Alpine planting in rocks on margins

[dinm]

Has anyone planted alpine plants like Saxifraga on the margins by essentially building a miniature rock garden? I just received one saxifraga today, and while it's a great plant, in clay it is as good as death after a month, it can't handle wet soil, at least that has been my experience. And in rocks it just looks natural, my natural idea of course is just creating a little void space held by rocks on the margins, plant the saxifraga in between and fill in with gravel. This is what they do typically anyway, but I am wondering if anyone's done this on the pond margins.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Yes, we've done something like that along our main waterfall. Tried Lewisia, but that wasn't happy & failed to thrive. We've had good luck with ice plant & sedum.

 

[j.w]

Has anyone planted alpine plants like Saxifraga on the margins by essentially building a miniature rock garden? I just received one saxifraga today, and while it's a great plant, in clay it is as good as death after a month, it can't handle wet soil, at least that has been my experience. And in rocks it just looks natural, my natural idea of course is just creating a little void space held by rocks on the margins, plant the saxifraga in between and fill in with gravel. This is what they do typically anyway, but I am wondering if anyone's done this on the pond margins.

Read online about it and appears to need some shelter from the hot sun. Grows best in zones 5 to 7. Sure is pretty and some have really cool looking leaves. I'd get the short version and put them around my smaller frog pond and maybe in the shaded parts of my fish pond.

 

[dinm]

Yes, we've done something like that along our main waterfall. Tried Lewisia, but that wasn't happy & failed to thrive. We've had good luck with ice plant & sedum.

Been a week almost, I removed 90% of the soil and planted that Saxifraga the same day, a day after I found it drooping, watered it and next day it was back to normal. So it seems they can certainly handle it, it's just about it getting proper water. My planting of it though is not a crevice, it's just like between rocks, so I think until it roots itself in i'll have to water.

 

[dinm]

Plant's still alive, so that means it's working. You end up with a lot of crevices in rocks, next thing will be to try planting ferns in these crevices, it takes a bit more brain I think though to do it successfully, I think a too wide crevice then its not gonna catch moisture. but im just guessing

 

[jgrandmont]

We've had good luck with ice plant & sedum.

Yes!

 

[Hound Heaven]

Plant's still alive, so that means it's working. You end up with a lot of crevices in rocks, next thing will be to try planting ferns in these crevices, it takes a bit more brain I think though to do it successfully, I think a too wide crevice then its not gonna catch moisture. but im just guessing

I too may try the ferns, was thinking to plant them on some underlayment fabric as I do the carnivorous plants in the bog. Wondering if the clay kitty litter might work for them too?