Imagine decorating your building wall with gorgeous plants that need minimal care and bloom profusely. Before selecting plants for your rock walls remember that plants on a wall have minimal growing medium and limited water.
Rock walls make for beautiful hardscaping features in a landscape. Their textured look provides visual interest while also serving practical purposes like retaining soil, preventing erosion, and delineating garden spaces. While the rocks themselves create appeal, the right plantings can really bring a rock wall to life.
When planning a rock wall garden, it’s important to choose plants that can thrive in the tough growing conditions. The rock wall environment tends to be hot, dry, and provides minimal soil for roots. Fortunately, many plants are well-suited to these harsh conditions. Let’s explore the best options for plants to tuck into the nooks, crannies, and pockets of your rock wall.
Choosing the Right Plants
Plants for rock walls need to be drought-tolerant, heat-resistant, and able to cope with poor, shallow soil. Succulents and alpine plants that grow naturally in rocky mountainous regions fit the bill perfectly. Their small, compact root systems allow them to flourish in tight rock crevices. Additionally, small, low-growing perennials that spread to form carpets or cascades of color are ideal choices. When selecting plants, consider the sun exposure, drainage, and spacing of pockets in your particular rock wall.
Here are some excellent plant types to consider:
- Creepers – Low-growing perennials that spread horizontally, such as creeping phlox or thyme
- Cascaders – Plants that spill gracefully over rocks, like rock cress or candytuft
- Succulents – Fleshy, drought-tolerant plants such as sedums, sempervivums, and ice plants
- Alpine plants – Compact, cold-tolerant plants including rock cress and pasque flowers
- Ornamental grasses – Grasses add height, texture, and movement such as blue fescue
Filling In the Wall
When incorporating plants into a new rock wall, add some planting mix into the crevice, insert your plant, fill in around the roots with more soil, and water it in. For existing rock walls, tuck very small transplants into openings and crannies. You can also take cuttings of succulents like hen and chicks, poke them directly into cracks, and let them root right where they are.
Aim for a natural look by using a variety of heights, textures, and colors. Don’t plant in rigid rows or obvious patterns. Scatter groupings of plants for a relaxed feel. Plant more heavily at the top of retaining walls so the plants cascade attractively downward. Use taller plants to provide vertical interest against the wall’s horizontal lines.
Remember when planning not to overplant. Leave some space between plants and avoid plugging every single crevice. Let the beauty of the stone show through in places to keep that natural stone wall look.
Best Rock Wall Plant Options
Here are some of the top plant picks to consider for your rock wall garden:
Creepers
- Creeping phlox
- Creeping thyme
- Irish moss
- Creeping Jenny
- Blue star creeper
- Periwinkle
Cascaders
- Candytuft
- Rock cress
- Deadnettle
- Lobelia
Succulents
- Hen and chicks
- Sedum
- Ice plant
- Sea thrift
Alpine Plants
- Pasque flower
- Thrift
- Snow-in-summer
- Dianthus
Ornamental Grasses
- Blue oat grass
- Blue fescue
- Tufted hair grass
Caring for Rock Wall Plants
The key to success with rock wall plantings is proper care, especially when first establishing plants. Here are some tips:
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Water thoroughly at planting time, then weekly for the first few months. Established plants only need occasional watering
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Add mulch around plants to help retain moisture Pea gravel blends in well
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Fertilize lightly in spring and mid-summer. Use a balanced organic fertilizer.
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Prune back wayward, leggy growth to keep plants tidy and discourage disease.
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Weed carefully by hand to avoid disturbing shallow roots.
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Replace any plants that fail to thrive. Not every plant will work in every spot.
The Benefits of a Rock Wall Garden
When thoughtfully designed and planted, a rock wall garden offers many benefits:
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Adds natural beauty, visual interest, and an element of wildness to the landscape
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Provides a perfect home for heat- and drought-loving rock plants
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Helps prevent soil erosion on slopes
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Offers vertical gardening space in small yards
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Has a long lifespan with minimal upkeep required
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Creates additional habitat for pollinators and birds
With some planning, creativity, and the right plant choices, a rock wall garden can be a stunning yet low-maintenance addition to your outdoor space. The possibilities are endless when it comes to combining attractive rocks and jewel-like rock plants into an artistic living tapestry. Let your rock wall become a beautiful canvas showcasing nature’s diverse palette.
• Things To Consider Before Selecting Plants for Rock Walls
Here are a few basic things you must take into consideration when planting for rock walls:
Walls made up of limestone or mortar are alkaline, meaning acid-loving plants such as Hydrangea and Rhododendrons wont thrive on it. So, if youre looking for plants to grow in rock walls, make sure to pick and choose after studying the rock material.
North-facing walls are ideal for Ferns while south-facing walls would suit sun-loving plants the most, such as Bougainvillea and Pea vines. So, growing plants on walls would also mean that you will have to and must check according to their sunlight requirements.
Do not plant on walls that are part of a structure, i.e., a residence or house. Instead, opt for boundary walls opt and smaller plants. A dry stone wall is the best for planting as the gap between stones serves as pockets and open construction allows for growing plants with thick stems.
Cover imperfections in walls with cascading plants
Building a finely fitted stone wall is a craft that takes time and persistence to develop. In fact, many people choose not to tackle a stone wall as a garden project because it seems too daunting a task to lift the rocks, let alone to fit the rocks so tightly together. There are no shortcuts to this craft, but there are ways to get around the obstacles.
First, select stones that suit your lifting ability. If you scale the size of the rocks down, building a wall is more like fitting together a jigsaw puzzle. And second, instead of fitting the stones together so tightly, adopt a method practiced in England at the turn of the century: fill gaps with small, crevice-loving plants. For detailed instructions, read Build a Dry-Stacked Stone Retaining Wall.
Rock crevices create a favorable environment for growing plants that would not normally survive in your zone. The plants in these pockets are kept warmer and less waterlogged in the winter, and cooler and moister in the summer. The wall has an overall moderating effect on the climate, providing a perfect place for alpine plants, succulents, and herbs.
Although it’s possible to grow plants in a freestanding wall, retaining walls are better suited for plantings because the earth behind a retaining wall supplies moisture to the planting pockets. They are also easier to build because the soil behind them provides good backing for the wall.
5 Best Plant for Rock Garden Landscaping Ideas for Your Garden
FAQ
What plants are good for rock retaining wall?
Plants that do well in a rock wall are varied in nature—from small, delicately leaved, creeping plants like woolly creeping thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus) or prostrate rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis); to drought-tolerant plants with minimal root systems like hens and chicks (Echeveria ‘Imbricata’) or other …
What plants grow best in rock?
Drought-Tolerant Plants: Succulents, cacti, and agave are perfect for rocky, well-draining soil. Mediterranean Herbs: Oregano, basil, and mint grow well in rocky soil. Ornamental Grasses: Blue fescue and feather grass are ideal. Tropical Fruits: Bananas, papayas, and pineapples thrive in rich, moist soil.
What is a good ground cover plant for rock walls?
COTONEASTER (Cotoneaster spp.)
Groundcover types that are commonly used in rock gardens include rockspray cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizontalis), bearberry cotoneaster (C. dammeri), and creeping cotoneaster (C. adpressus). Use this tough, low-maintenance plant along slopes or rock walls.
What are good plants to make a wall?
- Pothos.
- Maranta.
- Fern.
- Spider Plant.
- Dracaena.
- Syngonium.
- Peperomia.
- Tradescantia.
What plants grow well in a rock garden?
This low-growing, creeping, evergreen stonecrop has tightly packed, rounded leaves. The purple-tinged grey foliage is an effective backdrop to yellow star-like summer flowers. Use this as a ground cover plant in your rock garden. It’s hardy and it likes full sun and well-drained soil so it will suit the conditions perfectly. 9. Crocus
Can a rock wall be used as a garden?
Rock walls can provide unique opportunities for gardening. The nooks and crannies between stones allow places to tuck small plants, creating a living tapestry. With the right plant choices, a formerly barren rock wall can be transformed into a beautiful vertical garden. Not all plants will thrive in a rock wall’s harsh environment however.
What are rock garden plants used for?
Rock garden plants can be used for rockeries, xeriscapes, curbside strips, hypertufa containers, and waterwise borders. Here are some of the best rock garden plants to grow. Also see: Rock Garden Design
Can rock plants grow in a gravel garden?
Use them to create a colorful rock garden, but these tough plants also work well in gravel gardens, alpine gardens, pockets in dry-stack walls, and between stepping stones. Count on these low-growing perennials and succulents to produce vibrant flowers and foliage, even in poor soil, drought, and heat. How often should I water my garden rock plant?
How do you grow a rock wall garden?
Follow these tips to create and maintain a thriving rock wall garden: Amend planting pockets with rich potting soil. Avoid standard garden soils which can be too heavy. Plant densely to cover the wall quickly. Start new plants from plugs rather than seeds. Use cascading and trailing plants along the top edges and taller types toward the base.
What plants are good for rockeries?
There are lots of flowers which will make incredible plants for rockeries. In fact, without the addition of drought tolerant plants you might find your rock garden seems a little drab. Not to mention having flowers in your garden is far more beneficial for pollinators. Dianthus, phlox, and crocus will all work well.