink flowers roses
stone wall pink flowers roses
catskills garden fence
catskills garden fence
beverly steve wedding ceremony garden Credit: Anne Rhett
beverly steve wedding ceremony garden
Credit: Anne Rhett
wall of flowers and stone path leading to english home Credit: Peden + Munk
wall of flowers and stone path leading to english home
Credit: Peden + Munk
