Plants At Altitude

Posted on 10 Sep, 2009 15 comments

When I first moved here, twenty-five years ago, there was an old shed in this corner of the garden. But I soon realised this was the sunniest, warmest corner and decided to make an alpine bed. Unfortunately the soil was solid clay and alpines need good drainage. So I dug twenty bags of grit into an area nine feet by six, covered it with weed-proof membrane and ornamental stone chippings and proceeded to plant up my alpine bed.
As you can see, one or two things did extremely well, but most were not happy and died within a couple of years. For some reason, primroses, started seeding themselves into the chippings (remember, there is no soil under them) in full sun, proving that plants can’t read and will grow where they are happy. I decided the area needed a rethink and the only way to get good drainage was to have a raised bed.

So I dug out the plants and removed the chippings and membrane

Concrete footings were laid and old railway sleepers put in with supporting struts

More railway sleepers were added, nailed to the struts and screwed to each other to make my artificial ‘mountain’. I have not used any stones because there is no stone in the Bracknell area so a rockery just wouldn’t look right.

Remember the broken concrete from an old path that was left over from my ‘Bit On The Side?’

This was put in the bottom for drainage and topped up with a mix of soil and shingle.

Finally, the plants were put back in (plus a few more). I’ll have a serious shopping spree for alpines in the spring but this is how it looks for now.

Comments

Louise1

Interesting.
Your new alpine area reminds me of the raised alpine planting at RHS Wisley, theirs looks good and yours already looks good, so with your spree in the Spring it'll look even better.
I like !

10 Sep, 2009

Sanbaz

great job andrew, cant wait to see it full

10 Sep, 2009

Mookins

wow... I love these stages as people do changes in their garden, showing bit by bit

brilliant
well done Andrew

x x x

10 Sep, 2009

Sewingkilla

I love the sleepers Andrew and it looks fantastic, can't wait for spring to see what you do with it.

10 Sep, 2009

Terratoonie

Interesting project, and you've explained well why you've made the alterations from the original grit idea...

Happy alpine planting :o)

10 Sep, 2009

Rbtkew

Looks great Andrew. You do realise alpines can be addictive.How long will it be before you want a bigger bed!

10 Sep, 2009

Lily2

Crikey Andrew, you've been busy since your Open Day. All this and 'a bit on the side too' !! It's looking great and at this rate there will be a completely new garden to see next year! Enjoy the shopping spree :o)))

10 Sep, 2009

Andrewr

Rbtkew - well I didn't manage to get adicted when they wre growing in the original bed so hopefully I won't now either

Lily - I've got another border to revamp as well before next year. Hope you'll be coming back to see all the changes

10 Sep, 2009

Morgana

No plants dont need soil to grow just stones and water my sister grows hers like this. It look s great well done

10 Sep, 2009

Lily2

I certainly will Andrew. By the way, I don't remember seeing your Pennisetum Rubrum, did it make a decent plant this year after overwintering?

11 Sep, 2009

Wagger

Very impressive - and somewhere else to sit with a cuppa. Apart from the drainage aspect it's always lovely having alpines raised up a bit closer to the eyes to see their full beauty.

11 Sep, 2009

Grindle

looks good Andrew, a huge improvement on the Mk 1:~)

15 Sep, 2009

Andrewr

Lily - the pennisetum in question has just come into 'flower' in the last week or so. I'll try and remember to take a photo and post it on here to prove it is still alive

15 Sep, 2009

Lily2

They do take their time don't they Andrew, it will soon be time to dig it up again! Glad to hear it's still alive and kicking.

16 Sep, 2009