 | For 2,000 years stones have been used in garden design. Not only do they marvelously factor into a low-maintenance garden, they enhance a landscape ascetically—in other words, they are both a practical and beautiful way to landscape your surroundings.
Whether you aim for Asian tranquility or English country, working with stones in your landscape is easier than ever because of the boundless variety and availability of stones at your disposal. When planning to stonescape, keep in mind some of the important functions stone offers a garden. First, stone will allow you to build weed-free paths. Second, it can help provide the base for conserving water for your plants. Third, it functions ornamentally with minimal upkeep and will endure no matter the climate.
With these things in mind, you need only focus on design elements—Eastern or Western landscape, the following will provide you with basic information to design your particular stonescaped landscape.
Stones are often at the heart of most traditional Chinese and Japanese gardens. Sometimes considered magical, they are always elemental and play an important structural role in a garden’s design. In such ways, they may be used to rim a pond or an area of ornamental grasses. They may provide the centerpiece to a featured area within the garden. They are particularly good ways to establish scale if trees or other shrubbery are not used to that end. In dryer landscapes when the soil cannot easily provide for large growth, rocks—even small boulder style rocks—add contrast to a flat garden.
Tea gardens, which date back to the sixteenth century in the east, often employ large flat and rounded stones of varying colors to give texture and variation to a small garden. Tiny tiers of stepping stones where small green plants peak from the cracks might open into a small stone basin showcasing a single lily pad—such simple style and subtlety are the hallmarks of an Oriental garden.
The Japanese often use stone and rock to symbolize other elements in their garden when the real thing cannot be used. For example, a river of pebbles might be a more appropriate border for an azalea spread than using a real body of water. A composition of rocks may symbolize a mountain which has its own symbolic meanings in eastern philosophy and religion. In any case, the stones are used for their looks as well as their utility.
Eastern gardens employ many varieties of rock and stone to evoke a different mood or feeling in their garden. Tall, vertically-shaped rocks make for an austere presence and may create a severe delineation in the landscape—this works well as a centerpiece or when you want to call abrupt attention to an area. Odd-shaped rocks that jut or arc in forceful ways show activity; these imply movement which may provide a good contrast to a quiet area when the plant growth is relatively low to the ground and the wind particularly stir the other growth in an area.
Low-flat rocks and rounded rocks provide a sense of stability—especially when used along pathways. They also provide a sense of warmth especially if moss-covered and grouped in curving lines as opposed to straight-ways. In many areas moss grows naturally, but it can usually be added to your rocks in most climates with a bit of care that includes keeping the rocks moist with a sugar and water solution on a bit of transplanted moss.
While Eastern gardens usually employ rocks to add a hard natural element to their landscapes that are symbolic in nature, Western gardens tend to use them for their utilitarian function only. While eastern gardens aim to showcase the rocks themselves, western gardens seem to employ rock formations to showcase the plants. In such ways, they are generally used as a base or vessel for the botanical. Nevertheless, statues are frequently a feature in western gardens as are rock walls and flagstone paths.
In colder climates, rock walls may be used to face west or south and so create pockets for sunshine and warmth—perfect for spring bulbs. Dry stone walls encourage plants known as creepers which can grow atop and in the spaces of the wall. As in Oriental gardens, rocks may rim a small pond or pool. The time of stones used may give either an eastern or western feel. Large flat mossy covered blocks often give a medieval feel to such a feature. Large rectangular blocks are also a great way to create fountains or mini-waterfalls that can be a great focal point in your garden—eastern or western style.
Weathered stone, used for steps of flower containers, is often found in English or European gardens. If Orientalists use the stone to create balanced-natural settings, western design is often more geometrical—a taming of nature into a more regimented form, if you will. Think of the gardens of Versaille—heavily manicured, carefully maintained. Nevertheless, rocks and the very rigidity of their nature make them perfect borders or boundary markers for the straight lines and paths of a more western-style garden.
In any case, designing with stone can blend both east and west and the landscaper can design best when knowing the lay of the land and the style of rock best suited to it. Gardening centers will help you pick out anything from pebbles to large slabs of slate suitable for steps. Visit your library to check out landscaping books with pictures to give you and idea of the many ways stone can be employed in your own design—statues, borders, birdbaths, garden markers—they are a useful and natural element for any garden.
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