The number one rule is, plant those rocks! Don’t leave them on top of the ground. They look like they fell off the truck. Each rock should have ¼ to 1/3 of it buried and the soil smoothed around them. Rocks in their natural state look this way, as they have been there for centuries with soil accumulating around them.

Secondly, never put rocks in a row. When have you ever seen rocks in their natural state lined up like soldiers? Never! Randomness is important. Plant irregular groupings of rocks, and intersperse those wonderful drought tolerant plants between them. Once in a while you can have a rock by itself, but again, not a lot of this or it gets repetitious. When you place rocks in a group, be careful not to plant them so the tops are even. Again, it helps to be a little random. Sometimes you can group three or more rather close together at the base of a slope and establish a planting area above. Let a little dirt cascade between the rocks. A row of rocks looks like a strafing run and needs to be avoided.

Sometimes if you can find the right two rocks, they can be placed close together and at the same plane (I know, I just told you NOT to do that, but bear with me) and can look like a rock that has broken. That’s pretty cool.

Watch the color and texture of the rocks. It’s good to get the ones that are similar close to one another. Another effective thing to do is to get the faces of the rocks at the same plane. Not necessarily lined up, but staggered at the same plane. In other words, the front surface of individual rocks may be upright from top to bottom, yet at an angle from side to side. Repeat the same side to side angle, but don’t line the rocks up.

So there you have it. Those are some basic ideas that can assist your hardscape design. However, the lesson on proper rock placement can be similar to my son’s experience with fine wine. He once asked a vintner to tell him what a good wine was. His answer was succinct; “If you like it, it is a good wine.” The same is true of your rockscape. If you like it, it is a good design.