AHS Book Award winner Rock gardening —the art of growing alpines and other miniature plants in the company of rocks in order to recreate the look of a rugged mountaintop—has been surging in popularity. Time and space constraints, chronic drought in the American West, and a trend toward architectural plants are just a few of the reasons for the increased interest. Rock Gardening brings this traditional style to a new generation of gardeners. It includes a survey of gorgeous rock gardens from around the world, the techniques and methods specific to creating and maintaining a rock garden, and profiles of the top 50 rock garden plants.

Few gardens can transport visitors to wild and rugged landscapes as well as rock gardens. Eye-catching rock gardens are among the most challenging—and satisfying—expressions of the gardener's craft. A true rock garden is a specialized habitat that allows the gardener to grow plants that do not flourish anywhere else. This book offers the first comprehensive treatment of building rock gardens in all parts of North America. Topics covered include rock placement, materials, and planting and maintenance. Variations on the rock garden theme, from planting troughs to creating water features are also discussed. The book presents regional styles and techniques and profiles a dozen public rock gardens from Oregon to Newfoundland. This book is only available through print on demand. All interior art is black and white.

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.

Table of Contents A Beginner’s Guide to Rock Gardens Introduction Wrong Way Of Placing Rocks The Right Way to Place Rock Stones Good Rock Work- Flat Ground Wall Stones on Slopes Choosing the Best Soil Building Your Rock Garden Planting Your Rock Plants Maintenance Conifers Bulbs List of Rock Plants, depending on the Particular Conditions and Places Rock Plants For Walls Crazy paving plants – Conclusion Author Bio Publisher Introduction Rock gardens have been part of landscaping and gardening lore for millenniums. In the East Japanese rock gardens or Zen gardens have been places where people could meditate in serene and harmonious surroundings. Why are more people designing their own gardens incorporating at least one rock garden in the design? Even if the rock garden is quite small, it is going to add a touch of distinction to the landscaping of your garden. In Japan, rock gardens were normally built as dry landscape gardens, where a number of landscapes were made up of natural compositions made from natural products incorporated into a landscape. These natural items included bushes, trees, Moss, water, rocks and sand. One believes that the concept of rock gardening originated in China, especially when the ancient religion of Shintoism spoke about places of harmony where one could commune with nature and the spirit in serenity. These were normally made in monasteries, where they could be seen from one focal point, like say the porch of the head priest of the monastery. These dry Landscape gardens which you call a Zen garden in Japan were built to be seen from one viewpoint, with the walling closed around it in ancient times. Nowadays they stretch on for miles incorporating all the natural features available and present in the area to make up harmonious surroundings. Japanese Zen gardens go back to 784 BC. Chinese gardens have been around for even longer. The incorporation of gravel and white sand in a Zen or rock garden was an important feature. These were the symbol of distance, emptiness, purity, white space and water. All these symbols were supposed to aid in meditation. White sand and gravel used harmoniously together were also used around temples, shrines and palaces.

Adri promises to remember his parents' words of wisdom about how to live his life, such as "Find your own way. You don't have to follow the crowd" and "Make wishes on the stars in the nighttime sky."

Provides information on selecting plants and includes cultivation descriptions for each plant

Called "the bible for American rock gardeners" by The New York Times, this classic includes practical information on construction of raised beds & planted walls, grading, & drainage. The heart of the book is an alphabetical descriptive catalog of more than 1,900 alpine plants for use in the rock garden.

This title tells the story of James Pulham & Son, the eminent family of Victorian and Edwardian landscape artists who specialised in the construction of picturesque rock gardens, ferneries, follies and grottes. The book covers more than four generations of the family business that was responsible for terracotta garden ornaments.

A rock garden, also known as a rockery or an alpine garden, is a small field or plot of ground designed to feature and emphasize a variety of rocks, stones, and boulders.The standard layout for a rock garden consists of a pile of aesthetically arranged rocks in different sizes, with small gaps between in which plants are rooted. Typically, plants found in rock gardens are small and do not grow larger than 1 meter in height, though small trees and shrubs up to 6 meters may be used to create a shaded area for a woodland rock garden. If used, they are often grown in troughs or low to the ground to avoid obscuring the eponymous rocks. The plants found in rock gardens are usually species that flourish in well-drained, poorly irrigated soil.Some rock gardens are designed and built to look like natural outcrops of bedrock. Stones are aligned to suggest a bedding plane, and plants are often used to conceal the joints between said stones. This type of rockery was popular in Victorian times and usually created by professional landscape architects. The same approach is sometimes used in commercial or modern-campus landscaping but can also be applied in smaller private gardens.The Japanese rock garden, often referred to as a "Zen garden", is a special kind of rock garden with water features, moss, pruned trees and bushes, and very few plants.Rock gardens have become increasingly popular as landscape features in tropical countries such as Thailand. The combination of wet weather and heavy shade trees, along with the use of heavy plastic liners to stop unwanted plant growth, has made this type of arrangement ideal for both residential and commercial gardens due to its easier maintenance and drainage.

Great ideas and professional advice on the art and craft of building stone into your garden landscapes. Photo galleries showcase timeless designs for stone patios, stairs, pathways, retaining walls pebbles mosaics, and more. Creative design tips and step-by-step explanations guide you through the process of building your own features. Materials guides advise on the selection on stepping-stones, flagstone, fieldstone, cut stone, and more.