Recently I saw a documentary about the "Gardens of Horror" where house owners cover their front yard complete with small stones. Shocking pictures for a nature lover and garden designer!
A Complete Garden of Stones?
They are often touted as the easiest way to maintain a garden from sellers of these stones and rocks. Young families buying a property with a garden for the first time are quickly drawn to this "design" - even it is not cheap to install.
Why the strictly-cut Taxus, why the gravel garden that welcomes the returning person in his suburban settlement in the evening? There is probably longing for control: If I am pushed and controlled at work during the day - in my garden I decide what grows and what doesn't. An illusion - and by the way: The gravel garden will take care of itself. After a year or two, people will see dandelions boring their way through the gravel. And then in fall, leaves from neighboring trees that will stick between the stones, pioneer plants like birches, for example, that the wind blows in: Wait and see.
What are the Reasons for This?
In inner-city locations, professional activity usually stands in the way of the hobby of gardening. Even though gardening is a soothing and rewarding hobby. Here it is less a question of visual or aesthetic reasons than of the time factor. But what are folks doing with the time they gain? Watching Netflix I assume.
More Weeds - More Work!
Erroneously, rockeries seem to require the least maintenance, but this is not true. They only look good for the first month after installation... But after a short time, the first weeds appear - which can hardly be removed because the tiny roots clinch to the plastic foil underneath the stones. This plastic foil is touted by the garden centers as "keeping the weeds underneath from sprouting - which is not true. The majority of weeds are blowing in by the wind or are carried by birds. They then settle on the stones, creep between them, and happily grow and seeds, bringing even more weeds to life. In autumn, leaves from the surrounding area fly between the stones and can only be removed individually with great effort. So, no little bit of labor-saving!
What Effect do Rock Gardens Have on the Microclimate?
Besides the visual "greying" of the cities, rockeries have very negative effects on the microclimate: Due to the lack of greenery and trees, the stones heat up in summer and give off heat to the surroundings. Since the stones also store the heat, the garden or the soil cannot cool down even at night. Water-impermeable gravel beds prevent rainwater from seeping into the ground and thus promote the drying out of the soil.
Negative Effects on Flora and Fauna
Due to the lack of vegetation, insects, birds, and other animals have a harder time finding food and habitat. Of course, there are also rockeries that take these aspects into account, but they are rather the exception. Individual stones in the garden between the trees, bushes, and flowers look attractive. But a whole front garden crammed with stones...
A property with a normally laid out front garden sells better, as the buyer does not have to expect large additional costs for the redesign. In contrast, rock gardens can only be re-naturalized with great effort and corresponding costs - these costs must be taken into account by the buyer when purchasing.
Rock gardens are not good for the air quality or the vegetation and they are at the expense of nature. In the end, they have a negative influence on our quality of life.
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