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?


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20 thoughts on “I’m a Fan of Rocks”

  1. Neat! You saved a lot of money and made a good haul. It is always great to find something like that, it makes you feel clever and thrifty. I look forward to seeing what you do with them.

  2. I figured you to be a "rock"it man! And don't let that "groundhog" near your garden!

    (I'm sorry to report that late blight has found its way into our garden. I'm not sure how many tomatoes will get, hopefully one or two before they're all dead!)

  3. I love rocks too. They are so expensive now and you are lucky to know someone who has them to give away. About that last photo – my first thought was a squirrel.

  4. Out of the corner of my eye, I first thought it looked like a beaver…then I thought, no, it looks more like a bear, sitting on his butt. 🙂 A little weasle-y, too! I do love rocks, too, and I can see a pile of those beauties going into a wonderful water feature! (With the beaver! Hee.)

  5. O noez it's ROCKZILLA!!!! lol

    I just love those rocks! You are very fortunate to come across such a wonderful find.

  6. Great rocks! Up here in Iowa, our Winters will often cause the less dense rocks to split… as was the case in the rock walkway I began last Summer that I had to take apart this Spring. Oh well, now I have lots of rocks doing other jobs! 🙂

    Your upright rock? Either a little dinosaur or a hippo rising out of the goo!

  7. I say he looks like a Rock Chuck, which are abundant on the rock outcroppings around here. I actually believe them to be related to the ground hog family. Mormots or something like that. Hard to know exactly as everyone in Idaho uses Idaho slang to describe things. It used to be funny not it's not so much.

  8. Looks like a dinosaur to me. I didn't read the other comments, but will go back after posting this to see what the others think. What a great bunch of rocks too. Having muscles and a truck sure comes in handy sometimes. The great thing about rocks is that they can be placed and then moved about over the year's as your design changes. They never wear out! 🙂
    Frances

  9. Careful, before you know it you'll be hauling rocks to big to move.

    That rock looks like about the right size bottle opener for the bottle of beer I want after working in today's heat.

  10. I visited the same man last weekend as well. But with only a car's trunk to my access I had to settle for about 20 or so nice finds. I used them for stepping stones to my front deck.

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