Gardening on Pavement, Tables, and Hard Surfaces

by George Schenk

Gardening on Pavement, Tables, and Hard Surfaces is the first book to describe how to grow garden plants directly on hard surfaces such as pavement, rocks, tables, and other impermeable platforms. Plants have known all along that they can grow on these media, and George Schenk translates this small miracle into practical language for gardeners. With just a few inches of soil, gardens can be created almost anywhere. Tabletops can serve as the foundation for small rock gardens; ground covers can grow vigorously on concrete; even bonsai can thrive directly on decorative stone. Using extensive photos, plant lists, and step-by-step instructions, the author shows how every gardener can adopt this charming, vibrant, and beautiful style of planting.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Horticulture, Plants

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2004

Reviews

[Jacqueline M.]

This book was not it. He mentions in the introduction that he's not talking about growing container gardens (and with great disdain in the tone) then proceeds to spend 200+ pages explaining how to literally build raised beds on hard surfaces. Well sure, George. You can grow a lot in raised beds. But you do realize that's a container too, right? I didn't hate the pictures but the captions are little more than meta data and the actual descriptions might be hundreds of pages away with no good reference points to page numbers. Overall I'm giving this 2 stars because it is probably helpful if you're a raised bed person and not an in-ground snob like me.

[Alicia]

Fun voice and very inspiring!

[Claire]

Table gardens look pretty cool. Not something I'm intereted in trying, but different and interesting. I really just skimmed this.

[Mary]

2003

There is a 2006 edition if you can find it. This 2003 edition is not up-to-date. But the pictures helped me think outside the box for places to plant.