I'm a Fan of Rocks

The title of this post says it all. If I can move a rock I'll put it somewhere! Thanks to a garden club friend (Evelyn) I found out about a man named Barry who was clearing part of his property so that his wife could have horses. Unfortunately for Barry, and very fortunately for me and several other rock collectors, there are tons of rock on his property. I filled up a truck load with a variety of shapes and sizes of rocks. Some were quite large and were a challenge to move while others were easy to carry in one hand and perfect for garden bed borders.


I anticipated weaving my way through brush trying to locate rocks that were just barely sticking above the surface while dodging chigger infested foliage.  I was prepared for this. A can of bug spray was in the truck, along with more "hole"y gloves, a shovel and a hoe/cultivator to help pry the rocks from the unyielding. I thought I would need all of these items, thankfully I was wrong! Barry had cleared most of the area by turning the rocks over with his tractor. The only challenge was my own physical abilities and how much I could haul in the back of the truck. As you can see I challenged myself!

I'm not quite sure how much rock I managed to haul. I'm estimating it to be about 2-3 pallets worth. Since each pallet would cost at a garden center $150-200 I feel very good about my haul.  Now comes the challenge of situating all the rocks in the right places. Some have already been placed when I want them while others are awaiting the time and attentions of the resident gardener.

Many of the rocks had interesting shapes. Here's one that I thought was more of a sculpture than just a rock. I placed it upright where a 'Black and Blue' Salvia just died. My wife and I have a debate as to what the rock looks like. I won't tell you what either of us think it is until you've given me your perspective.

What do you think this rock looks like?