The Rockery

Horticulturist's Tour

Listen to NFATC Horticulturist Darren DeStefano discuss designing this garden for sustainability and enjoyment throughout the year.

So, this planting was done following the completion of the Cafeteria Annex and was really made to create something to look at, but also to exhibit elements, subtle elements, of sustainable design.

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So, there's a patio that goes between the Cafeteria Annex and the planting, and there's a narrow cut that goes through that patio that's lined with trees and covered with cobblestone.

The cut itself was backfilled with nothing but pure gravel, 57. So, relatively large chunky gravel that was dumped in the pit. And then soil from campus was placed on top and washed in with a hose. And this is a cheap way to create a structural soil.

Then we covered that cut with cobblestone, which was dry fit, so that's permeable paving. So, all of the water that falls on the patio washes into this trench and then feeds the trees that then shade over the eating area.

The Rockery itself was built on this small slope that was created from the construction, and the approach was simple: to bring in a bunch of boulders to line the area, creating planting pockets. Then bring in trees, set them into the pockets, and then backfill it with a fine gravel and plant it further with different species to create a rock garden out of the space. And that in turn really facilitates the absorption of the stormwater that was flowing towards the drains that are right at the base of the Rockery. 

So, what used to happen in the space is that the rain would fall and that it would pour off the side of the cafeteria, and from down the slope towards the oaks go down into the pipe, and then disappear to the water treatment plant. But now that we have the permeable paved patio plus the Rockery in place, almost all of the stormwater is intercepted, and the drains don't really flow unless we're in a real flood condition.

The Rockery itself is, it's one of my favorite plantings on campus. It's something that you can sit inside or outside and look at and find points of interest across the year. I mean, in the depth of winter, it's got the stone spine that holds the planting together, as well as this pendulous tree in there that is, it's a redbud.

It's a Texas redbud that has a wicked medusa-like head that I think looks fabulous with no canopy where you can see the intricacy of the whole thing. It's also got witch hazel that flower very early in the season, followed by a symphony of spring bulbs as well as some flowering trees, there's redbuds across it. 

But there's also plants for summer. There’s Gomphocarpus, this plant that produces these blooms, these hairy balls that are growing off of the stems that really bring in monarch butterflies that are always there to see in the late summer.

And it produces some of the most dramatic early fall foliage, too, with the witch hazels turning a really vibrant red. So, this is a planting for all seasons and worthy of a window.

It was done pretty early on in my plantings on campus. And it had a lot of emphasis. This was not something that I could create and allow to evolve. It was something that actually had to deliver right away and had a built-in audience. So, there wasn't a lot of room for exploration. I usually went with plants that I knew would work, and I mixed it up to the greatest degree that I felt possible. I wanted to make it interesting, engaging, but I also wanted to make it successful. 

And it's one of the plantings when I look back at the pictures and I see what resulted from the construction, and then I see what's there now. It's one of those that, it didn't have to grow for a decade before it became something. It looked good right away. And it's a planting, although small, remains one of my favorites.