Juniper Level Botanic Garden: Crevice Garden

Name: Juniper Level Botanic Garden: Crevice Garden

Open to the public? Yes, by appointment and during Open Days.

County: Wake

Address (if public): 9241 Sauls Rd, Raleigh, NC 27603

Link to the public garden map

Website: www.juniperlevelbotanicgarden.org

USDA Hardiness Zone: 8a (2023)

Extension Demonstration Garden? No

Approximate year the garden/landscape was established: 2017

What to look for: The 300-foot crevice garden was completed in 2017 and made with recycled concrete (“urbanite”) salvaged and repurposed from the demolition of an on-site building. It is based on a gardening style, developed in the Czech Republic, whereby rocks are stacked vertically to create narrow crevices. It features many xeric-loving plants that are difficult to grow in other garden conditions.  The raised beds and amended soil afford perfect drainage.

The garden was designed by Jeremy Schmidt and developed with a Norman Singer Grant from the North American Rock Garden Society. Many of the plants featured in the garden area were grown from seed from the Hardy Plant Society and the North American Rock Garden Society.

Horticulture: JLBG is maintained by a team of professionals and volunteers. 

In some sections of the Crevice Garden, the bed is infilled with pure PermaTill, a gravel manufactured from kiln-fired slate. The pH is just over 8.0, so the JLBG team chose plants that love or tolerate alkaline soils. In other parts, PermaTill is mixed with native soil to give a more acid pH.