Pocket Gardens

Tiny Jewel-like Gardens

Certain plants lend themselves to pocket gardens, particularly those plants that drape and billow naturally.

Pocket Garden with Sempervivum and other choice plants

Especially valuable specimens for planting in pocket gardens are those plants that have the ability to colonize dry soil among stones, such as Sempervivum and Jovibarba.

As the colony grows the chicks fall to the ground to create an intriguing textural tapestry.

Thyme varieties that stay low growing even when flowering such as a Thymus pseudolanuginosus and Elfin thyme are valued for creating a soft edging to steps, or cascading over a bank or slope.

Plant these plants in a pocket garden at the edge of patios, brick walkways or paved areas to give the whole area a feeling of romance and antiquity.

Pocket Garden beside a brick walkway

They’ll enhance the landscape with flowers in succession and textural foliage through out the seasons.

Favorite varieties of Sedum groundcovers and even tender succulent plants are great drought tolerant choices for jewel like pocket gardens.

Other xeric plants and groundcovers can spill over the edge of a walkway, or even be planted around the base of a trough or container of succulents placed on a patio.

Investigate plants that are easy to maintain and not invasive, as the tight confines of a pocket garden can be difficult to renovate.

Design your pocket gardens to accent existing plantings, soften hard landscape features or draw attention to a focal point in the bigger picture of the xeric garden.

go to Drought Smart Plants home page

Romantic Gardens

Mediterranean Gardens

Courtyard Landscaping