Can anyone tell me if I'm crazy wanting to build a small Sonoran desert style mountain rock garden in a corner of my yard? I believe I understand the structural needs of my bracing rocks and how to assemble them to handle the load of my plants and soil. I'll give a brief idea of my plan: I want to build a backing retaining wall of small boulder size rocks (approx. 2 feet high, so we're talking some nice sized rocks). I live in San Antonio, TX (hard clay soil), so I plan to dig a 3" trench in the hard clay to brace my structural boulders. I will then pour my desert garden soil (from what I understand in San Antonio, it will be a small percentage of compost mixed with large amounts of expanded shale and decomposed granite (like a 20/40/40 mix ratio). This is going to be a large scale project, so my calculations for this garden bed (approx. 15-16 ft. wide x 6' deep) might involve a home delivery of materials so I can mix them myself. From a local nursery I'm calculating 23 bags of expanded shale, 23 bags of composed granite, and 5 bags of compost. I will be arranging the soil to cascade down from my backing boulders like a mountain, with a large buried "dead man's" stone for structural support, I will then make various terraces and more gentle slopes to mimic a real mountain using various sized stones to act as boulders and structural support (also cool little mountain nooks for my plants). I've precisely calculated the suns rays into this garden at all points of the day and it gets blasted by some great South Texas summer afternoon sun. I would have it bordered at the front with brick. Am I insane? I've been doing a lot of research.

I'd consult with these folks - they know best what does and doesn't grow where you are. San Antonio Cactus Society

I just became a member at the San Antonio Botanical Garden this week, and I volunteered to help landscape in their desert garden!!! Also attending a lecture by Michael Eason on the endangered black lace cactus (TX) and a potting siminar by Jimmy Black of the SA Cactus & Succulent Society!! Looking forward to it.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of this,, 754 - way to go.