My fairy garden rockery
Posted by Gaynor Wood on
When I decided to start work on my garden a couple of weeks ago I knew one of the biggest tasks would be getting my rockery back to its former glory. I absolutely love it and it's a key part of my fairy garden. I first made it in 2018 and some of the painted stones could do with a fresh coat and a few of the plants have died back, but it's an excuse to reimagine it and make it look new.
Initially, this part of my garden was just overgrown grass. When I first decided I wanted a rockery, I had to dig up all the grass and weeds, which was no picnic. I put a weed sheet cover about 8 inches down to stop those pesky things from coming back and put some fresh soil on top. The plants in my rockery don't need much soil to thrive.
Next, I fenced off a corner with wooden log edging for my fairy garden rockery. We had some hollow concrete blocks left from building work, which we stacked to form the back of my rockery. They add different layers to my rockery and the hollow spaces are great for planting flowers that would cascade down. First though, I had to paint them with masonry paint to make them look nicer.
I filled the gaps with compost and planted lemon fizz, king alfred (achillea) and campanula, which have lovely flowers at different times of the year. And I planted clematis next to the wall so that my rockery would have plants that grow upwards and downwards. The only downside was that that it would take some time for my rockery to reach full effect. I also wanted to plant some plants in the ground part of my rockery so I made some rings of stones into which I planted succulent plants and sedum putting some extra compost around them to lift them up slightly. I then filled in my rockery with Cotswold chippings and large pebbles from the garden centre.
For the finishing touches I added fairies and houses until my garden looked magical. I also included trolls and a bridge plus other miniatures. It evolved over time, growing in different ways and the plants looked fantastic. But unfortunately, a miserable winter has killed off some of the succulents and a few plants needed tidying up so this has been my garden project this last week. I wanted to add some new plants and a few extras too.
To help fill the space I placed a potted fairy garden from elsewhere in my garden at the back. It works wonderfully well and helps add more layers. The 'plum pudding' and 'kingfisher blue' add some more colour as my other flowers aren't in bloom. I also swapped over some of my fairy houses and figures to change the scene, swapping out the bridge for a pond. Unfortunately, some of these fairy ornaments have faded as they have been left out for some time now and through a harsh winter. Luckily, I have some outdoor paint to brighten them up.
A nice feature of my rockery is the fairy stones, which I have painted with fairies and gnomes using weather resistant paint. However, after nearly two years the paint has started to wear away. I took the time to refresh them up too.
One of my fairy homes is one I made myself from a recycled watering can. I know the fairies like recycled items and although my houses and doors look fantastic, the homemade watering can house is something a little different. I painted the can with lovely stencilled flowers and cut out the door using the 6L written on it as a door number. I then put a small plant pot into the top to add some flowers.
My rockery now looks better than ever. I can now look forward to spending more time in my garden even more. Although my garden is never finished and I will always enjoy growing my fairy garden.
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