Landscapes: When you have rocks, design a rock garden – Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

From the mountains to the desert and back to the Pacific Ocean, Southern California rocks in more ways than one.

Yards, especially in communities hugging the foothills, are filled with them. Anyone who has had a swimming pool installed, or simply gardens, knows the ground below is packed with them. Sometimes playfully called regional potatoes, theyve been distributed by rains by way of alluvial plains and scattered by earthquakes. Instead of hauling them away, some gardeners shrug and say, when you have rocks, make rock gardens.

Rockhound Nancy Bird of La Habra enjoys the thrill of the hunt and the colorful prizes that can be harvested from the earth. She can tell you exactly where to find and collect them, including Bureau of Land Management lands. Best of all, theyre free.

You can go on to any BLM land and collect a trunk load a day, and most people dont have a clue, said Bird, a proponent of residents enjoying their public lands. The Mojave Desert is simply a jewel in our backyard.

Recreational rockhounding, as it is technically called, is defined as the non-commercial collecting of rocks, minerals and fossils, according to governing laws, rules and regulations. Individuals are allowed to collect reasonable amounts of rocks on non-developed recreations sites/areas.

One great place for large, colorful boulders, easily accessible by a regular car, is to take theMinneola Road exit off I-15, go over the freeway, then any dirt road on the left has plenty. This is past Calico a few miles, she said.

Other good sites includePisgah Crater (take the Hector Road exit off I-40), which is an extinct volcano with lava rock and agates; Bell Mountain, north of Victorville on Stoddard Mountain Road, which has black jade and verde antique; and the site of Lucky Baldwins onetime gold mine outside Big Bear, where chryosocolla can be found. There are barite minerals in Palos Verdes, fossils in Topanga Canyon, actinolite in Wrightwood and snowflake obsidian next to the Salton Sea.

Its much easier and safer to go with a group, she said. And there are plenty of those. California is home to 120 mineralogical clubs that focus on different aspects of earth science (cfmsinc.org). Most support field trips, lectures programs and shows.

A veteran collector dating back to her days as a child camping with her family and later in college when a geology class got her hooked, Bird is past president of two local gem and mineral societies as well as the Year Around Garden Club in Whittier. She combines both hobbies in her small yard and offers others advice on how others can do the same. In fact, shes lecturing on the subject Sept. 14 at the Los Angeles Arboretum. Her presentation is appropriately called, Garden Rocks.

You can buy rocks, but I get bored with white and black ones, which are the most common, she said. I like the shiny, sparkly ones, the reds, oranges and yellows. (A red jasper) will stand next to a plant and provide just as much interest and dimension to a landscape as a plant will.

Rocks and geology are science, which is never-ending learning, she added. Thats what I love about rock collecting and what I love about horticulture, a science, too. I think we dont have enough love of science in this world. Its what makes our world.

Bird loves sharing her interests at gem and mineral shows, especially with young people. I love to give rocks to kids, she said. They love them. Too many people tell kids, what do you need with another rock? I say getting more rocks should be encouraged and not discouraged. Children dont realize that rocks are a part of science. There is no such thing as too many rocks.

In her upcoming class, Bird will provide handouts on rules and resources for those ready to get digging along with maps. And shell discuss three types of rocks sedimentary (sandstone, for example), igneous (volcanic) and metamorphic (those that have changed).

Once you have your rocks, then what? Dominic Masiello of DP Environments, a landscape design company in Arcadia, says to use them strategically in your yard. They can become natural focal points, adding height and texture to bland landscapes. Consider them to line pathways and to take the place of mulch, he said.

Another great way to use rock is by creating accent ribbons through hardscape, Masiello said. This technique softens up expansive concrete patios and pathways by breaking it up visually with a different texture. For example, using a darker colored rock around a lightly colored concrete creates not only adds texture, but dramatic color contrast, giving the landscape a professionally designed aesthetic.

Dry stream beds also have become an increasingly popular element in landscapes. Usingvarious sizes of rocks and gravel to mimick a stream provides an organic feel that works well with a California native garden. Choosing the right plants, of course, also is important.

Smaller gravel can be a great filler in between gaps of natural flagstone patios and pathways, Masiello said. It provides contrast to the flagstone as well as a porous joint for drainage.For this reason, flagstone paths and patios that are dry-set, meaning set without using a concrete sub-base and set with gravel instead, are becoming more desired.

When: 9:30 a.m.-noon, Sept. 14

Where: Palm Room at the Los Angeles Arboretum, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia

Cost: $25; register beforehand or pay at the door

Information: 626-821-4623

Resources

Majesta Ms A to Z Jewelry Supply, 6991 Warner Ave., Huntington Beach; 714-292-3653, also on Facebook and Pinterest

Nevada Mineral & Book Co., 342 S. Tustin St., Orange; 714-633-1549;minbooks.net. Sells a variety of earth science publications.

Mining Supply and Rock Shop,9565 C Ave., Suite K, Hesperia; 760-244-9642; miningsuppliesandrockshop.com. Offers classes and single-day field trips, $40 for six consecutive trips once a month.

Bureau of Land Management, blm.gov/california

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Landscapes: When you have rocks, design a rock garden - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin