{"id":109267,"date":"2024-05-03T10:19:54","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T17:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/island\/?page_id=109267"},"modified":"2025-07-18T11:39:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T18:39:47","slug":"crevice-garden","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/island\/gardening\/greenbank-educational-garden\/crevice-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"Crevice Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Program Contact: Loren Imes
360-639-6059 \u2022\u00a0loren.imes@wsu.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Rocks<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

A crevice garden is a type of rock garden that emulates an alpine rock environment, where plants grow in crevices between slabs of rock. The slabs are set on end or at a slight angle, creating a dramatic effect. A crevice garden can be built on a mound, in a large pot, or as a distinctive substitute for a traditional rock wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crevice garden concept was first popularized by Czech rock gardeners in the mid-1980s and is now spreading in popularity in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crevice gardens have unique advantages over traditional rock gardens, a key benefit being water conservation. Plant roots travel deep into narrow crevices, thus providing more consistent moisture as well as protection from evaporation and fluctuating weather conditions on the surface. Once a crevice garden is established, maintenance is minimal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The micro-climate created within crevices provides environmental conditions that allow a variety of alpine plants to thrive in our lowland gardens, thus allowing for preservation of plants that might be endangered from climate change in their native habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We built two examples of crevice gardens from the ground up \u2013 one with quartzite flagstones and the other with urbanite (repurposed concrete) \u2013 and two more additional examples in planter boxes. Together, they show how different effects can be created by varying materials and designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plantings continue to evolve, with the following plants already in place, identified by the number on the gray tag next to each plant in the garden and listed below by botanical name, followed by common name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 \u2013 Sedum spathulifolium<\/em> ‘Cape Blanco,’ Broadleaf Stonecrop
2 \u2013 Lewisia columbiana, <\/em>Columbia Lewisia
3 \u2013 Aethionema ibirideum<\/em>, Stonecress
4 \u2013 Daphne x hendersonii<\/em> \u2018Fritz Kummert\u2019, Daphne
5 \u2013 Sedum lanceolatum<\/em> spp. nesioticum<\/em>, Spearleaf Stonecrop
6 \u2013 Androsace globifera<\/em>, Cushion Rock Jasmine
7 \u2013 Penstemon davidsonii<\/em>, Davidson\u2019s Beardtongue
8 \u2013 Lonicera crassifolia, <\/em>Creeping Honeysuckle
9 \u2013 Dryas x suendermannii<\/em>, Mountain Avens
10 \u2013 Polemonium caeruleum<\/em>, Jacob\u2019s Ladder
11 \u2013 Androsace sempervivoides<\/em>, Rock Jasmine
12 \u2013 Arenaria tetraquetra<\/em>, Spanish Sandwort
13 \u2013 Leontopodium alpinum<\/em>, Edelweiss
14 \u2013 Potentilla anserina<\/em>, Silverweed
15 \u2013 Potentilla arenaria<\/em>, Cinquefoil
16 \u2013 Penstemon rupicola<\/em>, Cliff penstemon
17 \u2013 Delosperma dyeri<\/em>, Red Mountain Ice Plant
18 \u2013 Sedum oreganum, <\/em>Oregon Stonecrop
19 \u2013 Helianthemum nummularium <\/em>‘Dazzler,’ <\/em>Dazzler Sun Rose
20 \u2013 Sempervivum<\/em>, <\/em>Hens and Chicks
21 \u2013 Thymus pulegioides<\/em> ‘Foxley,’ <\/em>Foxley Thyme
22 \u2013 Thymus x citriodorus ‘<\/em>Lemon Frost,’ <\/em>Lemon Frost Thyme
23 \u2013 Lewisia, <\/em>Lewisia
24 \u2013 Lithodora diffusa ‘<\/em>Grace Ward,’ <\/em>Lithodora Grace Ward
25 \u2013 Sempervivum <\/em>‘Sunset,’ Sunset Hens and Chicks
26 \u2013 Sedum ochroleucum <\/em>‘Red Wiggle,’ <\/em>Red Wiggle Stonecrop
27 \u2013 Saxifraga cespitosa<\/em>, Tufted Saxifrage
30 \u2013 Thymus praecox<\/em>\u00a0\u2018Pseudolanuginosus,\u2019 Woolly Thyme
31 \u2013\u00a0Rosmarinus prostatus<\/em>\u00a0\u2018Irene,\u2019 Irene Trailing Rosemary
32 \u2013\u00a0Pratia angulata, <\/em>White Star Creeper
33 \u2013\u00a0Portulaca umbraticola\u00a0<\/em>\u2018Mojave Mango,\u2019 Mohave Mango Purslane
34 \u2013\u00a0Helianthemum nummularium\u00a0<\/em>\u2018Ben Nevis,\u2019 Ben Nevis Sun Rose
35 \u2013\u00a0Sedum hakonense<\/em>\u00a0\u2018Chocolate Ball,\u2019 Chocolate Ball Stonecrop
36 \u2013\u00a0Lewisia<\/em>\u00a0\u2018Rainbow Mix,\u2019 Lewisia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resources for more information<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n