Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Return to the farm on Dairy Creek

Last fall I wrote about my visit to Craig Quirk and Larry Neill's new garden on Dairy Creek. I returned again last week, while my friend Kenton Seth was there building an absolutely epic series of crevice gardens with Chris Dixon and a local crew. I'll start my coverage at the entrance to the garden. Everything you see is surrounded by a deer fence. 

Looking to the right, there's a potting shed/out-building under construction below the plastic hoop house cover.

Looking to the left, there's a veggie/cutting garden.

And of course there is a greenhouse, an off-the-charts amazing Hartley Botanic greenhouse. But I was here for the rocks...


Specialized rock gardens known as crevice gardens—filled with different soil mixes and varying crevice widths—were built to surround the greenhouse on all sides. I'm going to direct you to a few Instagram accounts in this post, the first of which is that of Dale Hickey. He took at great video of Kenton walking on one of these rock gardens, which shows just how deep the rock is buried, and how tough they are. Click here and then through to the 10th and last image to see the video. 

Here's a section under construction. You can see the gravel/sand mound in the center into which more rocks will be placed.

Dale was just one of many folks I know who visited the site last week. That's one of the things that makes this project so wonderful, Craig and Larry are all about sharing it.

That's Kenton's partner in this rock garden project, Chris Dixon, at work below. He's got some great photos and stories about the build on his Instagram feed as well.

Here's a section with wider planting crevices.

One of my favorite things was how the rocks just slightly over shot the metal border here in this section.

Look at all those fabulous planting pockets!

Over on the far side of the greenhouse there was crevice valley...

It's gonna be fun to watch these spaces fill up with plants, Craig is in no hurry though, he's aware it's gonna take time.

As we were walking around Kenton suggested we go inside the greenhouse to check out the view from that vantage point.

Not bad, eh?

High summer isn't exactly prime greenhouse time, but it was nice inside thanks to the shade cloth.


I can only imagine what treasures will be on those shelves once the greenhouse is in full use.

Back outside there's Kenton to the right of the greenhouse door. His Spanish skills were called into play speaking with the support crew hired to assist Kenton and Chris (on the far left) with the build.

And while the crew did start out as hired help for moving rocks, gravel and sand, over the days they worked with Kenton and Chris they became versed in the methods, skill and thoughts behind building a crevice garden, eventually taking on sections of the garden as their own. This project has many ripples of creativity that will move outward into the community, it's pretty fabulous to think about.

After a walk around the building site Craig took me over to visit the creek, on the way I spotted some of the plants in waiting, destined for the crevices.

That magical creek...

And now we're back in the garden...

Glycyrrhiza uralensis

Seed grown (look at those seed heads!) from seed collected in Piet Oudolf's garden.

Greenhouse as seen from the surrounding garden.

You'd never know it once you're standing in the garden, but the public road one takes to get there cuts under those trees on the left.

To my way of thinking the crevice garden—and all of it's rocky severe shapes—is the perfect break/contrast/transition between the greenhouse and the surrounding garden.

Volunteer sunflowers from the previous year's planting.

Tomatoes, garden "shed" and cutting garden.

If you have a look at Chris Dixon's Instagram feed you'll see he specializes in creating small containerized crevice gardens, yet this was a new idea for him, including a piece of wood in the mix (the vertical element).

Here's another, built with sempervivum. How dreamy is this?


When I visited there were two large Agave ovatifolia waiting to be planted out in the finished crevice garden, later this image showed up on Craig's Instagram, I had to borrow it. Kenton looks like he's paying his respects to that agave, don't you think?

From a post on Kenton's feed I borrowed this image, both agaves are planted in place. If you're interested click though to a video he did here, then a super detailed post here (note the butterfly design) and and another here. I should also mention the garden at Dairy Creek was designed with Laura Crockett, aka Garden Diva Designs.

Oh and one more thing! Should you plan on attending the Hardy Plant Society Study Weekend next June, this garden will be on the itinerary!

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

26 comments:

  1. OMG! That's a fabulous crevice garden in the making, perhaps the best I've ever seen. It embellishes that beautiful greenhouse perfectly. These guys don't do anything by half, do they? I was already overwhelmed when I saw the greenhouse and the "garden shed" in the first shot.

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    1. Nope, these guys do it right and in style. I continue to be impressed.

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  2. I'm guessing this is an old dairy farm, and as you say the land will be in good hands. The creek to me might be the most prized possession -- greenhouse and crevice gardens are pretty great too ;)

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    1. That creek is dreamy, I wouldn't be able to tear myself away.

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  3. YESSSS. I was hoping you'd give us an update on what has to be the largest private crevice garden in the PNW, if not the country! I'm so excited about what they're doing! To say I have crevice envy would be an understatement!

    I'm already making plans to attend the Study Weekend next summer!

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    1. Yay, you'll have fun. It's Fling-like but with lectures in the morning and no buses. Make sure you plan to sign up the day the tickets go on sale as it fills up fast.

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  4. OMG, I love the rock features, crevice gardens ... and the succulents! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. You're welcome! I hope to file many future reports.

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  5. I am not really fond of crevice gardens and don't know why. Love the creek, plantings and greehouse though. An ambitious effort!

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    1. They're definitely not for everyone, I find a lot of the plants that go into them a little fussy, but I love the structure.

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    2. It’s certainly not for everyone, that’s the beauty of gardening - it’s completely subjective. I think if you saw a Crevice garden in full bloom with mature plants it might change your mind.

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    3. Fortunately, gardening is completely subjective and if one style doesn’t fit your aesthetic beliefs, you can move on. I personally feel that Crevice gardens are one of the highest forms of garden design and to grow alpine plants at a lower level demands intimate knowledges of a group of plants that require a different kind of attention then the average garden.

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    4. I spent a couple of hours yesterday lusting after a fine collection of alpine plants, I certainly agree they can be extremely beautiful. I think it's my general tendency toward foliage over flower that had me using the word fussy.

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  6. Wow! This is amazing, it will be heaven for hundreds of plants (and admirers). I can't wait for Chris to build a much smaller one on my shed roof this fall.
    Happy to see a poster for the Study Weekend; I'll be there for certain!

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    1. Rocks on a roof eh? Must be a very sturdy roof. I look forward to seeing photos.

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  7. This is just so insanely good. I made weird noises. What a master he is at crevice gardening. And then the greenhouse, I'm gobsmacked!

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    1. It's all so amazing, gobsmacked is the perfect word.

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  8. I followed each of the links you provided. Wow. This parcel of land will be a pilgrimage destination for decades to come! The crevice garden alone will draw many enthusiasts. (LOVED the potted miniatures). The surrounding beds are very Piet Oudolf 'esk.
    And that magical stream, the best heavenly spot, where I'd be found on sunny days if that were my garden.
    From the arial shots I finally comprehended the massiveness of the greenhouse spaces, connected with a corridor of sorts.
    Chavli

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    1. The arial shots are so important, thank goodness for the drones! (not something I am normally a fan of, but in this case they're magic)

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  9. Well now that's a right pickle. HSPO study weekend or Memphis Fling? Or both? I sorta really want to see this place. How can that much have happened in so short a time since your last post?! They are booking it.

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    1. Both? I'm definitely planning to attend the Study Weekend, the Fling is a little more iffy.

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    2. Yeah, just thinking about two trips in the space of a month makes my heart race uncomfortably with anxiety, not to mention how tiring that would be. Still, I hate to disappoint people.

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  10. Once again, an excellent article, well done. I have so many questions, like how many work to maintain this garden and holy smokes the cost? What is the greenhouse shade clothe made of? It’s so unusual for a greenhouse because it looks like a solid material. I do love the artistic setting of the crevice garden in relationship to the greenhouse or is it greenhouses (?) but it looks really challenging to set a ladder up to do maintenance on the outside of the greenhouses or to use a long handed wash brush on the outside glass. Traditional glass houses are sprayed with whitewash in the summer that is washed off in the fall so at least with the shade clothe that wouldn’t need to happen.
    Thanks much!

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    1. As the garden/property is still being developed there are certainly more than just the owners currently working on it. But they're also very experienced hands-on gardeners and hard workers so long term I'm sure most of the maintenance with be done by them. As for the material of the shade cloth I believe Craig told me, but I didn't retain that information.

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  11. Fantastic post! Outstanding and epic garden! Thanks!

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  12. What a wonderful way to share the joys of growing drainage and xerophytic loving plants for the PNW! Your garden just rocks it!

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