Have Rock Gardens Grown In Popularity

Together rock and water were old established garden features a long time before anyone considered installing lawns, flower beds or borders. Many hundreds of years ago the first Japanese garden was nothing exceeding an area of white stone chippings with a single Cleyera tree in the centre and the Ancient Persian 'paradise' had a long canal and fountains at its heart.

The attraction was very easy to see, these two elements bring a natural feel to any type of surroundings. Until quite recently however, they were primarily only for the wealthy. Before the latter part of the 19th century, rocks were used to create very bold structures in large estates and it was not until the middle of the 20th century that water gardens and fountain construction became straightforward enough and affordable enough for the ordinary gardener.

It has taken a long period of time, but both rock and water gardening have at last come of age. There is now huge interest in all aspects of the water garden. Rock garden plants are grown in huge numbers, the range available nowadays in both rockeries and rock-free circumstances is immense. I find it motivating that both these natural elements have several features in common.

They can extend for a few square feet or more than a quarter of an acre and both provide the opportunity to grow a wide range of plants not found in the ordinary, every-day garden. The drawbacks that they share are that careful groundwork is necessary and a significant quantity of labour and money is needed for their creation.

Through the latter part of the 19th century the age of the bigger rock garden was all but over. In 1772 the second period of rock gardens began, a garden of rubble and Icelandic basaltic lava was fashioned inside a greenhouse at Chelsea Physic Garden for the cultivation of plants collected from the Swiss Alps. Here the rocks were used as a home for plants rather than to produce just an ornamental feature. This second period got off to a slow beginning, although rock gardens were created at various sites in Britain and the notion of laying stones to present the appearance of a natural outcrop was developed. Things changed in the 1860's and the rock garden finally took its place as a very important part of the British garden. Rockeries were built at Kew Gardens in 1867 and in Edinburgh in 1871.

In 1870 William Robinson's Alpine Flowers for English Gardens was published. During this era and into the early 20th century Pulhamite Stone was manufactured in Broxbourne in Hertfordshire and used to create public and private rock gardens throughout the nation. The three decades from 1900 to 1939 were the glory days of the rock garden. Reginald Farrer was the leading figure and his 'My Rock Garden' book became the very first bible on this subject.

Plant hunters scoured the mountains all over the world looking for new alpine plants and the rock garden at Wisley was started in 1911. In the years prior to World War II interest in the rock garden declined. Only recently has there been a reappearance.

During the 1920's and 1930's the thought of growing alpines in non-rock situations took root, this together with the birth of the garden centre in the second half of the 20th century produced about the third period in this history. People began to see the complete range of flowers which are obtainable along with all sorts of easy and inexpensive methods for cultivating alpines without having to build a rockery. So, interest switched to the plants and away from the rock structures, and this is the key feature of this third period in the history of rock gardening.