Front Yard Landscaping Ideas: How to Add a Rock Garden

Adding a rock garden to your front yard is a great way to improve your curb appeal and add some extra interest to your landscaping. In this video, I'll show you how to create a rock garden in your own front yard, using rocks, plants, and soil. You'll be able to finish this project in just one day!

[@SenorPistola]

The Bob Ross of gardening. 😎

[@brocktoon8]

LOVE the idea of making a rock garden over stumps!

[@hera6341]

I've tried placing rocks and it always looks bad. With your pointers I believe I know how to achieve your look. I absolutely love this bed with the rock.

[@andrewlindeman9737]

Would love to see that next year with some growth on the plants. Thanks for the videos!

[@atilamatamoros7499]

Only aficionados work barehands with such materials

[@kimmicannon5629]

Wonderful ideas. Thank you for showing me how to elevate my rock garden. What a beautiful rock garden.

[@lovekrav]

Great work and ideas!

[@yuliafirzon3794]

I watch your amazing videos for ideas and inspiration. I am a very big fan of contouring and rocks 👍🏻

[@Anonymously4051]

Beautiful and inspiring. Thank you.

[@IlovePumping]

This is the best video I've seen on Landscaping with rock. Thank you for your video. Well edited and to the point.

[@limeygal1]

I just found this so I want to thank you. I have some stumps like your and didn't know what to do with that area.I don't have a big space but I'm going to do the same thing. It will be just a small rock garden on it's own.

[@dakotakyd]

Good video! Thanks

[@BruceC451]

Those mounds that you’ve created will direct water back towards your foundation which is the last thing you want. If you live in an area subject to heavy rainfall you’re inviting a flooded basement. This design is attractive and appropriate for locations at least 10 feet from a building foundation. Best practice is to always slope away from a building.

[@gardenhike]

Good advice. This project happened to have its foundation grade set up to move water right to left with a good slope down, as you look at the photo/video from the front. So I felt comfortable placing the berm where I did. If you look closely at the KZbin thumbnail photo, right in front of where I’m kneeling, I also left a separation in the berm where water can flow out.

[@dinoraportillo6863]

Love it

[@adam_c_music]

I like this

[@GDSavingThePast]

Nice looking finished job. Thanks for sharing the process. I live in an area of Colorado where weeds are a problem so I was surprised you didn't lay down some kind of weed barrier. Is that not necessary

[@chipdouglas1079]

The work you did here was beautifully creative, and you explained and demonstrated it wonderfully. Really well done! I would be extremely appreciative if you could lend your advice on my new home (blank canvas) landscaping project. The area in which we live can become extremely windy at times. For this reason, I don’t believe mulch is an option for the planting beds; instead, we are looking to do rock/gravel in these areas. I hear so many mixed opinions on whether or not to use landscaping fabric under the rock that my head is spinning at this point. What is your opinion on using the fabric in this case? Also, is there a particular size of rock and at what depth would you recommend as the foundational base for the beds? Thanks

[@gardenhike]

Yes, I would stick with a decorative rock if you are very windy. Here are some reasons why I avoid using fabrics: * Additional expense for product * Additional time for installation * Sediment can build up on the fabric, providing a germination layer for many weeds within a few years. * Adding and removing plants when dealing with the fabric layer is more difficult. * It is more challenging to build natural contours in beds when using fabric. * Plants will naturalize better long-term by self-seeding and layering, where fabric is avoided. You will have more weeds when not using fabric in the first couple of years. This is not a problem if you like working in your yard doing hand weeding and don't mind using weed killer sprays occasionally to help with the task. After the second year, I see little difference in the time required to keep areas weed-free, whether fabric was used or not. If you choose not to use fabric and are bringing in topsoil for your project, ensure it is high quality and primarily weed-free. Existing, aggressive invasive plants should be killed off beforehand, too. There are also many grades of fabric. Some let less water through than you might think. Others are so thin that weeds can break through if your rock/mulch covering is thin and exposed to light. If you don't mind a bit extra early work and plan on changing out plants occasionally, go fabric-free. If you want it to look "clean" immediately and have no interest in changing out plants, go with fabric. You'll eventually need to do annual weed maintenance either way. Regarding the depth of rock, 2-3 inches is standard in my area. A 1.5-2" size is the most common and will say put in windy conditions. Hope this helps!

[@jasonscoggins01]

Awesome Beautiful

[@ameenahnadirah8895]

GREAT JOB...CAN YOU HELP ME DO MY HOUSE TOO...🏠 🙂

[@ilonask8354]

❤

[@michelethompson7300]

How do you keep the weeds out of the rock garden?

[@gardenhike]

Hand weeding and occasional spot spraying with herbicides for weeds that are difficult to pull. It’s only the first year that you really have to stay on top of it (weekly attention). I also have a good source for quality topsoil that is “clean”.

[@myk1200s]

So I'm just curious as I also have some yews that I would like to remove. By cutting them down and Not removing the stump isn't there the possibility that suckers will grow off the stump ❓

[@gardenhike]

With an evergreen like a Yew it is highly unlikely. Deciduous plants, yes. You could place a piece of black 6mil poly over the stump area to be certain. I have done this on other jobs.

[@myk1200s]

@@gardenhike appreciate your response. Great content 😁👍

[@pang-ngiavang1956]

How do you deal with weeds?

[@gardenhike]

We mostly hand weed and use some herbicide for hard to pull ones.

[@harrelltaylor4860]

What would you charge to do a job like that?

[@gardenhike]

The scope of the whole project was about two days. Site prep, labor, materials, and transportation = $2500

[@annorr11]

Use of threes is a basic premise of good design. You have one boulder that in my minds eye seems to dominate your project, not in the most pleasing way. Adding two more strategically placed would balance this rock garden and give it a better esthetic. 10:04 😅

[@gardenhike]

Yep, it's a big rock! But on landscape remodels, you can only sometimes do what you want and usually settle for what you can do. The rock was already in this location, and moving it or bringing in additional large boulders to balance the equation is not a hundred-dollar question but a thousand-dollar question. Moving rocks that size puts you into a new tier of equipment: A loader big enough to lift them, a trailer big enough to haul the loader, a truck big enough to pull the trailer, a driver with a commercial license, etc. Then, you must factor in the damage a large loader can do when driving over an existing sidewalk, paver deck, lawn area, and concrete edging. It adds up quickly, and budgets matter. It's like a load-bearing wall in a house remodel. You might want to remove the wall for an open concept, but…. So, I made the rock a focal point and balanced the area by building up soil behind the back and two sides so it would stick out less and better blend into the area. The plantings have also since filled in nicely, which has softened the area. I used a grouping of three Karl Foerster grasses (already 3-4 feet tall) to achieve the "rules of 3" design principle you suggested. Sure, the initially finished landscape looks dominating, but landscapes and gardens take time to develop. It's like walking into a room in a house with no furniture; it looks bare at first. But when you add furniture, it softens the area. The plants have done the same thing, and the landscape looks completely different and more balanced even as quickly as one year later.

[@Yates__]

Looked better before.

[@reiverdaemon]

A plain blob of a bush does NOT look better lol

[@CLEconitropicalsZ6]

@@reiverdaemonexactly lol, plus a giant shrub covering half the house just looks so boring, it needed some color anyway