
If this is the first time you’ve come across the phrase “crevice garden,” it won’t be the last. This style of gardening is on the tongues of every gardening taste maker I know and is an approach to gardening whose time has come. Crevice gardens bring together a number of elements that make them must-haves in the modern garden. They are water-wise, architecturally striking, perfect for small gardens and containers, and provide ideal conditions for growing a wide range of beautiful and unusual plants. Most critical, they represent a style of gardening that not only brings a striking, fresh aesthetic to the garden but also provides ideal conditions for a wide range of plants and helps them survive whatever extremes our climates throw at them. So whether you garden in steamy North Carolina, high-and-dry Denver, or frigid Maine, crevice gardening will work for you and allow you to grow a wide range of fascinating plants.

What and why
The concept of a crevice garden is deceptively simple: It is just a series of large, flat stones set together vertically like the pages of a book, with soil between each stone, making a series of narrow, deep crevices for your plants to grow in. As plant roots begin to grow out, they hit the stones and are guided downward, plunging deep into the structure of the crevice. So instead of a wide, shallow root system, you get a deep, drought-resistant one that’s insulated from extremes of heat and cold. At the same time, the structure of a crevice garden lets water drain quickly away from the soil surface, so the crowns of plants like alpines and hardy succulents stay dry and thrive in rainy climates where they would usually rot out.
A crevice garden gives you those magical “moist but well-drained” conditions you always hear about but that don’t seem to actually exist in the real world. In a crevice, plants don’t drown in the wet or shrivel up in a drought. That is what makes growing in a crevice garden so different from trying to coax something to flourish between the pavers of your patio or a path. At the surface, it looks the same, but under that patio, the soil is heavily compacted to avoid settling, so plant roots stay shallow and only the toughest survive. In a crevice, roots plunge deep, so you can grow even the fussiest of plants with ease.
Aside from being a dreamily perfect venue for growing many plants, crevice gardens also bring kick-ass aesthetics to the garden. For me, the most powerful feature of a crevice is the balance of hard and soft. The stones are austere, and the crevices, though actually wonderful places for plants to grow, look harsh and limiting. And amid all that hard austerity, you have beautiful, delicate-looking plants that are absolutely thriving. A planted crevice garden to me speaks of beauty and life overcoming long odds and harsh conditions—symbolism we can all do with more of.

The other great visual feature that crevices provide is unity and repetition in the garden. This need for repetition is old news: Never just plant one of anything, the designers always tell us; plant in drifts and repeat key plants, colors, and forms through the garden to pull it together. I know this. I understand why it works to create a beautiful, coherent garden. But then I go to the nursery and fall in love with 20 different plants and end up planting in dramatic drifts of 1. I can’t help it—I’m a plant nerd. With garden space always at a premium, how could I possibly let repetitions of just 1 or 2 varieties take up so much valuable real estate? It can be done, but it takes a lot more control and self-restraint than I have.
But in a crevice garden, the stones—not the plants—serve as the main unifying repetitive feature. By using the same stone throughout, you create a steady, repeated element of form, color, and texture, which draws together and makes a cohesive whole out of even a wild collection of different and disparate plants. Build multiple crevice gardens with the same stone around your property, and you’ll get even more unity, a strong, cohesive structure, and a design that will stand up to the most unrestrained of plant collections
Maintenance is minimal
Once planted up, a crevice garden should be quite low maintenance. In most climates, the well-drained gravel mulch will be too dry for most weed seeds to germinate and get established, and the small, slow-growing plants won’t need dividing regularly.
Most plants you’d use in the crevice garden are adapted to low water and lower fertility, so in rainy climates you won’t need to irrigate at all once plants are established, and in drier places you’ll be able to cut back the irrigation you would normally use. And fertilizer needs will also be minimal. If you want to encourage lush growth, especially in the container gardens, use a very diluted fertilizer in the spring. But most of the plants will thrive and look good with little or no supplemental fertilizer, and growing them lean will help keep them small, compact, and the right size for a smaller garden.
5 Plants to Get You Started
An enormous variety of plants can thrive in the well-drained environment of a crevice garden. Here are a few ideas you might enjoy.
1. Alpine geranium(Erodium reichardii and cvs.) Zones: 7–10 Size: 3 to 6 inches tall and 12 inches wide Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; well-drained, neutral to slightly alkaline soil |
2. ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ hosta(Hosta ‘Blue Mouse Ears’) Zones: 3–8 Size: 6 to 12 inches tall and 9 to 12 inches wide Conditions: Partial to full shade; medium, well-drained soil |
3. Silver-edged primrose(Primula marginata and cvs.) Zones: 3–9 Size: 6 to 8 inches high and wide Conditions: Partial shade; well-drained soil |
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4. Cobweb hens and chicks(Sempervivum arachnoideum) Zones: 5–8 Size: 1 to 2 inches tall and 4 to 6 inches wide Conditions: Full sun; dry to medium, well-drained soil |
5. Henderson’s daphne(Daphne × hendersonii) Zones: 5–8 Size: Up to 18 inches tall and wide Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; well-drained soil |
Joseph Tychonievich is the author of Rock Gardening and Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener. He studied horticulture, plant breeding, and genetics at the Ohio State University.
Photos, except where noted: Joseph Tychonievich
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