“Nature always wins,” is a truism evident in every urban area where tree roots uproot concrete sidewalks, ferns grow from mortared subway embankments and sidewalk cracks are colonized by weedy pioneers that completely cover slabs if not religiously wrenched from their footings.

It should surprise no one that plants will grow nearly anywhere there is the slightest amount of substrate in which their roots can gain purchase. Most gardeners fail to recognize the opportunity this awesome natural power grants us to expand our plantings and our creativity.

To assist us in taking advantage of this gift, George Schenk has written 'Gardening on pavement, tables, and hard surfaces.' Schenk takes the bromide about nature’s winning ways and bends it to his will, creating gardens where no one thought to look. He attacks with uncommon creativity and vigor, and nature declares a draw.

Gardening on impenetrable surfaces, Schenk creates small (and not so small) wonderlands. His goal must have been like that he ascribes to the builders of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon—to create the illusion of arrival in paradise in a desert setting of “eye-puckering glare and mineral hardness.” The metaphor is more apt for most cityscapes than that of the “urban jungle”, at least from a botanical standpoint. This makes gardening on hard surfaces an important adjunct to more familiar gardening models.

Schenk’s inimitable style guttates from every page and he is eminently readable. Is there anyone who doesn’t list “Moss Gardening” as one of their all-time favorite gardening books? He has a knack for turning arcane and narrowly focused subjects into engrossing themes—a publisher’s dream.

Plants grow in the damndest places. Schenk instructs in the art of making the most of what you’ve got. I’ve long harbored ambitions to turn underused asphalt into garden space—without the backbreaking work of removing old paving—the ultimate “take back the earth” gesture. Perhaps more than any others, rock gardeners are uniquely qualified to grow in these situations.

Schenk brings specialized techniques to the masses with specific instruction in methods that may still be considered out of the mainstream. His ideas are especially suited to city dwellers.

Space for gardens appear where none existed before. I can no longer complain that I have no dirt to play in. Even those who don’t have a “yard” even in the city sense of the word, are likely to have hard-spaces on which to grow a wide variety of plants.

Pavement, walkways, rocks, railings, stumps, logs, and tables are all adventures to be explored. Schenk creates gardens in as little as four inches of soil, although deeper beds widen the plant choices available. He warns that, like growing in pots, plants will be less hardy than when grown in open ground. Schenk provides plenty of plant lists and how-to.

Don’t be put off by the fact that he gardens in four cities with near perfect climates and photographs of bromeliad and succulent arrangements that are near impossible outdoors in much of the temperate zone. Schenk’s advice and horticultural daring-do will serve all gardeners well if plant palettes are adjusted for local climate and you’re willing to play and experiment. It’s the principal of the thing.  

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Copyright  2006- 2007 by Carlo A. Balistrieri.
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