If you want a garden that truly rocks, look no further than a gravel garden. Earth-friendly gravel gardens require less of just about everything – water, mulch, energy, chemicals and most importantly labor – but give back so much more. Jeff Epping, Director of Horticulture at Olbrich Botanical Gardens, created a number of gravel gardens at Olbrich and in his own home garden that you can easily incorporate into your home landscape, as well. Don’t confuse these gardens with traditional rock or alpine gardens that can look more rocky than green and require a great deal of time to maintain. These sustainable gravel gardens are as colorful as any perennial planting around, provide food and habit for pollinators and other insects and require up to 80% less maintenance than a traditional perennial planting. Jeff will show you how to replace conventional lawns, expensive annual plantings, and labor-intensive perennial beds with these easy-to-maintain gravel gardens, just as he’s done at Olbrich and elsewhere.