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

[johnralphcarpenter]

Now ready for some plants.

Coming along nicely. Mostly Aubrieta in bloom but other things getting established.

[David Nicholson]

Coming along very nicely Ralph.

[Lampwick]

My new raised crevice bed/wall.
This is my very first attempt at crevice gardening and after trawling through the all the great posts on the subject here in this great Forum . . . . I decided “to have a go!”
As mentioned in a previous posts, I have difficulty bending and squatting, but I can stand for hours. Although I do get backache, which mostly, I try to ignore!
The dimensions of the new bed I have built is 15ft 8inches long x 2ft 5inches wide x 2ft 5inches high. (all sizes are inner dimensions) I also have a spare adjustable computer chair which will afford me some comfort when maintaining this raised bed.
I will include a few photos for your perusal . . . But please be kind! 
I have tried to create valleys and peaks and what is possible with this, is that I can put plants in sun or part shade, but of course all you good folk know this. These are all new young plants shown here. Some I have recently bought whilst others are young cuttings of my own.
I will try and keep this page updated with my progress. 

[Lampwick]

and a few more . . .

[Lesley Cox]

Looks pretty good to me John and will be even better by the time your summer has finished and there's a little more growth. Some great plants there. That little Clematis marmoraria looks right at home, just the kind of place it likes to grow.

[David Nicholson]

Lovely job John.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Coming along very nicely Ralph.

Thank you David. Flowering now are Oxalis 'Ute', Aubrieta 'Valerie' and Aubrieta glabrescens.

[astragalus]

Does anyone offer seed fro Aubrieta glabrescens?
 In the crevice garden it is starting to be penstemon time. One of my favorites with true blue flowers is Penstemon uintahensis.

[hadacekf]

This species is popularly grown in rockeries or alpine gardens; and it occasionally becomes naturalised outside of its native range, especially into crevices and rock walls.

[Maggi Young]

Both Ian and I are very fond of Erinus alpinus, Franz. I think it is sometimes overlooked as not  being  rare enough - but it has a real charm to it.  We're getting some colour variation here now, thanks to some seed from a kind English friend who  gets several colours in his garden.

[ian mcdonald]

I have seen it covering a small hill near the cairngorms. I think it is also planted at Inchnadamph. Some people think it is alright to introduce foreign plants which then become weeds, out-competing native species.

[Tristan_He]

Hmm.. introduce Erinus alpinus to your rockery at your peril, it is an enthusiastic self seeder, especially in tufa. Pretty little plant though.

[Maggi Young]

I'm at a stage in life  where the more enthusiastic self-seeders are more than welcome - but Erinus is not at all bothersome here in that respect- and any that may find their way to an unsuitable place are easily removed. 
Their flowers really repay close inspection - delightful!

[astragalus]

So glad to hear that Erinus alpinus is such a good doer and spreader and so easy for everyone.  It certainly doesn't behave that way here. I thought it was finally established (after many efforts), but it didn't make it through the dreadful up and down winter.  Maybe I should just spread the seed and see if anything happens?

[Maggi Young]

Yes, Anne, I would just scatter theseed where you'd like it - it's what we  did with the coloured strain we got from Jon E.
 Jon, from much further south in the UK than us, finds it tends to  flower for him in its first year but it takes a couple of years at least to get going here.