Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy87  Hi CM,
1. I actually want a rockery.
2. The plan is to have tall plants at the top, getting shorter as they go down the rockery. So no specific species in mind at this point in time. I intend to have rocks and little pools for frogs!
3. I wouldn't like to say for sure what the soil type is. Would hazard a guess at clay. The site would get around 4 hours of sun during the day.
4. It would be *my* first rockery. We used to have one, but I am too young to remember it properly. A lot of the rocks are simply in a river at the bottom of the garden. How could I reduce the volume of rocks and soil involved? Is there another way of constructing it? Andy. |
Andy,
Firstly the question of the rocks from the river - it may be that your property does include ownership of part of the river bed, however even if that is the case removal of any quantity of material may cause instability in the bank and result in impeded river flow. With increased concern about flooding and potential financial claims that follow you should be very clear about what the consequences of removing material actually are before proceeding.
The purpose of creating a rockery usually falls into three main categories - 1) to provide an environment for plants that the garden would not otherwise sustain e.g Alpines 2) to provide elevation of part of the garden for visual effect 3) to provide hard landscaping (rocks, scree etc) for visual effect.
The volume of material needed is to an extent dependent on what the purposes of the rockery are - but the very nature of the project requires moving, and often importing to the garden, large quanties of soil/rock.
I would suggest this is the kind of project that needs an allocation of time based on 90% planning and 10% actual work. What you have in mind may work but I really think you need to research in detail before attempting something that simply may not work. Certainly it is a project beyond the capacity of the ad hoc advice that can be given on this forum.
Good luck.
CM