Rock Collection Creations

Rock collecting has been a hobby of mine since I was barely able to walk. I picked up the hobby of rock collecting from my favorite grandma. Every summer we would go to our land up in Minnesota and she would find the most amazing rocks to bring home. I caught the bug early and never lost it. I have managed to gather quite an impressive collection of rocks over the years.

Anyone that has a hobby of collecting rocks knows that the one problem with the hobby is finding ways to display and use the rocks. The larger your collection grows, the more this becomes a real issue. I have been building a vacation/retirement home on a lake up in Minnesota for the past few years. This has given me an excellent chance to do some amazing things with my rock collection.

Some things that I have managed to do with my rocks required nothing more than a lot of good hard work. Other projects, such as creating a safety barrier for my house, required using a bobcat. I do not own a bobcat but, they are actually fairly inexpensive to rent. If you have huge rocks to move, there is no better way to get the job done. What you choose to use your rock collection for may hinge on the size of your collection. Here are a few of my favorite ideas for putting an good sized rock collection to use.

Using Rocks For A Decorative Border:
I have included photos for each of my rock collection ideas. You will notice that the first photo shows how I used my rock collection to add a decorative border all around my house. This was a very simple process. I gathered up a few small rocks at a time and lined them around the base of my house.

Using all different shapes and sizes made the beauty of the rocks stand out. I think it shows off the collection if you make a point of putting round rocks next to sharp shaped rocks and so on. I kept the size of the rocks used for the border down to approximately three pound rocks or less so that it was easy for me to carry and place each of the rocks. As you can see in the photo, I also added some solar lights every few feet to showcase the rocks in the evening as well as during the day.

Lining Trees and Driveways With Rocks:
The longer you have a hobby like rock collecting, the more likely you are to have some fairly nice sized rocks. At forty five, I have managed to collect more than enough to use them for projects like lining my driveway and some of my trees. This might seem like a simple task. You might wonder what more is there to it than to throw out some rocks in a line.

The truth is, if you love your rock collection as much as most hobbyist do you will want to showcase your collection in the most eye pleasing way possible. There are many styles you might choose from when lining trees and gardens. I have two examples pictured with this article. The first shows how a simple single line of rocks can make a tree pop out from all the others around it. The line of rocks is set far away from the base of the tree and there is plenty of room for some flowers to sprout up inside the the circle.

The second photo shows how ring of rocks several layers deep can give a tree or group of trees a whole new look. The deep layers of rock rings also showcase the size of the rock collection. Anyone that sees this display can easily realize the work and love that went into the rock collecting. I used many sizes of rocks to get this particular look. It took quite a bit of hard work but the finished project was completely worth it.

Creating a Safety Barrier With Rocks:
This idea may be the one that makes your friends tell you your rock collecting hobby is out of hand. Don't let them fool you. I have found this to be my favorite way of all to display my rock collection. You will need a bobcat to move rocks this big but, it really is not very expensive to rent one. Many rental stores will deliver the bobcat to your property ready to use. They will charge you a fee per day plus gas.

If driving a bobcat intimidates you, you could almost certainly find a young man in town to drive it for you for a reasonable fee. The key to making your safety barrier unique and impressive is choosing the right rocks for the job. Be sure to vary shapes, sizes, and colors to give each rock room to shine. The variations are what will make each rock stand out on it's own. Space the rocks with at least a full foot or more of room between them. You will also want to consider how much space you might want for a garden or other things between your safety wall and your house.

I did include a photo of the safety wall made from my rock collection. You will notice that there is about four feet of space between my house and the rocks. I also space the rocks about a foot apart or more. I think it displays my rock collection nicely.

I hope you liked these ideas for displaying and using your rock collection. If you enjoyed this craft and hobby idea, you might want to click here for more of my articles.