The Crevice Garden: How to make the perfect home for plants from rocky places

by Paul Spriggs, Kenton Seth

Overview

A crevice garden replicates the environmental conditions of mountain tops, deserts, coastlines, and other exposed or rocky places on earth. These striking garden features provide perfect conditions for the plants native to these far-off places, bringing the cultivation of these precious gems within everybody’s reach.

In this book, enthusiastic experts Kenton Seth and Paul Spriggs bring us in-depth guidance on the design, construction, and planting of crevice gardens of all kinds including those suitable for containers, small gardens, and public parks and in styles that encompass both naturalistic scenes and non-traditional installations.

A wealth of international case studies demonstrate how crevice gardens provide multiple micro-habitats that are exceptionally well-suited to plants that struggle in normal garden conditions.

Further examples reveal their value in the ecological re-use of waste materials such as concrete, wildlife habitat creation, and for making permeable, plant-friendly alternatives to retaining walls.

An illustrated A-Z recommending 250 irresistible plants completes this comprehensive book which heralds a bold new chapter in the history of crevice garden making.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781739903909
Publisher:	Filbert Press
Publication date:	08/01/2022
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	379,577
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.25(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Paul Spriggs learned how to build crevice gardens from one of its innovators, Zdenek Zvolanek, of the Czech Republic. In the past decade and a half, he has built crevice gardens in public parks and private homes that range in size from small feature troughs to large installations involving many tonnes of stone. He has a passion for all wild plants especially those of dwarf stature, and collects and cultivates them at various gardens in his hometown of Victoria, BC, Canada. He is an avid plant explorer, photographer, and current President of the Vancouver Island Rock and Alpine Garden Society.

Kenton J. Seth is a Colorado-based garden designer who works at home and abroad specializing in crevice gardens, drought-tolerant natives, and meadows. His flower palette is fortified with wild-hunted seed and plants grown in his small nursery. He writes for a variety of publications from local plant clubs to national magazines and international rock garden clubs. He and his partner Tori grow vegetables, ride bikes, and watch sunsets over the canyon country in Fruita, Colorado.

Table of Contents

Foreword 9

Preface 10

Acknowledgments 11

1 What is a Crevice Garden? 13

2 Rocky Places and their Plants 17

3 The History of Crevice Gardens 39

4 How a Crevice Works 53

5 Planning a Crevice Garden 63

6 Soil and Plants 101

7 Building a Crevice Garden in 8 Steps 113

8 Living with a Crevice Garden 137

9 Case Studies 149

10 Plant Profiles 181

Resources 218

Index 219

Editorial Reviews

"Wow, this is a remarkable and significant contribution to the literature of the region. The photography is exceptional and despite my vast botanical library I’ve not seen at least 50% of the plants in any other book of this nature.” —Panayoti Kelaidis, Denver Botanic Gardens

From the Publisher