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

[DaveM]

Great thread. Good to see these pictures.

May I be so bold as to make a minor (technical) correction to the last post (and apologies if this may seem pedantic.....). In the superb picture of folded limestone beds from the Maritimes - this should read "anticline" instead of "syncline". Anticlines have beds inclined away from the crest of the fold, whereas in synclines the beds dip towards the axis.    

Also, a point of note for British readers: the rock name "diabase" is not often used here where the equivalent term is "dolerite".

[Lori S.]

   It is known, that stratification of layers of mud etc. at the bottom of the ancient seas was horizontal. My first picture is very rare (Northern Maritime Alps in France) and it is example of side pressing and folding the limestone layers into whole synclinal.

Pardon another nerdy geology comment, if you will...
Given that it seems the Alps formed by collision of plates and thrust faulting (same as the northern Rockies here), it is puzzling why visible evidence of such folding would be rare?  It's very visible here, with vertical and recumbent anticlines forming the peaks of many mountains.

What an excellent, inspiring thread!  I can see I need to get a few tonnes of rock in, and overhaul the entire yard!

[David Nicholson]

Terrific thread. Wonder if Maureen would buy me a couple of tons of rock for Christmas?

[Lesley Cox]

A couple of tons wouldn't go far David. Better make it a couple of hundred tons.

[mark smyth]

ZZ, for you I promise to go to all rock features in N Ireland next April/May/June and take photos to post here.

I look forward to meeting you next November if not before.

Mark

ZZ hasnt seen these and it shows his enthusiasm has rubbed off on me. One day he will see them

[Lesley Cox]

Crevice gardening or Standing Stones?

[mark smyth]

Dolomites 

[Stone Rider]

Thanks to geologists for help.

CREVICE BED IN PERSHORE

 

   When my old friend Ron Beeston was responsible for the show garden of the Alpine Garden Society in Pershore, he organized rebuilding one experimental bed into proper crevice bed there near to the large naturally designed scree. Ron was perfect in getting suitable stone, some special English kind of sandstone forming desks. He prepared big heap of soil mixture with professional care of retired nurseryman and he managed great amount of suitable plants from different sources. I had excellent team with Alan Furness and John Page (to mention two known stars) and other members of the AGS so the work was smooth. We planted plenty dwarf Daphnes including golden yellow Chinese D. calcicola ´Gang Ho Ba´ and only one daphne died there. Crevices in full sun all day are what make them to be compact and happy. I saw them yesterday at the AGS web site. The same success was with old trustful cultivars of Saxifraga the section Porphyrion.

The only mistake was that Ron from some important reason ended his function for AGS and so all the outcrop, which was supposed to be patiently finished with sand stone flakes hammered into crevices was quickly covered with round unsuitable chicken grit. I have only two photographs taken after one year after finishing and one with Saxifraga ´Southside Seedling´ from Ron Beeston. One Dane visited Pershore in a cooking summer weather and he told me that all garden plants were looking tired and wilted but the residents of crevices were looking fresh. What a relief !

[Maggi Young]

ZZ, I know of Ron's regret that he was not able to complete that project as planned ....such a shame that the finish was not done to the original intention... at least the plants are alive!

[mark smyth]

ZZ the Phlox in my trough is named by you but I have forgotten the name. What is it?

[Stone Rider]

Great thread. Good to see these pictures.

May I be so bold as to make a minor (technical) correction to the last post (and apologies if this may seem pedantic.....). In the superb picture of folded limestone beds from the Maritimes - this should read "anticline" instead of "syncline". Anticlines have beds inclined away from the crest of the fold, whereas in synclines the beds dip towards the axis.    

Also, a point of note for British readers: the rock name "diabase" is not often used here where the equivalent term is "dolerite".

Dear Doctor Rock, you have the right diagnosis: it is the anticline. I made cardinal mistake to put the term from my old heart (or head?)  Thanks a lot Zdenek

[Stone Rider]

ZZ the Phlox in my trough is named by you but I have forgotten the name. What is it?

Mark, I made only one Phlox cultivar with shiny red colour and named it ´Karkulka´. ZZ

[gote]

With all respect for the efforts. May I make two (unkind?) comments??

#A: Will those still alive around 2025 say "Look at this camp period piece from 2008-2012 with all rocks standing up" ? 

#B: It is possible to make plants grow in horizontal crevices as well.   

The first picture is from around 1970 the second 1959. The rock is orthoceratitic limestone. Unfortunately my long spells abroad obliterated the plantings - maybe I will be able to redo them.

Cheers
Göte

[shelagh]

I love the term recumbent.  My dear old Dad after a Sunday morning up the allotment would often assume a recumbent or somnolent posture on a Sunday afternoon.

[Stone Rider]

THE DOLOMITES
Doctor Rock was very polite to my error with the anticline (the syncline is precisely upside down) and I would like to be the same to young boy Mark Smyth and to explain him a few fine rules of rockwork.  We never try to imitate dramatically dissected (weathered) mountain ridges for two reasons: it does not help to our cultivation of alpines and in small scale of a trough or a small garden it looks unnatural. In the garden and in the trough we construct small outcrop with layers appearing naturally above terrain and then they must naturally disappear into underground (this is called natural return of layers). We feel imaginative arc above the highest layers of the outcrop and no rock has permit to protrude through the arc because it will be against natural weathering of the rock formation. Smooth gentle surface of the outcrop (or a head) is always elegant! Mark, I like your rock under Hypericum much more than your mini-tre-cime. I illustrate the idea with one mountain picture and ask you not to copy the back ridge but the shape of the front part.