Rock It!

The other day I was hanging out at my rock supplier's office (doesn't everybody do that?), sampling yet another style of "the hard stuff" for a tricky spot in my side yard, when he asked me: "What are you doing with all these rocks?  Do you eat them?"  I laughed, of course, because he's onto something here.  No, I don't trickle pea pebbles into my morning cereal, but I do admit to--shall we call it a preoccupation with the variety of available rocks out there.  The shapes and sizes, colors and textures have become as important to me--and the look I'm trying to achieve in my garden space--as the plantings.

I first fell like a rock (had to do it...sorry...too tempting) for granite when I visited a wholesaler in my area during a quest for a unique counter top.  It wasn't until I walked the aisles, amazed by the stunning array of granite from all over the world, that I truly appreciated the natural beauty of stone.  It comes in every color imaginable--red, black, yellow, white, gray--even blue.  I've seen slabs with veins of orange, cranberry and purple.  And the surfaces that are naturally embedded with glistening quartz are nothing short of dazzling.

It was only a matter of time before I transferred my new-found love to the great outdoors.  And now I've incorporated this "hardscaping" into nooks and crannies around my property.  At this point, I have about six varieties of stone gracing my modest acre lot, beginning with the "Salt and Pepper" pea stone alongside my brick driveway.  It's small enough to drive over, and gives me added, attractive parking space for our ever-growing collection of cars.  Since my house is white with gray trim, the varying shades of gray in the stone match the color scheme nicely.

I have the requisite blue stone in areas that need drainage, red river pebbles under wrought iron arches leading to the back yard, gold and white pea pebbles in and around my pond, and my most recent purchase--gray egg-sized (and shaped) river rock around my side yard--that tricky spot under my garden hose.   It may seem like a mishmash of stone sizes and shapes, but it is actually key to defining separate areas of my yard.  Like rooms in a house, we often change the flooring (think carpet in the bedroom, and tile in the kitchen) to define different spaces.  Paying particular attention to the needs of your garden, you, too, can define various spaces with the clever use of stone.