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

[Jupiter]

Not yet Robert but I'll try. I have one tiny seedling up so far and it looks very fragile, like it's hanging on to life by the barest thread. I'll keep you posted.

[Maggi Young]

Most here will be aware of D'Arcy and Everest the alpine nursery - a family run nursery, established for over 20 years growing all their own stock of unusual alpine and specialist plants. They have just been at  RHS Hampton Court  Show with this  super display of alpines, which really packed a lot into a small area and will, I hope, have given inspiration and enjoyment to all who saw it.

- in the beginning


-the finished effort


 - but this is what I really wanted to share with you - this is a 1 metre diameter container, forming the centrepiece of the display - complete with a note of the plants contained therein



Super, isn't it?

[Jupiter]

Nice work! I love the graphic with the labeling. I do that type of thing for work material.

Here's a pic I took today at a favourite spot. The ultimate crevice garden plant, Eucalyptus camaldulensis!

https://goo.gl/photos/b3AjV5xxsEBEvRtR7

[Maggi Young]

Friends  in the Hampshire  AGS group had a visit to Wisley  this weekend - they had a grand time - including  beingshown round the "backroom" areas by Curator Colin Crosbie.
I've pinched this photo by Paddy Hinton Parmee of  part of the crevice garden

.... and  here is a short video from Paddy Parmee taken today of the  Wisley Crevice Garden  https://www.facebook.com/sonygirl717/videos/vb.652323340/10153009874203341/?type=2&theater   Many thanks to Paddy for taking the time and trouble to take the film and share it with us 

[astragalus]

Amazing how plants have taken hold.  When I visited before the Nottingham Conference, it looked almost empty although many small plants had been planted.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Now ready for some plants.

Progress.

[Chris Johnson]

Looking good, Ralph.

About the stage I'm at - minus the plants.

[Tristan_He]

Here's my effort. I recently had to relocate my rockery due to weed problems. We have finally walled and gated off the front garden properly, and as our soil is already very stony, I used a lot of material from there, as well as stone left over from some changes we made to our house a few years ago. I also reclaimed the tufa from the old rockery. I'm reasonably pleased with the result, though I think there are too many plants and it's a shame I didn't have access to machinery to move in one or two really massive boulders.

I'm a firm believer that since mountains are vertical (or at least, sloping), so should rockeries be. I also think that the rocks should be at least as prominent as the plants - unfortunately it's always tempting to add one more plant... I love to see small pieces of alpines planted in crevices that they can work their way along - they look great once they establish.

I think I will lose the Daphne 'Arnold Cihlarz' unfortunately.  Still, worth attempting to transplant it.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Yep, that's a real mountainside!

[Maggi Young]

Very nice rockwork and planting, Tristan - and the wall behind is rather smart too!   

[Tristan_He]

The wall is nice isn't it? Chap who works under the name of Snowdonia Walling - we've really liked his work. Shame to cover some of it with a rockery really!

I'm pleased with the overall effect too. Being able to use the local stone is a real advantage because it means I can get hold of the same stuff in different sizes. A big problem with bought in stone is that it tends to be rather evenly sized - and it's usually really hard to get smaller stones or gravel to match.

I have collected up small stones from elsewhere in the garden and added them to the rockery - these have the necessary sharp points and miscellaneous sizes which look like they have been weathered off using frost, rather than the rounded river gravels you often get in garden centres.

I've also added topsoil covered with slate chippings to the crevices on top of the coping, which creates a good environment for tougher plants like Sempervivums, Sedums and Dianthus (our native Sedum anglicum looks great there and this year was absolutely covered in white flowers - if it was an Androsace or something it would be a show winner! They are really establishing well there, though it's been a wet summer - we'll see how they cope in a drought. I also like to jam Sempervivums and things like Lewisias into crevices into stone walls, with some extra soil.

The main problem is that I always want more plants!

Tristan

[Lesley Cox]

This rock garden reminds me of one from a few years back, posted by Geir Moen and he said it was made by backing a lorry up to the right place and having the gravel and rock simply tipped out down a slope. The garden was where the material landed. It looked  like natural scree and he was growing some fantastic plants in it. I remember Primula bella et al.

[astragalus]

It's a really good facsimile of what you can see in the mountains.  Very nice construction and the background wall is lovely.  There should be a large number of plants that will love this.

[Tristan_He]

Thanks all... I love the idea of just tipping material out of the back of a truck! I did try to give things a tad more structure than this but am limited by the size of rocks I can cart around. I have also tried to keep different rock types seperate.

The dwarf Rhodys and Salix boydii from the old rockery gave some instant height and have transplanted none the worse. I've also jammed some cuttings from these into likely spots. 

I'm very fortunate to have Aberconwy Nursery nearby which is a great source of plants. I also grow quite a bit from seed.

Primula bella looks gorgeous! Does it ever turn up in the seed exchange?

[Maggi Young]

This rock garden reminds me of one from a few years back, posted by Geir Moen and he said it was made by backing a lorry up to the right place and having the gravel and rock simply tipped out down a slope. The garden was where the material landed. It looked  like natural scree and he was growing some fantastic plants in it. I remember Primula bella et al.

I fear the photos of Geir's construction of his garden - with lorry loads of stone that he bought for around £5.5  per 1000kgs - were lost with the demise of the old forum. You can see the  result growing well though, here :

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=474.msg12054#msg12054

Geir is away from home at the moment, but I will ask him if he might be able to repost the photos of he construction of his  scree on his garden slope.