Rock this Way!


Rocks are a great landscape feature to add to your yard and garden. They come in all sizes and don't need any real maintenance. You can put moss on the rocks or let them rest as silent monoliths watching over your garden. You can use them for edging, for paving stones, stepping stones, and retaining walls. There are just so many things you can use a rock for that I had to get a few. This past weekend when traveled up to Mt. Juliet, TN to visit my wife' parents I went rock hunting. It's not nearly as exciting as it sounds. The hunt was through a pile of cast off stone and rock that has been heaved out of their ground. Heaving is the natural process of freezing and thawing of the ground that pushes rocks up and causes cracks and breaks in the ground. Had it been warmer I may have been more adventurous and trekked through the woods behind their home in search of the precious stones but the 30 degree weather deterred me! If you are familiar with Mt. Juliet, TN you will know that the ground is almost all rock and clay. They have used rock to edge various garden beds and some pathways in their landscape and allowed me to take home a few. As you can see from the picture above rocks come in assorted sizes and shapes. Here are a few that I brought home.



Once you have the rock where you want it (and I'm not sure I do yet) you have to decide how to place it. You have as many options as you have usable sides. In the case of this rock below I really only have two choices. The back/bottom does not look as nice as the side you see in the picture below so it isn't really an option. It also will only stand up tall from one side. So here are my two choices. Either choice A with the stone lying flat or B with the stone standing tall. What do you think? Also consider what might be a good use of this rock. Keep in mind that I haven't completely decided on its location yet (I may want to wait for its final resting place until after the tulips have bloomed). Do you have any ideas for the rocks in the above pictures?

So rock this way?

A Flat (not a music joke)
Or rock that way?

B upright
This rock is about 16-18 inches tall in this picture.

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