A rock garden, also known as Irregular or alpine garden, is a type of garden that has an extensive use of rocks or stones with plants originating from rocky or alpine environments. The rock garden plants tend to be small, both because many of the species on nature are small, and not to cover the stones of the rock garden. They can be grown in pots or in the ground. Plants are usually species that prefer well-drained ground and less water.

Form of Rock Garden
The usual form of a rock garden is a pile of rocks, large and small, esthetically arranged, and with small gaps between them, where in there plants will be planted. Some rock gardens incorporate and bonsai.

Some rock gardens are designed and constructed to have anatural appearance of a rocky soil. The stones are aligned to create a flat bed and the plants are often used to conceal the joints between the stones. This type of irregular rock gardens were popular in Victorian times, often designed and constructed by professional landscape architects. The same approach is sometimes used in modern college campuses or commercial space configuration, but can also be applied in smaller private gardens.