A rock garden, also known as a rockery or an alpine garden, is a type of garden that features extensive use of rocks or stones, along with plants native to rocky or alpine environments. A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. ... Sedimentary, volcanic, plutonic, metamorphic rock types of North America. ... Sedimentary, volcanic, plutonic, metamorphic rock types of North America. ... For the climate of the mountains named the Alps, see climate) for a region above the tree-line. ...

Rock garden plants tend to be small, both because many of the species are naturally small, and so as not to cover up the rocks. They may be grown in troughs (containers), or in the ground. The plants will usually be types that prefer well-drained soil and less water. SOiL is a five-piece aggressive rock/Nu Metal band from Chicago, formed in 1997 by ex-members of renowned death metal acts Broken Hope and Oppressor. ...

The usual form of a rock garden is a pile of rocks, large and small, esthetically arranged, and with small gaps between, where the plants will be rooted. Some rock gardens incorporate bonsai. A bonsai trident maple growing in the root over rock style. ...

A naturalistic rockery in England

Some rock gardens are designed and built to look like natural outcrops of bedrock. Stones are aligned to suggest a bedding plane and plants are often used to conceal the joints between the stones. This type of rockery was popular in Victorian times, often designed and built by professional landscape architects. The same approach is sometimes used in modern campus or commercial landscaping, but can also be applied in smaller private gardens. A rockery composed of small stones arranged to look like a natural rock outcrop. ... A rockery composed of small stones arranged to look like a natural rock outcrop. ... Outcrop is a geological term referring to the appearance of bedrock exposed at the surface of the Earth. ... Central Park, like all parks, is an example of landscape architecture. ...

The Japanese rock garden, in the west often referred to as Zen garden, is a special kind of rock garden with hardly any plants. A Karesansui 枯山水, or Japanese rock garden, is an enclosed shallow sandbox containing sand, gravel, rocks, and occasionally grass or other natural elements. ...

External links

• FAQ on Rock Gardens
• The Alpine Garden, Rock Gardening on the Net
• Alpine-L mailing list
• North American Rock Garden Society homepage
• Scottish Rock Garden Club homepage