We may earn a commission from links on this page.A crevice garden is an exceptional way to deal with one of the hardest terrains to grow a garden. But more than that, crevice gardens can create architectural interest and structure, while growing a drought-tolerant garden that can be full of native plants. You can even create a crevice garden in a place that didnt previously have rocky terrain, if you like the look of them. With climate change bringing hotter summers, a garden that is drought tolerant while also improving the soil and providing food for pollinators is a win all around. Since these gardens are so low maintenance, theyre perfect for people who want a dramatic, natural garden without a lot of upkeep.Crevices provide the perfect growing conditionsIf you have a patio, driveway or bricked walkway, you know that plants love to grow in the nooks and crannies, whether you want them to or not. Theres good reason these plants grow in the tiny spacesthe surrounding matter, whether thats rock, brick, or pavement, provide almost perfect germination conditions. They keep the seeds dark, warm, and moist in the soil, shaded from the sun. The roots are protected, and hard surfaces almost always trap heat, offering the plant what it needs to survive.With a crevice garden, you embrace this idea, and either create or adapt rocky spaces. If you have a rock wall, adding plants between the rocks creates a symbiotic relationship: The roots help the wall maintain stability, holding soil and rocks in place, even in storms; the rocks provide drainage, insulation, and minerals that leach into the soil, providing nutrients for the plants. The rocks also act as protection.How to start planting in your rock wallIf you have an existing rock wall or outcropping of rocks, you just need to check the conditions to get started on your crevice garden. You'll need enough soil between the rocks to anchor your plants. Use a cup or scoop to pour garden soil into the crevices, only enough so the seedings you place there will touch soil. Once you ensure that your rock wall has enough soil between the rocks, tuck small plants into the crevices. When you pull these plants out of the plastic containers they come in, be sure to free up and spread out the roots, so theyll begin rooting into the soil once planted. While theyre establishing themselves, ensure the wall gets watered only enough to keep the plants alive. Dont baby these plantsoverwatering will stop the roots from seeking water deep within the soil. Water the plants once after planting, and then watch for signs of plant stress such as wilting before watering again. Remember, water flows down, so if youre watering a rock wall, dont overdo it: Water well at the top of the wall and then allow gravity to move the water down to lower plants. There are different variations on crevice gardensA new generation of landscapers is using the notion of a rock wall to landscape entire flat yards. Washington State University recently demonstrated this, laying stone slabs parallel to one another, creating gorgeous diagonal lines between which to plant. Plantings are made in small groupings, two or three together. You dont need to design your entire yard around the crevice concept: A small outcropping of large rocks creates vertical interest in a large yard. Consider a long, low rock wall to define a change of elevation in your yard, or to shield a sitting area from the wind.Once you have rocks or slabs in place, the instructions are the same as for a rock wall. Make sure there's some dirt or soil for the plants to grab onto in the crevices between rocks, or add enough soil to do so. Plant small, drought tolerant plants in the crevices and encourage root growth by watering minimally. Resources to start your own crevice gardenIf youre interested in starting a crevice garden, consider the book The Crevice Garden: How to make the perfect home for plants from rocky places, which is full of suggestions for plants and layouts of crevice gardens.The best way to start is to visit a local nursery that specializes in natives; explain your project and find out what plants are recommended for your zone. This is the perfect time of year, as nurseries are beginning to stock for the spring and summer. This early in the season, you also have time to grow your own seedlings from seed. Seeing what is available will help you envision the colors, shapes and textures your garden can embody. From sedums that will tolerate a Northeast winter to caper berry plants that would thrive in a high desert, your crevice garden has to be suited to the local weather.If youre interested in building a crevice garden from scratch, consider working with a landscape designer. If you want to go it on your own, seek out a local rock yard. These businesses have different rocks, soils, and sands are separated out, and you can walk or drive around and look at each. Youll purchase the material by the ton, not pound, and can usually opt to pick it up yourself or have it delivered. Someone will walk with you through the yard and show you options.You can be as organic or rigid in your design as you'd like, by just placing a few rocks close together or by laying out an entire yard's worth of stone in distinctive planes. The formula remains the same: Identify the spaces between the rocks (the crevices), ensure there's enough soil to plant into, and then place drought-tolerant plants in those spaces.

Samsung Galaxy S25 smartphones are on sale for record-low prices, making this a great time to upgrade. The standard S25 is down to $700, which is a discount of $100. The slightly-beefier S25+ now costs $800 instead of $1,000. Finally, the S25 Ultra has been discounted to $1,100 from $1,300. All of these deals are available via Amazon. This is Samsungs latest and greatest smartphone line, having just released back in January. We appreciated the base S25 in our official review, calling out the solid build quality and incredible battery life. The processor is also noticeably more powerful than last years model. This makes the whole Gemini AI experience smoother, if thats something youre into. The camera system is fantastic, though virtually unchanged from the S24. This isnt necessarily a bad thing, as Samsung phones offer a top-tier experience for shutterbugs. The S25 and its cousins are tangibly thinner, which is nice, and the 2X AMOLED screen is plenty bright, at 2,600 nits. The S25 Ultra is pricier, but did make our list of the best Android phones. The 6.9-inch screen is glorious, with an anti-reflective Gorilla Armor 2 panel, and the new 50MP ultra-wide camera sensor is useful. It does have some extra horsepower, but it seems to be used primarily to boost the AI experience. If you want the speediest AI around, go for the Ultra. If you just want a great smartphone, consider the S25 or the S25+. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/samsung-galaxy-s25-series-phones-are-on-sale-for-record-low-prices-170952808.html?src=rss

Mobile World Congress 2025 has officially kicked off in Barcelona. Google is on the ground previewing two AI features that will begin rolling out to Android devices starting later this month.The first is Live Video, which Google first showed at I/O 2024 last May. The tool takes advantage of Gemini's multi-modal capabilities to allow users to show the chatbot what their phone's camera sees. As you can see from the demo Google shared, Gemini is able to answer a question about mid-century modern decor and offer a suggestion when it comes how to apply that knowledge to pottery.The other new feature, screensharing, works exactly as you would imagine. You can share your screen with Gemini to ask questions about what you see in front of you on a website or app. Google isn't exactly pushing the envelope with either feature. ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode has offered both live video and screensharing since the end of last year, but the nice thing here is you won't need to jump into a separate app to take advantage of Gemini's new capabilities.As mentioned, Google will begin rolling out live video and screensharing to Gemini Advanced subscribers starting later this month. Gemini Advanced is included in the company's $20 per month Google One AI Premium plan. If you're a Verizon customer, the carrier recently added the subscription as a perk for some plans.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/gemini-live-video-and-screensharing-arrive-on-android-devices-later-this-month-151743457.html?src=rss

Four criminals have been named by Microsoft after stealing Azure cloud credentials to generate celebrity deepfakes.

New trailer for Doctor Who on BBC One and Disney Plus introduces new companion alongside time and space madness.

The deal is also the latest in a string of private companies letting employees cash out shares and lowering the pressure on themselves to go public.

Anthropic on Monday closed its latest funding round at a $61.5 billion post-money valuation, the company confirmed to CNBC.

Arthur Johnson has lived in New Orleans Lower 9th Ward for nearly three decades, long enough to appreciate the trees that filter pollution from the big ships traveling the nearby Mississippi River and that offer shade on sweltering summer days.When Hurricane Katrina roared through two decades ago, it wiped out 200,000 trees across the city, including many in Johnsons neighborhood and several in his own yard. The city has struggled ever since to restore its tree canopy.Those efforts will be set back by the U.S. Forest Services decision in mid-February to terminate a $75 million grant to the Arbor Day Foundation, which was working to plant trees in neighborhoods that might not otherwise be able to afford them. The program is the latest victim of a drive by President Donald Trumps administrationagainst environmental justice initiatives.In New Orleans, part of the money was going to the environmental group Sustaining Our Urban Landscape (SOUL), which has planted more than 1,600 trees in the historically Black community but has now paused plans for another 900.Those are trees that largely low-income residents otherwise couldnt afford to plant or maintain, said the 71-year-old Johnson, who runs a local nonprofit, the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development, that has helped SOUL with its work and done some tree plantings of its own in the area.Youre not just cutting out the tree, the environment with such cuts, said Johnson. If those trees arent replaced and more arent continually added, it really takes a toll on the sustainability of the Lower 9th Ward and its community.The benefits of trees are vast. They capture stormwater and replenish groundwater. They help clean the air in polluted areas, improve mental health, and cool air and surfaces of the built environment, especially during heat waves that are growing more intense and frequent with climate change.One study by the UCLA Luskin Center found that shade can reduce heat stress on the human body from 25% to 35% throughout the day. And much research shows that low-income and communities of color have fewer treesand arehotterthan better-off neighborhoods.The Arbor Day Funds grant was part of former President Joe Bidens signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, which sent $1.5 billion to the forest services Urban and Community Forestry program. In a February 14 email canceling the grant, the Forest Service wrote that the award no longer effectuates agency priorities regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and activities.But Dan Lambe, the Arbor Day Foundations chief executive, said the projects werent just going to serve disadvantaged people. They were going to benefit every member of the community, he said. In total, 105 nonprofits, municipalities, and Indigenous organizationsfrom Alaska to Florida to Mainehave lost funding for critical environmental projects, the foundation said.This was an opportunity to make a really meaningful impact on peoples lives, so its been disappointing, Lambe said.The Forest Service didnt say if other recipients of the $1.5 billion forestry investment also had grants terminated. In a statement, its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said the agency was following directions to comply with Trumps executive orders.Protecting the people and communities we serve, as well as the infrastructure, businesses, and resources they depend on to grow and thrive, remains a top priority for the USDA and the Forest Service, the agency said.For SOUL in New Orleans, losing the grant means they dont have the money to water trees already planted, and theyve had to drop plans to hire three people. Another $2.5 million grant is on holddue to the federal funding freeze, and founder and executive director Susannah Burley said the nonprofits survival is uncertain. Its annual budget is a little more than $1 million.We kind of are lost because we dont know if we should be planning to close our doors or if we should be planning for next season, she said.For others who were set to get Arbor Day Foundation money, the loss is not existential but still devastating. In the city-county of Butte-Silver Bow in southwest Montana, forester Trevor Peterson was going to use a $745,250 grant to buy chain saws, rigging gear, and other essential tools, remove up to 200 dead or dying cottonwoods, and plant as many as 1,000 trees as part of a decades-long effort to replenish trees cut to make way for copper mining. He wanted to help organize large community events focused on education, hoping to impart the knowledge necessary for future stewardship of the urban forest.We will now have to go back to the drawing board to determine where to go from here, he said.Jackson County, Oregon, was awarded a $600,000 grant to replant trees after wildfires in 2020 destroyed thousands of homes and charred more than 60,000 trees. The town of Talent lost two-thirds of its trees.The nonprofit Oregon Urban Rural and Community Forestry, founded in the fires aftermath, fought for years to get a single dollar, recalled Mike Oxendine, the groups founder and director.The grant money from the Arbor Day Foundation was being used to help low-income and disadvantaged mobile home park residentsamong the hardest-hit by the firesidentify and remove hazardous trees badly burned or killed, and replant trees for shade and cooling.This is a rural red area that needs it badly, said Oxendine. We hit temperatures that exceed 110 degrees every summer now. We go through massive droughts and were always prone to wildfire here.The loss of funding will create a tremendous burden for the organization, he said.The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of APs environmental coverage, visitapnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.Dorany Pineda, Associated Press

Hollywood is waking up to the power of influencers. That starts with MrBeast.Amazons Beast Games cost hundreds of millions to produce. Some of that came from the streamer, but much of it came from the pockets of MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson. On the Diary of a CEO podcast, he estimated tens of millions in losses from the show, admitting that he was an idiot for spending so much. But it was all for one goal: To knock down the Hollywood door so other creators could score their own production deals.But MrBeast misunderstands the power balance. In the attention economy, influencers have the eyeballs right now. Amazons acquisition of Beast Games was massively successful; the show garnered 50 million viewers in just 25 days, Amazons second largest series debut in 2024. Did MrBeast get any new fans? Likely not, given how critically panned the show was. MrBeast got fleeced by Amazon, and is setting up more creators to do the same. The streamer gets the viewers, while the influencers are left in the red.Who has the power: MrBeast or Amazon?MrBeast dug into his own pockets to produce Beast Games. His deal with Amazon was reportedly worth around $100 million. But, on Diary of a CEO, he acknowledged that spending for the show went far beyond thatand the excess came from his own funds. Even just the first two episodes sets cost around $15 and $14 million, respectively. I would have more money if I didnt film it, he said.A deal between Amazon and MrBeast has the promise of being mutually beneficial. Amazon gets the eyeballs of every 10-year-old munching on their Feastables. MrBeast gets some cash to produce the show, plus the possibility to expand beyond his cloistered YouTube presence.But MrBeast seems to have faltered on both of these gains. Spending tens of millions out of pocket, the Amazon investment didnt save him from going into the red. (Plus, hes likely racking up legal fees after contestants sued him and Amazon for sexual harassment and chronic mistreatment.) In terms of audience expansion, the results look dismal, too. Reviews panned Beast Games, calling it an undignified spectacle and surprisingly dull. His follower count has grown modestly throughout the shows release, but there was no noticeable spike. Its hard to imagine anyone watching Beast Games that wasnt already watching his YouTube content.For Amazon, amassing 50 million viewers in 25 days is a feat. The only show to grow quicker on the streamer in 2024 was Fallout, and that had the benefit of video game IP. But, for MrBeast, 50 million viewers is chump change. His videos frequently reach that threshold within days, if not hours. Ultimately, Amazon needed MrBeast more than MrBeast needed Amazon. While the shine of a streamer is enticing, it didnt benefit his business.The failures of influencers in HollywoodCreators dont have a good rep when it comes to doing stuff on streaming platforms, MrBeast explained on e Diary of a CEO. His goal was to break down barriers, to open up these Hollywood studios to online celebrities. Per his account, it worked: He could think of two creators who had shows lined up based on Beast Gamess success.But theres a reason why influencer shows dont work. They sever the stars from the form theyre famous for. TikToks Hype House could film themselves dancing for hours and hours, but failed when it came to reality television. The Netflix show was repeatedly called depressing by critics, and some cast members say the show fabricated storylines. James Charles is best when hes reviewing makeup; hosting a reality competition show, he flails.Still, these shows do well. Over a year after its release, Hype House was still gaining hundreds of thousands of eyes, per Netflixs 2023 data dump. Hes All That, the ill-fated remake starring TikToker Addison Rae, soared even higher, catching 15 million viewers two years after release. Thats because these creators have name brand. The streamers rake in all those rabid fans, while the influencers brand is diluted.Hollywood is alluring. Everyone wants to be on TV. But, for these online superstars, they seem to give more than they get.

Enzo Mari introduced his Autoprogettazione movement back in 1974, encouraging DIY furniture making. Today, five decades later, German company 1x1 Systems continues the movement with a digital twist, providing 3D print files for objects you can assemble and complete yourself.This Delta Lamp, by German industrial designer Christoph Hauf, is one of 1x1's offerings. It's a series of customizable connectors and a lampshade. Joined with a standard light bulb socket and a dowel, it becomes a wall lamp. The user-determined length of the dowel determines the standoff distance from the wall. "Delta is a material-efficient wall lamp based around a simple wooden stick that can be easily upcycled from old broomsticks or discarded furniture. The design is highly adjustable both in height and angle while always staying in place thanks to the constant tension of the cable.""The lower wall mount consists of two parts through which the cable runs, allowing the lamp to swing across the room while staying perfectly aligned. The double-walled lampshade is also 3D-printed and includes a thread to fit E14 light sockets.""This is our most complex parametric design to date; both cable guides and lampshade adjust to match any width of the used stick as well as the total dimensions of the lamp.""Delta Lamp costs 30 and includes custom print files based on your configuration, as well as a custom manual. It is available via 1x1.systems and can be previewed in AR via your phone." See Also:1x1 Systems' Axon Connector