Crevice Gardening ......in defence of rock.....

[astragalus]

It's also genista and cytisus time in the crevice garden.  They are planted in many places and they really punctuate the rock with marvelous color.

1. Genista depressa at top of cliff in natural crevice
2. Genista depressa in crevice garden
3. Penstemon sp

[Luc Gilgemyn]

A marvelous range of plants, Anne !
I'm also a big fan of the Veronica oltensis - I have it in a tufa crevice and it spreads gently over the tufa rock, rooting into the tufa !  A gorgeous cliff dweller !
The Penstemons are just as attractive !

[astragalus]

Luc, that's a good idea.  I never thought of V. oltensis in relation to tufa.  Isn't a rock garden Forum a marvelous idea?

Very, very busy here.  I'm going to try some before and after construction pictures. (They'd be better if I remembered to photograph while working).  These are before and after pictures of the crevice gardens at the top of the garden.  Countless loads of mix and countless rocks set with the natural slabs of ledges acting as the "bones" and basically directing what I do.  It's more an act of listening than an act of
creating.  The last two pictures were taken today.  In the last picture you can see some rebar - that's marking the presence of a piece of ledge which is only 10" down.  It will tell me what I can plant there.  In an unwatered garden it would be easy to fry some things with so little depth of soil.

[astragalus]

More pictures of rock.  And then plants.  The dianthus is planted in a natural crevice on the back of the cliff.  The globularia is happily creeping
and covering multiple crevices.  It has eaten several plants on the way but obviously it's the survival of the fittest.  The plants that can't protect themselves are planted out of harm's way.

[astragalus]

A few more.  The Astragalus loanus pod is very fancy.  It's actually red but is so covered with white hairs that you can't really tell.  The Collomia debilis is a marvelous plant.  I've seen it in the Wallowa mountains above treeline growing in absolute rubble with no visible soil.  It just kept popping up out of the rubble so it must have a very extensive root system like the gem of the genus, Collomia debilis v larsenii.

[ranunculus]

Absolutely stunning, Anne … I can only guess at the time and effort involved … and when all this is added to the 'Alpine Eden' that you had already created … then "Wow,Wow,Wow"!!!!

[Chris Johnson]

Crikey, Anne, is that how it's done?

Think I'll give up on my modest outcrop.

[ChrisB]

That's a rock garden of my dreams .... Saw similar ones last year in the Czech Republic .... Wonderful!

[annew]

At last I have got around to mapping my mini-crevice bed so I can take out the labels, and take photos. Only lost 2 plants during the winter, what there was of it.

[Tim Ingram]

Can't compete with these wonderful real life examples of crevice gardens but here are a few pictures of our display at the Kent Garden Show last year - 1. Deliberations. Mike and Hazel Brett, Peter Jacob (with the red hat - it was a cold May last year!) and, with his back to the camera, Paul Lewis who provided all of the troughs and a great deal of inspiration. 2. Half completed. 3. The crevice bed - over-planted I know but essentially for display. 4 & 5. The troughs.

These really are great ways of growing plants but I don't think too many viewers cottoned on to them. We are not doing this in 2014 but maybe another opportunity might arise in the future, and it was very stimulating for all of us who were involved.

[ChrisB]

Very nice Tim!

[astragalus]

Took some pictures before the rain started.  Something new is happening daily, such an exciting time in the crevice garden.

[ranunculus]

Beautiful images (and , of course, plants), Anne.

[astragalus]

Cliff, the clouds were gathering and it was just about to rain.  Seems like it's a better time to photograph.  The sun seems to wash the colors out quite a bit.

[Chris Johnson]

Good to see lichens getting established on your rocks. Usually a sign of unpolluted air and gives an impression of age to your structure.