Types of Sun Reflecting Rocks for a Rock Garden

 

In order to create rock gardens, you need to combine a mixture of natural rocks together with plants. For those of you who already have areas that consist of rocks, you only need to add some plants along side of the rock areas. As for those who do not have one, you need to bring the right kind of rocks into your garden area. The right size of the rocks that you choose plays an important part in creating visual interest. For example, if you want your rock gardens to reflect the suns, you need to select rocks such as boulders and cobbles that have natural shiny minerals like quartz and micas on the surface. Rocks that contain one or more metal elements within its chemical compound are among the best types of rocks for you to use in order to reflect the sun. Minerals are made of metal oxides that is a mixture of an oxygen ion along with and the metal element that binds thus creating a solid crystal structure. The more luster that the mineral produces, the reflection of the sun against the rock will be much better.

To choose the right types of reflecting rocks, you need:

  • Granite rock consists of both quartz and mica minerals
  • Slate rock consists of two types of mica minerals
  • Schist rock consists of quartz and mica-rich minerals
  • Obsidian rock – is a black, volcanic glass rock
  • Pyrite rock
  • Hematite rock


Choosing the Right Types of Sun Reflecting Rocks

Types of Sun Reflecting Rocks for a Rock Garden

  • One of the rocks that you can choose is granite type of rocks. It can be found underground especially around volcanic area where it will form from volcanic lava cooling underground.
    • Granite consist of both quartz and mica minerals
    • You can easily see the mineral grains using your naked eye because the mineral grains in quartz are medium to coarse and can easily be seen.
    • Quartz and mica comes with flat surfaces that are capable of reflecting the sun once the sunlight hits on the rock.
    • You will be able to notice the minerals from the rocks because it normally comes with white, pink, black and clear.
    • The color of the minerals will appear mixed all over the rock thus making the rock attractive when it is placed together with your rock garden.
  • Another rock that you can choose is the slate rock that consists of two types of mica minerals.
    • This type of rocks provides you with a reflective appearance.
    • Apart from mica, it also has other variety of minerals such as the mineral grains.
    • Even though the mineral grains are too small for your eyes to notice, the large quantity of micas within the surface of the rock helps reflects the sunlight and creates a shiny surface.
    • It is a common thing to see slate slabs being used in a garden landscape because it provides you with a large surface area for the sunlight to reflect onto the rocks.
  • The next types of sun reflecting rocks are the Schist which is created from metamorphic settings with high heat and pressure. The Schist is a rock that consist of quartz and mica-rich rock.
    • The high heat and pressure will cause the mica minerals to line up and creates the appearance of sheets of mica throughout the Schist rock’s surface.

The sunlight that hits the Schist rock will reflect off the layers of aligned mica grains.

  • The Obsidian is an igneous rock that form in volcanic area and comes with a jet black, smooth surface and volcanic kind of glass rock
    • The Obsidian has no visible mineral grains for you to view.
    • Its shining level is high because it reflects all over the surface of the rock and able to reflect sunlight extremely well especially when it is placed in a rock garden.
    • The rock does not allow light to penetrate inside it due to the molecules which are too dense in their crystalline form.
  • Another type of sun reflecting rock is the pyrite rock or also known as fool’s gold that is normally found aboveground in washes or streams.
    • It is called fool’s gold because it provides a gold-like luster shine once it is hit by sunlight.
    • The pyrite rock usually needs a little bit of polishing so that it can reflect the sunlight.
  • One more sun reflecting rock found in volcanic activity area is the hematite rock.
    • This type of rocks is often mined as a source of iron and can be extracted from raw ore.
    • The hematite rock looks like a silver-like luster that has a more smoky and dark finish to its sheen unlike the look of real silver.

    Always remember that whenever you want to choose sun reflecting rocks for your rock garden

    • Always be extra careful especially when the Obsidian rock is broken because its broken pieces have sharp edges that can cause danger to people who used it.
    • If you look carefully, you will notice that the Obsidian rock has a swirl pattern on any of the broken piece. The swirl pattern is a fracture pattern that normally located on the surface of the rock.

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