Crevice/rock garden

[Swolte]

Hi all, I am building a rock/crevice garden and I was wondering if you had any suggestions for design (e.g., rock placement) and/or plants. I added a picture of what I have right now.

As for plants, I am in zone 8b central texas in a cold microclimate (sloping down NE) out in the country with no evergreen canopy (yet) so I am planting for 7b-8a. The garden has a tropical-palmy theme (think yucca's, salvia, sabals, and washies) so I don't want too many prickly cacti and pale green plants. 

I currently got in pots ready for spring:
- Aloe aristata
- Dutch Pipevine
- Trailing Rosemary Santa Barbara
- Agave Havardiana ‘Oregon’
- Mangaves (various)
- Dyckia ‘pale ryder’
- Agave parryi ssp truncata

Edited December 17, 2021 by Swolte

[Merlyn]

If you want a BIG dark green focal point agave, "Bluebell Giants" is a beast.  I think @Meangreen94z said that his survived the Texas Snowpocalypse outdoors with no issues, in the Austin area.  Other hardy medium-to-big agaves are Ovatifolia and "Baccarat."  For smaller accents the Manfreda and Mangaves are frequently hardy, my parents had a "Manfreda Chocolate Chips" that shrugged off the same Austin storm and took zero damage.

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 12/17/2021 at 4:00 PM, Swolte said:

Hi all, I am building a rock/crevice garden and I was wondering if you had any suggestions for design (e.g., rock placement) and/or plants. I added a picture of what I have right now.

As for plants, I am in zone 8b central texas in a cold microclimate (sloping down NE) out in the country with no evergreen canopy (yet) so I am planting for 7b-8a. The garden has a tropical-palmy theme (think yucca's, salvia, sabals, and washies) so I don't want too many prickly cacti and pale green plants. 

I currently got in pots ready for spring:
- Aloe aristata
- Dutch Pipevine
- Trailing Rosemary Santa Barbara
- Agave Havardiana ‘Oregon’
- Mangaves (various)
- Dyckia ‘pale ryder’
- Agave parryi ssp truncata

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Salvias for sure.. Texas has numerous great native sp. Several from nearby Mexico that should tolerate at least mid Z8...  Several Skullcaps ( genus Scutellaria ) would work too ..Both S. drummondii and wrightii stay low, spread more than get really tall.

Native Penstemon, Phlox that stay low could also work..  There is also 2 sp. of Spiderwort ( Tradescantia ) < T. subacaulis and T. pedicellata > native to parts of the Plateau, west of Austin / San Antonio that gets no taller than about a foot but put on quite a show when flowering.. If you want something grassy, that doesn't get really tall ( ..some short, interesting Grasses around also that could work also )

Astrolepis ( True Cloak Ferns ) will likely be the only native " Fern " you could readily find for sale to add, if you wanted to.. But, if you have areas of the garden where the rock is stacked, will stay moist and in shade/ lots of shady crevices, you could take a gamble and collect mature, fertile  fronds of any Xeric ferns in the area, and try and sow the spores (simply tap the fronds against moist rocks to release spores ) in those shady moist crevices to see if any grow.. Same w/ any Spike Mosses ( Selaginella sp. )

As far as any cacti you might add.. i too would stay away from anything bigger or overwhelming ( unless you had a pretty large area to work with / were creating -just- a cacti - themed garden ) and stay w/ smaller things like Coryphantha ( Pineapple / Sea Urchin Cactus ), smaller native Hedgehogs ( Echinocereus ) and Mammillaria that will handle zone 8.  Same w/ Agave, unless you want a few larger ones..  If they'll survive your winters,  Agave in the Victorae reginae complex : V.R/ and various varieties of it., nicklesiae,  pintilla would look great / don't get huge..  Agave tomeyana v. bella might be another to try out there too ( that stays small )

Beyond that, ..still a lot of possibilities..  Might take a walk in a rocky area nearby to study how everything growing is laid out in the landscape for other ideas. Keep in mind that, even there, rocky areas will create their own microclimate that could be a few ticks warmer than open, non- rock covered areas of the yard / garden.

As far as lay out, studying how nature does it will help, but, in general, you'd want to have some open, gravely areas and some spots where larger boulders / rip rap are closer together creating tighter spaces for plants.. Some areas, like you have pictured, w, vertical rock faces, and some stacked rock scattered here and there..  As mentioned, the overall design comes down to how much room you have to play with..  Never know, you may enjoy it enough to add more area later.. ( the look gets addicting .. You've been warned, lol  )

[Paradise Found]

Great Idea, you probably know this already but some of those mangave can get pretty big. Here is a pic I found that is 'almost' mature. LOL Mission to Mars.  Photo is by Succulents and More (website) while visiting Ruth Bancroft Garden, CA,  I love this one a lot.  

Love to see your garden design when finish. 

Edited December 17, 2021 by Paradise Found

[Swolte]

@Merlyn thanks that Bluebell Giants looks great. Seems hard to find though. I'll have to be patient until PDN has some more available. I have an Agave Salmiana var. ferox that looks a bit like it and I love it (so far).

@Silas_Sancona you're such an amazing resource! Hadn't really considered ferns but you're absolutely right those could look great. I'll look into some grasses too. I guess something that gently moves in the wind between all those hard lined succulents could look nice!

@Paradise Found Wow, that is the best pic of the mission from mars Mangave I have seen! That one was on my list but I'll have to bump it now! 

 

 

[ahosey01]

Tbh I think Fouquieria splendens might have a shot and would probably be unique in your area.

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 12/18/2021 at 2:33 AM, Swolte said:

@Merlyn thanks that Bluebell Giants looks great. Seems hard to find though. I'll have to be patient until PDN has some more available. I have an Agave Salmiana var. ferox that looks a bit like it and I love it (so far).

@Silas_Sancona you're such an amazing resource! Hadn't really considered ferns but you're absolutely right those could look great. I'll look into some grasses too. I guess something that gently moves in the wind between all those hard lined succulents could look nice!

 

 

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I'll tell ya, while many people go bananas the first time they are able to observe various Cacti in their natural environment here,  there is nothing cooler, imo, than rounding corner while out hiking somewhere in the desert, and seeing the all the different Xeric ferns that grow here happily peering out from the foot of large boulders, sometimes growing w/ cacti, or hanging from natural rock walls. Because you're more humid / get more rain than us, imagine many of the same ferns ..and some others native there  will really look nice in a rockscape. 


Grasses definitely soften up hard edges / landscapes ..and provide that element of movement ( and sometimes seasonal color < Think about when Little Bluestem turns shades of copper, orange, and / or  red in the fall > ) 

The trick w/ selecting grasses is knowing how big X species will get, BEFORE you plant it, lol .. Definitely don't want to plant something like Giant Sacaton -that can get 6' x 6', easily- in a small area..   GREAT grass,  IF   you have the space..  Grasses that stay in the 1-3ft range will provide the same effects, but won't overwhelm smaller spaces, and blend in nicely w/ everything else.. Grama ( Blue, Hairy, and Sideoats Grama are the 3 nicest sp. ) Curly Mesquite ( if available for sale where you're at ) are great, generally smaller grasses..  All are clumping / very slow to spread, meaning they will stay where planted, or only slowly expand in size / area,  ..rather than become a Bermuda Grass- like nightmare overnight.. or seed  -everywhere-  All are generally very drought tolerant as well. 

Last summer, came across what i thought was an invasive, non native grass at a park down in Tucson that instantly caught my eye.. Turns out, it is a TX ( ..and S.E. AZ ) native..  False Rhodes Grass, Leptochloris / Trichloris crinita..  Even w/ the feathery- looking flower heads,  it doesn't get taller than about 3 1/2' ft.  Unlike  ..what it looked like..  it also won't spread around like wildfire / be a pain in the A*** to trim -if necessary.  Think it is hardy to 8a..  Anyway,  Collected a ton of seed to grow out and try here at the house / plant at a nearby park.  Surprised it isn't already well known in the nursery trade.  Might be too big for the rock garden, but might work in other spots.. Same w/ Bamboo Muhly.

 

[teddytn]

Must have is some kind of conifer in the rock garden. I’ve been on the hunt for a smaller dwarf Japanese variety perhaps. Maybe Pinus Parviflora…