The Garden Decoder: What Is ‘Crevice Gardening’?
As a perennial student, I’m fascinated with new ways of gardening and different garden styles. Plus, to keep things even more interesting, I’m always up for a good horticultural challenge.
The crevice garden at The Gardens at Lake Merritt in Oakland.
Photograph by Kier Holmes.
Needing to learn more, and wanting to understand how this was different from traditional rock gardening, I reached out to Kenton Seth and Paul Spriggs, garden designers and co authors of , for advice.
Photograph by Paul Spriggs.
Asplenium trichomanes growing in the cracks of ruins.
What is a crevice garden?
As the name would suggest, tightly spaced rocks, almost rubbing elbows, are set vertically or at a slight angle into mounded soil, much like plates stacked in a dish drainer. This type of garden is inspired by sun-baked deserts, wind-whipped seacoasts, and resilient alpine ridges.
Crevice gardens have far more rocks than rock gardens. Here, Aquilegia jonesii thrive between rocks.
How is it different from a rock garden?
Photograph by Todd Boland.
Kenton says it best, “It’s like rock gardening dialed up to maximum, and perhaps a subgenre of rock gardens. It’s like a more serious effort to collect and grow special plants.”
You could say that crevice gardening is an ‘improvement’ on traditional rock gardening, as it can expand the plant palette of what a traditional rock garden may be able to grow.”
Top tips for success?
Erigeron scopulinus nestled between stones.
Photograph by Paul Cumbeldon.