Rockery Plants

How to choose rockery plants that last

Think in three roles. Structural plants give the rockery its bones: agaves and jade from our succulents and cacti range, a dragon tree where you want real scale, or a grass tree (Xanthorrhoea glauca) if you are happy to wait, since it adds only a centimetre or two of trunk a year. Fillers bring flowers and movement at knee height, with lavender, blue fescue and society garlic the reliable core. Spillers finish the job, tumbling over edges and knitting the stones together: Blue Chalk Sticks, creeping boobialla and seaside daisy all work hard here.

The honest trade off is speed against control. Quick spreaders such as seaside daisy (Erigeron karvinskianus) cover bare stone in a season but self seed readily and will jump into every pocket if allowed. Sculptural succulents hold their shape for years and never crowd a neighbour, yet a rockery planted only with slow growers looks bare for its first two summers. Mix both, and let the spillers run while the structure fills out.

Where rockery plants work hardest

A rockery is the practical answer to ground that defeats lawn and garden beds alike: slopes too steep to mow, shallow soil over rock, the baking strip beside a driveway, and terraced retaining walls. Seaside daisy and creeping boobialla are proven on walls and slopes, rooting as they spread and binding the surface as they go.

Climate sets the palette. In tropical and subtropical gardens, lean on lomandras, no mow grass and the tougher succulents, and skip blue fescue and cushion bush, which both struggle through humid summers. In cooler southern gardens the silver leaved classics come into their own, and Lomandra 'Lime Tuff' shrugs off frost, drought and coastal salt in one compact tuft around 40cm to 50cm high. In arid and semi arid districts, agaves, jade and Blue Chalk Sticks get by on occasional deep watering once established.

Planting and spacing among stone

Place the stones first, then plant into the pockets between them, filling each with a free draining mix rather than rich compost. Overfed rockery plants grow soft and lose their shape. The numbers that matter:

• Creeping boobialla: 1m apart. Each plant hugs the ground at about 15cm high and spreads to 2m.
• Blue Chalk Sticks and seaside daisy: 40cm apart for dense cover within a year.
• Lomandra 'Lime Tuff': 50cm apart for a continuous strappy band.
• French lavender: 60cm apart. It reaches about 1m each way and flowers most of the year in mild climates.
• Blue fescue at 30cm and dwarf mondo grass at 15cm for tight carpets between stepping stones.

Water new plantings deeply once or twice a week through their first summer. After that, most of this collection is genuinely drought tolerant and resents a daily sprinkle far more than a dry fortnight.

Keeping a rockery looking sharp

Maintenance is light but never zero. Shear spillers back from paths once a year, cut spent lavender heads to keep bushes tight, and pull seaside daisy seedlings from pockets where they are not wanted. Mulch with gravel rather than bark: it suits the setting, holds no moisture against succulent stems and stays put on a slope. Feed once with controlled release fertiliser in spring, and make sure winter drainage stays sharp, because more rockery succulents are lost to wet feet than to drought. Our waterwise garden guide covers watering settled plantings in more depth.

Common questions

What are the best plants for a hot rockery in full sun?

Structure first: agave, jade and Blue Chalk Sticks all hold their looks through heat bouncing off stone. Soften them with French lavender and society garlic. For hundreds more options, the full drought tolerant range is the place to browse.

Which rockery plants handle frost?

Lomandra 'Lime Tuff', blue fescue, seaside daisy, society garlic, creeping boobialla and the grass tree are all frost hardy. Most succulents are not, so in cold districts give agaves and jade the warmest, best drained pocket, or grow them in pots you can move.

How do I stop spreading groundcovers taking over?

Match the vigour to the space. Seaside daisy self seeds readily and suits big informal banks, while dwarf mondo grass and blue fescue stay exactly where they are put. An annual shear along the path edges keeps the quick ones honest.

Can I plant these into a retaining wall?

Yes. Seaside daisy and creeping boobialla are both rated for retaining walls and slopes and will cascade over the face within a couple of seasons. Our low maintenance groundcovers include plenty of other candidates.

How does delivery work?

Everything here is delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and no minimum order. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.