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

[cohan]

Plenty of rock here, just a transportation problem 

you just need to borrow one of those nice tame cows or oxen or a saint bernard to haul rocks

[Ragged Robin]

 

[astragalus]

Zdenek visited this garden a couple of months before the first of the crevice gardens was started.  A steep hill beside a small cliff had been terraced with stone walls so the side walls were already in place and the main crevice lines follow the exposed stratifications of the back of the cliff.  The first crevice garden was finished by the summer of 2009 and planted with a wide range of alpines and rock plants, including a number of Daphne x hendersonii forms.  The main problem has been deer walking over the garden this winter without enough snow to protect the plants so it has been covered with chickenwire for the duration.

[Jiri Papousek]

Plenty of rock here, just a transportation problem 

Here is my transportation solution, I feed them properly to get them stronger and stronger..

[Ragged Robin]

A great investment, Jiri, with added interest - do you work on a bonus scheme? 

[ranunculus]

Welcome Anne to this magnificent forum ... your crevice garden looks beautiful ... but the deer droppings have been removed I see!   

[cohan]

Plenty of rock here, just a transportation problem 

Here is my transportation solution, I feed them properly to get them stronger and stronger..

hah! looks like the little one has a way to go yet before he can lift the big rocks

[astragalus]

Hi Cliff, thanks for your nice comments.  I'm sending a few other pictures of the crevice garden.
1. Looking down at the crevice garden towards tufa crevice garden
2. Next level up, the start of the second crevice garden
3. Phlox pulvinata

[ranunculus]

Congratulations Anne ... you have beaten the 'posting' image demon and impressed us all with your exceptional crevice garden.  Let's hope these are the first of many postings ... welcome once again.

[Maggi Young]

Anne- (for Cliff tells me that you are an Anne in real life and not an astragalus.....)
what grand photos of your very smart crevice garden.
Very alien looking rock for us in this part of the world, where granite rules.

There's something terribly neat about a phlox in flower, isn't there?

[astragalus]

Thanks, Maggi.  Yes, my name is Anne and not Astragalus.  My garden is located in the Hudson River Valley in New York State, but nowhere near the benevolent river influences.  The site is steep, rocky, cold with harsh winds much of the time - a delightful place for a rock garden.  Our western phloxes are among my favorites (behind all the glorious peas).  If I can ever figure out a reasonable way to post pictures I'll send some of the phloxes.  Do you grow many of the western ones in the UK?  I've been admiring the plant pictures posted, really beautiful.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Wow, some great rock work there Anne ! 
Welcome to this amazing forum - we're all looking forward to seeing more pictures of this wonderful feature ! 

[Maggi Young]

Anne, the cushion phloxes are quite popular here.... in a crevice garden or trough setting or pot grown ( whether for exhibition or protecxction is certain areas)

The Mexican phlox need alpine house treatment mostly.

[astragalus]

Hi Maggi, everything here is grown outside (no alpine house or greenhouse). Unfortunately, the Mexican phloxes are not hardy.  I'd love to hear the kinds of plants people are growing in their crevice gardens.  The natural rock here (and the whole place is mostly rock!) is a very well-cemented sandstone nicknamed "greywhacky" by geologists whho had to "whack" it very hard with their hammers in order to break it.  There must be close to 100 steps in the garden and they are all slabs of granite or rough slabs of limestoen, thus breaking one of the "rules" about using stone in the garden.
"Greywhacky" simply doesn't break evenly like granite.  You can spend a lot of time working on it and end up with a pile of rubble. 
1. "Greywhackie" rock in garden

[TheOnionMan]

"Greywhacky" simply doesn't break evenly like granite.  You can spend a lot of time working on it and end up with a pile of rubble. 
1. "Greywhackie" rock in garden

Hello Ann, what I wouldn't do for a magnificent outcropping like your "graywhackie"... love the Epimediums at the base.  Check out the epimedium thread if you like "eppies", as I call them.  http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4769.0

Years ago when I lived in the Seattle, Washington area, I did grow a number of the Mexican phloxes outside in raised sand beds, they did fine. Haven't tried them here in Massachusetts, although I suspect they would not be hardy here, and they are harder to come by these days.

Whenever I travel from Massachusetts to Maryland to visit my wife's family, crossing the Tappan Zee Bridge, viewing the huge rocky bluffs on either side of the impressive Hudson River valley, I always wonder what it would like to live and garden in that area.  I understand you're not directly facing the river, but just wanted to say, your photos of rock garden construction are inspiring, this is an excellent thread.