For many gardening years, I have considered the idea of building a rockery garden not my cup of tea. However, I am increasingly intrigued by some of the plants that are traditionally in the domain of alpine rock gardeners. This class of perennials (and dwarf conifers) would simply look their best and survive better in a rockery environment. (My attempts in the past to incorporate small patches of ‘rockeries’ at the edges and corners of some perennial beds did not give me sufficient satisfaction in growing/enjoying these little beauties.) Perhaps, it is time to experiment with making a small rockery garden.

The area selected (about 8×5 m) was used primarily as a test bed for newly acquired or propagated perennials and a few roses. It is on a slope. The soil retaining 2×6 pressure treated wood frame was decaying after about 12 years, and needed to be removed anyway.
This is the area last summer.

As a perennial bed last summer...

End of last year....What a mess...

Mid-April was a good time to get started. The first tedious and boring task was to transplant most of the existing plants in the area to other parts of the garden and into pots.

Existing plants and decaying wood structure were removed...

A simple retaining wall was built at the bottom edge of the slope. It started to look promising.

A simple retaining wall was built at the bottom of the slope.

A layer of the existing soil was removed so that a new layer consisting of triple mixed soil, sand and gravels can be added; another tedious and boring job.
The main anchoring rock structure and a narrow path through the rockery area were installed. The main anchoring conifers were planted. This is a fun part.

The main rock structure was installed.

A closer look...

Plant materials were introduced at the same time when the final layer of gravels was added. These plants are mostly new acquisitions from Bever Creek, Thimble Farms, Lost Horizon, and Wrightman. There were little areas set for lewisias, saxifragas, gentians, hardy cactus, penstemons, dwarf irises, and primulas etc. These little plants simply disappeared into the rockery; for now. (I was hoping to go around the garden to extract some of the ‘more mature’ clumps of ‘rockery appropriate’ plants for this new rockery, but I have to move on to other projects. Have to wait until next spring.)

Starting to look like a rockery corner...

I did get to enjoy the flowers of some of these new plants even though they are still tiny. You can see the rest here.

This is a good time of the year to sit back, review last year’s garden season, and dream of the the next garden season. (It is also a time to update my garden web site with a few up-to-date pictures.)

2010 is a strange year; spring arrived three weeks earlier and hotter than usual. Some of the flowering plants reluctantly put up a quick show and left. Good thing I was too busy to be disappointed; busy making new beds, renovating neglected beds and making desperate attempts to clean up the mess that I piled up over the years. I think I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps, a couple more seasons, I will be able to spent more time strolling around the garden with a favourite drink instead of monkeying around in the dirt. (Yeah, you have heard that line before.)

I have added/replaced some of the pictures in some segments such as Seasons, Conifers and Maples. I have also extended some perennial groups such Heuchera and Hosta etc. You can navigate to any of the segments using the buttons in the sidebar to the left.

Hope you find some of the new pictures enjoyable. Have a pleasant visit.

This was when my garden said goodbye last November

I enjoy reading good garden blogs, but I am not a blogger.
I have just migrated my website Garden Canadensis to WordPress. The main reasons for the migration are:
- To try out WordPress as a content management tool,
- To inform viewers (via the RSS feed) on any updates to my website that I make from time to time,
- To provide visitors a mean to comment on my website, or share their experience if they wish. All constructive comments and inputs are welcome and appreciated.

This is the first time I use any blog software. Please be patient with my ignorance and my crude attempt to customize WordPress for my purpose.

Hope you enjoy visiting our ‘sandbox’garden.

The pond is still frozen; a few more weeks to go.

More pruning to be done….

By garcan