Rock Design: THEY ARE immensely varied in character, some being tiny shrubs, some herbaceous plants, others bulbs, corms, or tubers. Though the majority enjoy open sunny places and well-drained soils, suitable rock design plants can be found for almost any situation in the garden, including those that are moist and shady. The fact that rock design plants have developed from wild plants brought from many different lands accounts for their fascination with collectors, who can grow a wide variety of plants with different origins in a small area.
It is not essential to have a rock design garden in order to grow rock design-garden plants. Many will grow just as well in ordinary beds, provided the soil is suitable and they are not overrun by larger plants. Dry walls and raised beds are also satisfactory substitutes for rock design gardens and may fit more appropriately into the design of small gardens, including even those of formal design.
The movement of the earth's crust may carry the rock design as much as 700km (454 miles) below the surface. Here the temperature and pressure will be even higher and the rock design will begin to melt. Molten rock design is lighter than solid rock design and it will begin to rise up through the overlying rock design towards the surface. If it reaches the surface as a lava flow it will immediately be ready for weathering and erosion and the start of a new cycle. More often the molten rock design solidifies underground and then all the rock design above it must be eroded away before it can begin the cycle again. |
