Well now my yard is sort of "bookended" with boulder gardens. I'm on a corner, and the hill on the side where the streets cross is a perennial garden edged by boulders. Now on the alley side I have done the same. This is a lasagna garden, of course, and no, I did not wait to start planting. Most of it is pretty deep, and in the shallower areas I used small plants or left them unplanted. I will have to wait until fall or spring to integrate with the existing plants so some of the plantings might not make sense right now. Also, the inner edge of the garden is not finished yet; I want to put in a raised vegetable area as this is the only full sun area I have. I need to figure out how to place the raised bed and merge it with the existing border so that it looks good. I had the rocks and soil delivered on July 3. It took 4 days to place the boulders, and I have just done a little each day since then. Here is the construction and progress to date.

First, a before picture:



Materials delivered. Eeyoooo, why did I do this? Where do I start?



Boulder placement:







Covering, filling in and planting:










I still have a slender hinoki cypress and Black Lace elderberry to plant, and will need to adjust things a bit this fall or next spring to sort of meld everything together a little better. I have the raised bed borders and need to decide how I want to place those so it will look okay, because I will definitely need to add rabbit fencing. I also still have a good sized pile of soil to move into the raised bed, but I was actually pretty surprised at how fast it went.

Jeanie, that landscaping is BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Thank you, Debra!
Only smashed part of one finger in the process -- that's pretty good for me.

Only one? With all that rock? That's pretty good for anyone!

For me too. I can usually hurt myself just getting out of bed.

I hear you.

lovemyhouse said:Jeanie, that landscaping is BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Thank you, Missy. Still a work in progress, but I'm getting there.

Absolutely gorgeous !!!

Thought I would update this garden bed...despite having some apparently ravenous rabbits, most of my plantings have done pretty well. I figured out how to connect the border of the new bed to the existing one, and naturally decided to expand the existing one. Now that part is still a work in progress

Pictures from the last two weeks:

The side facing the sidewalk:


Along the alley:


Connecting to existing border:


The bush clover grew like wildfire and is spilling over the corner of the boulders, just like I wanted it to


Royal Candles veronica has really impressed me - bloomed as soon as I planted, and kept on going


Dianthus seems pretty happy too


Autumn Delight, with Autumn Charm in the background:

Outstanding, Jeanie.

I like what you did it all looks very attractive.

Hi Jeanie,..looking back at the pile of boulders just sitting there after delivery one would never expect to see such a fantastic finish,..not taking from all the thought and hard work put in but you made the outcome appear as if it were always naturally there,..that is a great achievement,..well done and it looks stunning with the plants you included

Thank you, Philip. I actually never know what the result will be. Other than having an idea of the overall shape and dimensions, I order the materials and just start moving one rock at a time. This is my second boulder garden and it will probably be my last, as I swear the rocks got heavier between the first one and the second one.

I noticed you had a little wheelie thing to help though i suspect with a very heavy weight you wouldn't wheel it very far,..hope your muscles didn't ache too much,..having an idea of the overall shape and dimensions went a long way as can you imagine finishing a job like that then finding it didn't blend in

The wagon was for moving soil. I use a furniture dolly for the larger rocks. Works like a charm!

You have created a beautiful garden. It is stunning.

That is a great job. Terrific results.

I take inspiration from your boulder garden!
I have a bunch of boulders which I want to make into a rock garden.

Thanks JoAnn and Caroline. I am happy with the appearance in general.
Caroline, I just marked off a general shape and area where I wanted the boulders to go and started placing them one at a time. I play with the fit of each rock for both appearance and stability and frequently step back to check perspective. No rocket science needed.