Is it just me or are gardens filling up with rocks? Huge stoneworks. Massive boulders. They’re everywhere it seems. If you’re in the mood to add some hard stuff to your personal paradise, get inspired by some of these ideas from gardens here in Southern Ontario. Click on any photo to get the slideshow started and read the full story.

Huge quartz boulders make eye-catching natural sculptures in a front garden in Hog’s Hollow, Toronto.

In a small front garden in Cabbagetown, Toronto, prostrate conifers creep up the sides of boulders buried by the side of a bark mulch path.

The front entranceway to this home is flanked by several large boulders. The one on the left towers over the average visitor.

In a large urban Toronto garden set against a steep incline, the idea of a retaining wall is taken to new heights, literally. The stonework supports a path that winds its way up to the top of the property.

Basically a hollow filled with assorted stones and pebbles, a dry creek or pond makes a great garden feature out of an area that might otherwise be difficult to plant.

In Bobcaygen, ON, many gardeners celebrate the rocky terrain by making it the focal point of their garden.

Here’s another example of using what’s given to you in the garden as a highlight rather than something to fight.

The front driveway for a home in Bobcaygen is lined with boulders to set off the sunken garden.