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 suppose you could plant through membrane if you really hate weeding (personally I love weeding, though always in gloves).

I always thought I didn't like rockeries until I went to RHS Wisley and saw theirs - absolutely stunning and completely changed my view of what a rockery could be. Go for it!

I've been looking at rock gardens since leather jackets destroyed my garden 😭I'm quite taken with something japanese inspired - acer trees, a small water feature, some gravel. Worth having a look for a different take on it.

So the update is that I’ve decided to use all the stone we have but since lots of it is smaller pieces I’m going to go with a Fernery rather than a traditional rock garden where the rocks might look a bit insignificant in the space. Ferns are bulky so should fill the gaps more easily. Bonus is that I also have an endless supply of ferns in the woodland.

I am going to use alpines elsewhere though and might put some in to accompany the ferns.

I have both a fernery and a terraced rockery of sorts, the rockery is on a slope behind my pond so provides lots of perfect nooks and crannies for frogs and toads. The fernery is great and requires very little maintenance.

I love a rockery, alpines are so delicate. My rockery surrounds a raised up pond in the sloping garden.

That’s very pretty @Beebumble2.

Think that’s a good plan Op. I love ferns ( sone round my “wild” 1m X1m “pond” area) Fernery sounds brilliant.
I hate alpines and succulents truth be told even though Beebumble2 has done an amazing job. I think build a nice sculpture out of the rocks.

That looks like a big area, I'd try to terrace it with rocks/mini walls and plant so that it spills over and gives some informality. Could have some alpine areas with in it.

It’s about 8m long and it’s on a slope of about 40 degrees over about a metre and a half ish before it levels off. DH is right that the simplest way is to turf it.

it already has a low retaining wall where it meets the path that runs along the east side of the house

That may be a challenge. Ferns tend to be plants of damp shade, whereas rock plants usually like free draining soil and a clear view of the sky, without fern fronds in the way.

Stumpary

Ive a large rockery (from previous house owners).
It looks great from April to end of June. Otherwise its dull. Not too much maintenance - its had lots of grit added, a pebble mulch, etc. My plan is to add some plants for interest from midsummer on.

I’ve seen some gorgeous stumperies recently , ones with beautiful artistic layouts , just to throw it into the mix . The RHS has some massive rockeries that they are planting as their drought proof gardens , so definitely not granny worthy though.

Is that 2-3 rocks - I would think you need 20-30 rocks.
The other thing is that you can't just lay them on the soil, they need to appear part of the slope. Also ferns like shade so would they work on a sunnyish spot.
But perhaps just plant lots of rockery plants like aubretia, ground cover phlox, campanula so you have a large areas of bright colour. hopefully for most of the spring and summer. And the small daffodils for the spring. And trailing plants to fall over the wall.

No we have loads of rocks from an old stone wall and just generally lying around. They’re not particularly big though. The area is to the east of the house so it gets some early morning sun but is then in shade

That’s good, I misunderstood.