Lessons at the school of rock

Once this snow is out of the way (it tends to linger long and deep at nearly 1,000 feet up in the Pennines) I plan to do a bit of hard work. I plan to create a rockery (aka rock garden).

I can hear the gasps of horror from all over the county – he must be mad, they say. Why bust a gut on something which is so old-fashioned that it's almost a sin to mention its name?

The answer is that I like rockeries and if I had plenty of room to spare I would happily spend several years creating one which would be a large, plant-filled, constant source of pleasure. Sadly, I haven't the space and I haven't the inclination to produce a masterpiece

on an epic scale.

So, my rockery will be small but, hopefully, perfectly formed.

Rockeries are one of the greatest gifts to the gardener. At the outset, they help him build muscles, make use of unsightly pieces of rock dug up from various parts of the garden and allow him to hide a multitude of sins. Unfortunately, while rockeries have always been popular, very few have been successful – the majority end up becoming weed-filled eyesores.

Creating a rockery is more than digging the soil and throwing in a few pieces of stone. It takes planning and patience to construct a rockery – whether it's a large, formal affair or a small, informal one scarcely bigger than a shy and retiring flower bed.

Siting is vital, the quality of the rocks themselves can make or break a rockery (not to mention the rockery creator's back) and the choice of plants and the care and attention applied when they are actually being planted is equally important.

The most important thing is to dig over the site and remove every vestige of weed; it's heartbreaking to spend hours, days, weeks creating a rockery only to discover, months later, that some deep-rooted or spreading weed managed to avoid the initial ground clearance.

So, when the soil is turned and clean, add a bit of drainage to help with the drainage because alpine plants (which, let's face it, is what people grow in smaller rockeries) don't like their roots in waterlogged or heavy soil.

Then get to grips with the rocks themselves. With a big project, it could help to have a JCB handy; with a small rockery, a pair of heavy gloves and a bit of muscle should be sufficient.

Arrange the site to your satisfaction and then shed a tear or two, particularly if you paid a fair amount for your stone, because now you have to bury a good deal of it.

This not only looks good but it helps create all the little nooks and crannies which many alpine plants like. Then choose your plants. My small rockery will be filled with small, slow-growing, beautifully-flowering alpines – dwarf varieties of saxifrages, pinks, gentians and perhaps even a miniature and very slow-growing juniper.

And because I will be creating their home, I will also be able to create the ideal growing conditions for specific plants. Planting holes can be filled with the ideal mixture of compost to suit each plant. Once they are watered in, they can be surrounded by a mulch of gravel or even slate chips, which will not only help with the drainage but which will

also look good.

It may still be only January, and there may still be even more snow and ice to come before spring is brave enough to put in an appearance, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of forward planning. Just remember that.