Crevice Gardens
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FARM & GARDEN PAGE 2C / SUNDAY, JUNE 16, 2019 news-journal.com Maintenance on ponds can boost performance Pond health and mainte- Sink said. nance should be a top pri- “A fertilized pond can ority for landowners who produce four to six times want to get the most out of more fish ecauseb it creates their favorite fishing hole, more food throughout the according a Texas A&M food chain,” he said. AgriLife Extension Service It’s best to start pond expert. fertilization programs as Dr. Todd Sink, AgriLife the pond fills with water, Extension aquaculture Sink said. This allows specialist, College Station, RANDY phytoplankton to prevent Tony Avent/Plant Delights Nurser Photo said maintaining ponds is REEVES rooted vegetation from Plant collector and grower Tony Avent has created a 300-foot-long crevice garden at Juniper Level critical to increasing fish establishing in a pond. But Botanic Garden in Raleigh, N.C. productivity and avoiding fertilization programs can fish kills. be implemented at any time in a pond’s Environmental factors such as de- life to improve fishing. clining dissolved oxygen during peak Most ponds benefit from 6 to 8 pounds Crevice gardens: Rock summer months or inhospitable pH and of phosphorous per surface acre during alkalinity levels can lead to major prob- the first application, he said. lems in stock ponds, Sink said. “When the water begins to clear, “Summer is coming,” he said. “Right meaning clearing to around 24 inches of now is a good time to be planning or visibility, typically four to eight weeks gardens on steroids taking action to prevent potential issues after the firstap plication, it’s time to for stock ponds. July and August can be fertilize again,” he said. “Then apply half deadly if dissolved oxygen levels are not of what was applied the first pplicaa tion BY ADRIAN HIGGINS where they should be. ” on that schedule all summer long.” The Washington Post Setting up and maintaining a pond’s ecosystem properly can produce a thriv- Supplemental feed Ecologically minded ing food chain that will produce higher Feeding fish is not necessary if pond gardens are in vogue, which levels of sport and food, he said. owners harvest effectively, Sink said. If is all to the good. One of the owners choose to feed fish, they should hallmarks of a successful Aerators only do so three to four times a week. landscape is that it is in Providing supplemental aeration isn’t They should also feed no more than harmony with its place, in its necessary, but it is a preventative tool what the fish leanc up in 15 minutes. flora, planting aesthetic and to ensure fish have enough dissolved “If feed is floating after 15 minutes, general mood. oxygen, Sink said. you’re over-feeding the fish,” Sink said. But it is worth knowing Choosing the right type of aerator is Sink recommends standard floating that the contemporary broad important, he said. He recommends the catfish diet of 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch pellet interest in plant naturalism bottom-style aerator because it mixes that contains 28% to 32% protein and 4% is a relatively recent impulse. the entire water column so fish can to 7% lipid. For the past century or Plants utilize the entire pond. more, gardeners have want- Liming such as They cost a little more, but are more ed to grow plants that were reliable than surface aerators, he said, Sink said it is the perfect time for decidedly exotic and spec- Edrianthus which can be problematic because they tenuifolius pond owners to check their water’s pH tacularly different; the list mix dissolved oxygen only in the top 2 to levels and check for alkalinity and hard- includes non-native versions survive in 4 feet of the pond. ness. The pond should receive crushed of roses, azaleas, hostas and the dry, hot agricultural limestone if pH is below 6 lilies, for example. environ- Aquatic weeds or alkalinity below 50 parts per million. Sometimes the craving ment by Aquatic vegetation is the cause of “Liming is important because if water for exotica meant creating sending 80% of low dissolved oxygen fish kills becomes too acidic, it messes up fish whole new growing environ- in Texas, Sink said. So, it’s important physiology and dramatically impacts ments, none more adventur- roots down several to ensure that no more than 10% to 15% eggs and larvae survival,” he said. ous than the rock garden. of the pond’s overall area is covered in In much of the state, lime should be Done well, a rock garden feet. vegetation. applied every five to seven years, but evokes a high country scree. Tony Avent Pond owners need to correctly identify Sink said acidic soils in East Texas make Done badly, that is, hesitant- Plant Delights Nursery the plants to determine which herbicide it necessary every three to four years. ly, it looks as though a dump will be effective, Sink said. The AgriL- Alkalinity and pH levels will deter- truck just delivered a load of ife Extension website aquaplant.tamu. mine how much lime is needed, Sink dense old holly trees stood, temperature, but in the crev- rubble. edu can help pond owners identify and said. He recommends consulting with the crevice garden has ice garden, it was only four Botanically, a rock garden choose treatment options for aquatic regional fisheries specialist to deter- given Avent a whole new degrees warmer, Avent said. opens up a whole new world. vegetation. mine how much lime should be applied playground for his unusual In subsequent sections they There are some curious and per surface acre. lovely native wildflowers for plants. He is known for the changed the growing mix to Fertilization — Randy Reeves is a Texas A&M AgriLife extension such a place, though rock breadth as well as the depth include compost and some agent for Gregg County. Join him on his horticultural gardeners have been drawn of his rare plant passions, native soil to fix het problem. Pond owners who want maximum blog at www.news-journal.com. to grow difficult far-off al- many of them arid-region Today, 1,500 plants are thriv- fish production often need to fertilize, pine plants or desert flora. plants at home in the crevice ing in the garden, including But hang on to your garden. These include yuc- more agaves and hardy prickly pears. I’ve discovered cas, agaves and, yes, prickly cactuses, delosperma, arabis there is something even pears. and draba — all of which more adventurous than a Some of his choices will would probably not survive rock garden, a more extreme grow only in such a dry- in normal garden beds in version called a crevice scape, but others are found central North Carolina. garden. in more conventional garden The crevice slabs undulate A while ago, Tony Avent settings. The latter group in waves that give movement sent me pictures of the includes hardy cactuses and to an otherwise unyielding crevice garden at his Plant succulents as well as other medium. To place them, Delights Nursery at Juniper plants that you might not ex- Schmidt said he set them Level Botanic Garden in pect in a rock garden setting, down with a skid-steer load- Raleigh, North Carolina. including species of dian- er above their allotted space A rock garden typically thus, penstemon, germander and then used gravity to help is formed from soil and grit and daphnes. position them. and gravel piled between What these plants lack There is a pleasing tension boulders. A crevice gar- in soil, they gain in the seeing seemingly delicate, den, however, uses slabs elongation of their roots. novel beauties such as of stone set vertically and A plant that might be eight globularia, with its chivelike close together. There is less inches high, huddled be- blossoms, growing amid expanse of growing space tween two slabs, could have such hulking surroundings. and virtually no soil as such. root strands reaching down When he is designing crev- Avent’s is remarkable for several feet. ice gardens, Seth says, he its size — some 300 feet long “It forces the roots much conjures a mental image “of and about six feet high — deeper,” said Seth, owner of a certain mountain range and for its material. Instead Paintbrush Gardens. Their I’ve visited and give it that of using quarried stone, he length increases the plant’s vibe.” But when tackling this used broken up concrete access to moisture and concrete version, he imag- slabs from a property he was nutrients, often in a part- ined another scenario: A clearing for a new home. nership with bacteria. “A post-apocalyptic city where This saved hauling 70 cubic lot of plants are adapted to the plants were taking over yards of material to the absorbing mineral nutrients the ruins. landfill. But once he started rather than organic, humic This was an organizing in 2017, he got crevice fever nutrients,” he said. “They idea for the design, but Avent and in February finished get their minerals straight says his crevice garden the whole installation using from the rocks.” actually offers a model of salvaged concrete from four In the first sections, they urban sustainability — a other sites. He estimates the used no soil at all, just great way of creating beauty in the concrete pieces weigh 400,000 quantities of a horticultur- recycled concrete jungle. pounds. al-grade aggregate named “I think it’s a great way to In the photos, the garden PermaTill. Many of the green cities while keeping looked a bit industrial, and I plants — 588 hardy cactuses stuff out of the landfill and thought I should actually see and agaves — did not make exposing people to a whole it before passing judgment.