Turtles sunbathing, small beetles living between the cracks of the earth, bees collecting pollen from flowers, aromatic plants resistant to drought. The ecosystem of a rock garden is full of life considering that there are many and varied possibilities for its design; as it can represent a miniature seaside or tropical landscape, extend over a slope or flat ground, contain hills, stone walls or even be crossed by a small stream.
A rock garden landscape-construction project was launched last spring by trainees of the 4th semester 2023-2024, at the School of Higher Vocational Education in Attica of EL.G.O. Dimitra, at Syggros’ estate of Marousi.1
I was called upon to assist as an agronomist engineer and educator to undertake the scientific coordination of the group of trainees, in order to complete the study, that they had prepared during the previous four months of their studies.
The idea of compiling the study aimed at creating an ecosystem resistant to water shortage, through to the selection of appropriate vegetation and the ecological, sculptural use of stone material. The initial idea was modified in terms of the geometric characteristics of the landscape-construction and its dimensions were agreed upon: a spiral shape of three meters base, that rises to a height of one meter approximately.
During the construction of the rock garden, we determined the
possibilities of the location and land uses by enhancing the points that would
make the flow in the garden more legible. Furthermore, a feature that we
identified in the area under intervention concerns the fact that its topography
displays a slight slope, and in this case, this condition prompted us to create
a small habitat that slightly breaks the ground ‘s slope.
he materials used in the project were stones ¾small, medium and large¾ in combination with clay soil, silt and a little straw; all mixed with
water. The creation of the structure was carried out manually over a period of
twenty days, in order to homogenize, compress and stabilize the aforementioned
mixture on the skeleton formed by the stones.
An important parameter that was taken into account is the assumption
that the basis of a garden of this type does not only concern the visual
arrangement of the stones, but mainly the analysis of the space that extends and
also the appropriate selection of plants. In this way, an environment
hospitable to certain endemic and introduced species, is created.
The elevation of the walls evolved depending on the mixture’s drying
time, as it is not useful in a very wet form, nor in a very dry one; it is important
it to be in a castable consistency. After the walls had dried and sufficiently
solidified, smaller stones were placed in the gaps between them and their
consolidation was carried out by adding the mixture.
Based on the study, the plants that are to be installed in the rock
garden are recommended to function as vegetative volumes that complement the
scale of the rocks, to be combined harmoniously and chromatically with them. In
the initial idea, we sought to include species that could serve as pollination
attractants, as every garden is perceived as more alive when surrounded by the
fauna that inhabits it, especially in anthropogenic urban habitats.
Essentially, we applied a method that bears many characteristics of the
Cob style, which combines construction methods with a very low environmental
impact, allowing the use of local materials from the region that are resistant
to climate change and are easily processed.
These processes are influenced by mechanical and chemical properties of
the soil such as particle size, the stability of inert materials, the content
of organic matter, the amount and type of clay layers. Soil characteristics
that determine the structure of the earth and the transmission of water within
it.
Our aim was to use existing geotechnical materials with high landscape
re-creation capabilities in order to integrate them into a proposal that offers
at the user an experience by transmitting interest, tranquility and
naturalness.
Our vision was the emergence of a visually attractive and functional space of natural ecological elements ¾with educational content¾ which final stereometry was sculpted by hands that combine knowledge of land cultivation with traditional stone construction techniques.
The result of the collective effort is a space that mostly integrates the characteristics of the place where we intervene, as an intersection between ground sculpture, landscape architecture, floriculture and botany, to play a decisive role in public space.
The final form of the rock garden resembles a Nautilus’ shape, which is a
genus of cephalopod mollusks, one of the three species that survive today. Its
origin dates back to the end of Cambrian period, which is determined from 570,000,000
to 510,000,000 years ago. This genus diversified greatly during the Upper
Paleozoic and its species gradually disappeared, almost completely, during the
Cenozoic, which means that Nautilus is considered a living fossil.
Sources:
1. Ellinikos Georgikos Organismos - DIMITRA | UCP Knowledge Network
1. 2. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautilus
If you like to see more photos and read the text in other language you
can follow the links:
- in greek, https://enterioni.blogspot.com/2025/05/blog-post.html
- in spanish, https://enterioni.blogspot.com/2025/05/un-jardin-de-rocas-llamado-nautilos-en.html
I would like to thank Violeta Ortega-Navarrete for the corrections and
observations that has made in English translation of the text.
Photos and videos are taken in the historical ecosystem of Syggros’ estate, in
Amarousion of Ática.
Text, photos and videos by © Dimitris Geronikos.
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