rock garden
5
3.2
- noun
- /rɑk ˈɡɑrdən/
:
jardín de rocas
- The rock garden was filled with colorful flowers and carefully placed stones.
- rock garden plants
- Japanese rock garden
- alpine rock garden
Examples
-
Neighbors have planted rock gardens on the slope.
Fiction book (2002) -
Plus bungalow yards and rock gardens bright with tulips, violets, camellias, and azaleas.
Academic text (2010) -
What did I do to their beautiful rock garden?
-
How about a nice rock garden?
Fiction book (1999) -
I want my own rock garden.
Fiction book (1993) -
"No, we ripped out the lawn and put in a rock garden.
Fiction book (1994) -
Remind Mr. Halbestadt to take good care of the rock garden.
-
"Agatha smiled and went out the back to get to her rock garden in front of the house."
Fiction book (1990) -
One morning we woke to find a rock garden made from stones painted orange and pink, gracing the area around our mailbox.
Fiction book (2001) -
In small-group guided tours of the Japanese Gardens, they explored rock gardens, small shrines, and waterfalls, thereby experiencing firsthand the beauty and serenity of a Japanese landscape.
Academic text (1994)
Synonyms
740
1.0
An area of land next to a house where people grow flowers or vegetables
1
7.5
A garden area with rocks and small plants such as mountain flowers
How Rocky
5
3.2
14
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently built from 'rock' (stone) + 'garden' (an outdoor cultivated area): it denotes a garden characterized by prominent rocks and associated planting. This noun–noun compounding is a straightforward compositional pattern common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The noun rock garden comes from gardeners copying rocky mountain slopes, placing rocks and small mountain plants together in a garden so the area looked like a natural hill. So, the phrase today means 'a garden with many rocks and low-growing plants'.