Crevice Gardening: This is the Future; You Must Try It!

What exactly is a crevice garden? It's a rock garden with a twist! A crevice garden is created by inserting tightly spaced rocks vertically into a fast-draining planting medium that has been mounded up first, as if to suggest mountainous terrain. These are gardens that are both beautiful and functional, even in areas where water is becoming increasingly scarce.

Crevice Garden is heavier on the rocks, which cover at least half of the garden's surface area. Stones are frequently stacked on edge-like plates in a dish drainer- vertically or at a gentle, oblique angle for added drama, similar to a sedimentary rock formation turned on end.

Crevice gardens are typically berm-like rather than flat, creating the illusion of a natural outcrop while allowing the plants' roots to run deep (although not very far sideways). These gardens range in style from naturalistic to high modernist and can be scaled down to fit in a trough or up to fit in a botanical garden or park.

Experts agree on the defining details of their book while planning it because most rock gardens have crevices- the narrowest spaces between stones-as well as wider planting pockets. In a typical crevice garden, how much space is there between the rocks? They decided on an inch or less.

Although the rocks may vary in size, all of the courses are intended to be parallel, evoking natural stratification. They meant anything from ripped-up concrete patio or driveway pieces to slabs molded from homemade lightweight hypertufa, the do-it-yourself blend of Portland cement, peat moss, perlite, and water used to make troughs.

Crevice Garden: Where to Begin?

Experts acknowledge that creating a crevice garden is a significant undertaking. It's also not cheap if you have to buy the rock and have it delivered. However, as with gravel gardens, aftercare is minimal in comparison to traditional garden beds.

A miniature crevice garden, on the other hand, can be made with a sturdy stone or hypertufa trough or a galvanized tub and is a good first project.

Regardless of scale, the following engineering principles apply: Instead of inserting stones into a flat canvas of soil, the growing medium is mounded up to simulate a mini-mountainous terrain and allow for a deep root run.

As with any rock garden, the medium is typically sandy and devoid of nutrients- "rubbles, gravels, and sands," Spriggs explained. If you're going to use a container, he suggests combining seven parts coarse sand, one part pumice or perlite, and two parts soil.

Plants must be small and almost always bare-root to fit into the crevices. They are finished with a top-dressing of broken slivers or rock chips after planting.

Revitalizing 'Awkward Spots'

One of the most common starter designs requested of the men is something larger than a container garden. It's probably a three-by-three-foot mound- "a pocket garden," according to experts, or "a small outcrop.’

This fits in one of the "awkward spots" that every yard has, such as beside a garage or a cellar bulkhead. A crevice garden transforms this unused space into a focal point rather than something you'd rather not see.

Whatever the scale, the goal could be as simple as adding a beautiful feature in a xeric environment that can lift plants a little closer to the viewer, or to support plants that would otherwise be impossible to grow in your conditions. Even the smallest crevice garden has opposite sides with different exposures for different plants.