Garden Accent Rocks

Being an avid gardener, I’m always looking for new and unique ways to enhance the look of our property. Many years ago, when constructing a detached garage we decided on building a brick lamp post beside the driveway, and, at least in my humble opinion it looked great.

One thing I did consider before building it though, was getting a rock placed at the front of the property, sort of like a “sentinel”, where a “Welcome” message, or maybe simply our house numbers could have been engraved. The trouble with getting a nice looking rock like this is it was a very expensive proposition, as not only was the purchase of the rock prohibitive, but then the additional expense of transporting it and erecting required the use of some pretty heavy duty machinery, which added to the already high costs.

And so, we settled on a lamp post.

The birth of the artificial rock industry

However, times have changed. It seems there’s a great practical alternative to natural rocks as a lawn ornament, and that’s the birth of the artificial rock industry. Considerably less expensive, and certainly a lot lighter to transport these have become very popular.

Built in all manner of shapes & styles, from artificial rock gate entries, artificial rock signs, even to artificial rock ponds, these have become within the reach of most gardeners. Many embrace modern technologies, like the addition of solar panels and dawn to dusk timers, allowing your driveway rock sign being illuminated all night.

There are pitfalls to watch for though, as not all artificial rocks are created equal. The cheaper variety are usually molded and come off a production line, so don’t think you’re buying something unique, as every neighbor that went to the same Big Box store will likely have the same model.

However, if you’re fortunate enough to find a local craftsman who’ll custom build an artificial garden accent rock specifically for you, then the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

I know if I was doing it over again, then the money spent on our lamp post would have gone into a decorative artificial rock sign.