If you aren’t lucky enough to have a flat lot, don’t give up your garden dreams. These rock garden ideas are perfect for landscaping on a slope, and they are real show stoppers. It takes a little prep work, but you can customize your design for backyard or front and use succulents, flowers or alpine rock garden plants. And trust us, it will be worth it. Just check out these step by step tutorials, inspirational rock garden designs, and best picks for rock garden plants to tame that slope. Not only will it no longer be the bane of your gardening existence, it will be the prettiest spot in the yard!

Rock Garden Ideas

Landscaping on a Slope

When landscaping on a slope, there are certain tips and tricks that can help you have a more natural looking, low maintenance landscape. Rock gardens are the perfect solution, but you may want to read up on some “how-to’s” before your order a dump truck full of stones.  ‘HGTV‘ has a full primer on how to make a rock garden. The Fockele Garden Company showed them just how they get it done, complete with tips on soil, choosing rocks, rock placement and more.

‘Old House Journal‘ has a step by step plan for landscaping on a slope. They also have some simple rock garden ideas that will save you a lot of time and money. One of the top tips we read that we hadn’t seen yet? Rocks retain heat, so choose plants that can handle staying drier.

If you need to create your own slope, then ‘Fine Gardening‘ has a great post by a woman who built her own front yard rock garden. She shares her 3 best tips, her soil recipes and maintenance tricks.  Lots of photos of the plants she used, and of the process over time.

Rock Garden Design Ideas

Lots of inspiration for adding value to your home with rock garden ideas from ‘The Creativity Exchange‘. Great photos on landscaping with rocks and boulders, and showing how adding a rock garden even to a flat yard adds interest!

Check out tons of great ideas for landscaping on a slope with a rock garden from ‘BHG‘. Ideas for rock garden plants, front yard landscaping with rocks, even drought tolerant rock gardens.

Jump on over to ‘HGTV‘ and check out 30 gorgeous rock garden designs to get you itching to pull out that shovel! Lots of tips and guidelines too…

Rock Garden Plants

Most rock gardens thrive in full sun, with low water plants that can be tucked between stones and that won’t overpower the space. Photo by ‘BHG‘.

Best rock garden plants for most yards?

• Sedum
• Snow in Summer
• Thrift
• Ice Plant
• Salvia
• Penstemon
• Rock cress
• Creeping Thymes
• Fescues
• Saxifraga

So if you are landscaping on a slope, these rock garden ideas and designs should help you solve that problem. And if you aren’t, well make a rock garden anyway, just because they are beautiful and low maintenance! We think you will also love our posts on DIY Garden Ideas with Rocks and Desert Garden and Landscape Ideas. Also check out our post on Best Hikes and Things to Do in Joshua Tree, if you ever want to visit a real life, life changing, “rock garden”!