Rock Garden spring

Rock gardens

THE ROCK GARDENS

Rock gardening, for us, is an attempt to replicate growing conditions found in the high mountains and in steep, stony places at lower elevations. In this we do not always succeed, but we are forever hopeful. We try to keep in mind the three principles of rock gardening; drainage, drainage and drainage.

The rock gardens at Cady’s Falls are in varying stages of youthful exuberance and middle age decadence. Many of the earliest plantings from the 1980’s have been crowded out by not-so-dwarf, dwarf conifers. In our most recent rock gardens, having hopefully learned the dwarf conifer lesson, we are limiting ourselves to alpines of compact habit, accompanied by a sparse selection of the most diminutive woody plants we can find.

We have created many different eco-niches to try to satisfy a wide variety of plants from around the world. The soil conditions in our rock gardens vary from simple grit-enhanced native soil, to pure river stone enhanced with composted leaves. In some places, we have added limestone to satisfy the calciphiles and in others we have added peat to accommodate the acid lovers. We also have a nicely maturing tufa garden where tiny plants thrive in holes drilled in the pure calcium carbonate rock.

Among the many eco-niches, we have sunny, but sheltered, north-facing slopes, south-facing hot spots and shady niches in close proximity. We have wet, moss-covered rocks where the sticky leaved butterworts have seeded in. Indeed, some of the nicest moments in our garden have occurred serendipitously.