Are rockeries old fashioned

[MotherOfDragonflies]

I have a sloped area of the garden which used to have turf —weeds— on it but is currently bare earth after we installed a soak away. I’m contemplating rockery (since I also have probably 2/3 of the ricks I’d need) but DH has turned his nose up.

Are rockeries a bit grandma ish?

I don’t think so. People tend to put them in an area where other plants wouldn’t do well, so it’s about making the most of your garden, rather than what’s trendy and what’s not.
Ive seen lots of roses recently, yet rose gardens were seen as very 60/70’s.

Yes roses are everywhere this year!

it’s an area to the east of the house but it gets a good amount of sun for most of the day. I was thinking ferns and alpines (initially I’d thought just ferns would be more modern but I want year round interest and ferns obviously die right back)

Who cares?!? I'm utterly baffled by the idea that rockeries are for grannies - as though an old woman who enjoys gardening is something to be ashamed of!

If you like them, make one!

I think rockeries as they were ( big piles of random rocks with alpines poking out) are a bit iffy but more structured levels (made with rocks) are quite good.
Ferns do well in shade but take over once they get going. Why not something a bit more Mediterranean - herb bushes and lavender maybe? Rosemary, bay etc look ok in the winter and they are useful too.
Also I just bought my husband a little cypress tree that he’s hoping with be 20m tall next year. They look great and take up little space. Might pull the look together if you have room.

Does it matter if they’re old fashioned. Go for it. Garden centres all have alpine sections.

Yes, but grannycore is achingly cool

I'm planning a rockery, grow roses and sweetpeas.

I've rediscovered slips (my dresses sit so much better), vinyl, shopping trolleys, homebrew, sherry trifle and fondue sets over the last couple of years.

Our grandmothers knew what they were doing 😎

I’m always looking at the alpines in the garden centre, I think they’re really pretty. As long as it’s reasonably well maintained and not a scruffy mess I think it would look lovely!

Sorry it's a Guardian link-

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/apr/19/rockeries-are-back-in-fashion-say-british-garden-centres

I think gravel gardens are the new rockeries, but honestly unless you’ve got a load of money to spend on landscaping then you have to work with what you’ve got, and this sounds like a good idea. I’d love to see something different like a rockery with lovely alpine plants.

This is the space. DH wants to just whack down turf..

They got a bad press in-the early 70s when a-lot of people made “rockeries” by planting some small boulders in a flower bed. There followed lots of advice on how to make it appear to be a natural rock outcrop. (Actually, the people with gardens in the 60s and 70s would be great grannies rather than grannies )

Clearly there are fashions in gardening, but I find the idea that you have to pay attention to them in your own garden a bit laughable

I built a small rockery last year and I love it, currently my favourite part of the garden. It's been a bit hit and miss what had survived, but the things that did are flourishing, and I have restocked the bare patches with new things - there are lots of gorgeous alpines in the garden centre.

It is very important to get the underlying layer right, with lots of sand and grit so it is free draining.

I think it depends what you plant in it.

love a rockery.

I'd love a rockery! Thank you for the reminder (and the link!)

Can you re-brand it as "informal terracing with small perennials to bind the soil"?

I like marchintosprings idea - Mediterranean style if it’s a dry area - bay, rosemary, lavender, juniper or cypress trees, an olive tree?

I think that would look nice as a rockery type area.

It looks quite open so might be too bright for ferns. I agree with the recommendations for Mediterranean planting, thyme, creeping rosemary, oregano/marjoram would be nice

That picture is just crying out for a rockery. We made a simple one in lockdown as we dug out some borders and the easiest solution to get rid of the soil was to pile it up and make a rockery. Its not the prettiest it could be and oddly enough probably could do with a bit more soil, but it makes sense where it is and looks good. A couple of the alpines have now spread and are covering the bits of bare earth like a carpet and it looks much better for it.

I’m with your husband. I love a curving expanse of lawn rather than a flat.

I should add that DH has an acre of lawn elsewhere…. We really are not lacking in grass!

We have a rockery. I wanted to get rid of it, but it’s actually quite lovely, and not very ‘rocky’. In fact, you do struggle to see the rocks.

Granny chic is in, in gardens. Look how popular dahlias are now. Not long ago, we’d have turned up our noses.

I'm not. I think a rockery would look much nicer, and would need less maintenance than a lawn when complete.

I had no idea that there were trends in gardening (other than decking). I just work with what will do well.

Grim mowing that on a slope! And keeping the edge tidy….

low-growing shrubs like ceanothus, ( the creeping one) lavender, sage, prostrate rosemary, all the thymes will stabilise the bank and provide all year coverage , flowers in season, culinary additions. Depending on how far south you are, cistus are beautiful in their season. Not so much a rockery as a bank, though you might add some ‘feature ‘ rocks, hopefully reflecting your local geology.

How do you feel about hand weeding? And beware of conifers labelled as “dwarf” when they really mean “grows slowly but stealthily, in 20 years will rip your foundations out”. Otherwise the range of alpines available nowadays is absolutely lush! Call it a gravel garden but put rocks in to stabilise it and bob’s your uncle.