Use any kind of a ledge that might exist on your property, or if you don’t have one then just bury a few rocks to give the look that you want and continue with your creation.

Begin with a small area until you decide if you like the look. You can always expand later on down the road.

Start out with a 4×4 or a 6×6 area of ground. That will make a perfectly reasonable rock garden. You can add a few small features to it or even a tiny water feature if you like, depending on what you’re trying to create.

There are purists out there who will tell you that your rock garden should only contain those things that might grow naturally in a rock area, with bad soil and good drainage. Believe them if you like or simply add what you think will grow well there.

Desert climates can easily intermingle with some cactus, some deer grass or other native grasses with the cacti, while also adding a few flowering bushes such as the Arizona yellowbells to a rock garden in a desert area.

The northern climates can well handle things like lupine, bluebells and other things that go well in higher altitudes and drier soils.
When you select your plants for your own garden, take a look around you and see what is naturally occurring in the rocky outcroppings. You can always add to these but try to use some native shrubs and grasses. Use plants that are geared toward your own environment and save yourself an immense amount of work

For our Pennsylvania rock garden we built in the shady areas and built it as a sampler of northern plants, Foxglove and Lady Slippers did very well here, as did a small sampling of teaberries and some staghorn moss.

Nebraska lends itself well to prairie plantings of course, with some of the colorful native plants there making the garden more easy care for the summer and the wintertime.

Scope out the rocky areas in your climate and find out what’s growing there and try to plant native if you can, selecting grasses, shrubs and flowers that grow well in the rocky areas in your particular environment. You will find that you can pretty much use anything that grows naturally in your area. If you like the look of a rock garden, it doesn’t matter what climate you live in you can have your own if you choose plants wisely.