Sand beds

[Peter Korn, Sweden]

I started to dig in the autumn 2007.

[fermi de Sousa]

I started to dig in the autumn 2007.

Wow, Peter, that is phenomenal! I last saw your garden in spring 2007 and I hope we can get over to Sweden after the Prague 2013 Conference!
cheers
fermi

[Maggi Young]

Maybe before the Prague event  ....

" Every ten years, Sällskapet Trädgårdsamatörerna (the Swedish Society of Amateur Gardeners) arranges a conference with an alpine theme in collaboration with the Alpine Department at the Botanic Gardens in Gothenburg. The next occasion will be from 30th May to the 1st June 2013. The conference includes exhibitions of plants and plant photography, visits to local gardens, plant sales and a series of lectures".

[Tim Ingram]

I must admit to being truly astonished by Peter's 'landshaping'! This is gardening on another scale and immensely inspiring. Even in my much smaller and less dramatic garden though I have got huge satisfaction from our sand bed, and so much comes from discovering the ways that give plants what they need - easier said than done often!

John - the groundcover beneath the crocus is a thyme whose name I have lost. At Sissinghurst they have a small bed devoted to thymes which is fascinating to watch in the summer when bees are attracted to the flowers. I am not sure they grow them on sand though and have to renovate and replant fairly regularly.

Maggi - I shall make a note of the dates of the conference in Sweden, but two years is a long time to wait!!

[Maggi Young]

Maggi - I shall make a note of the dates of the conference in Sweden, but two years is a long time to wait!!

Ahh, but forward planning is a wonderful thing! 

[Peter Korn, Sweden]

Tim, I have the Nerds day the 5th of May next year. Then you don´t have to wait that long...

[Maggi Young]

Tim, I have the Nerds day the 5th of May next year. Then you don´t have to wait that long...

So thoughful of you, Peter!!

http://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8026.0

[Tim Ingram]

Curses! We are opening our garden on the 6th and 7th May. I would have loved to come to your Nerds day. I will try to persuade the family we need a holiday in Sweden next summer. Good wishes for the day.

[Tim Ingram]

We are having a glorious and warm autumn in south-east Britain, but around this time I normally think of covering the beds containing more choice alpines. Many would probably be alright without but our relatively mild stop-start winters can be a real problem. So the sand bed is being covered with a simple structure of dutch-lights, nice and airy and open. Looking up from below you can almost 'feel' the enjoyment of the plants (if that is not being too poetic!).

When doing this it is advisable to carefully mark what goes where (!), so that it all goes together again easily the following year. A few bracing joints between the posts at the ends, make the structure fairly rigid. And then it will stay until around March time next spring, dependant on the weather.

Many gardeners may think it a hassle to go to such lengths but it does allow so many more more choice species to overwinter in the absence of prolonged snow cover, and only takes a few hours to put together.

[Peter Korn, Sweden]

The mild winter has made it possible to do a lot of planting in the new bed. Now I just have to cover it with gravel.

[ranunculus]

I have nothing but admiration for your accomplishments Peter ... having seen your excellent lecture at Birmingham I am now determined to visit your magnificent garden in person at the earliest opportunity.

[Peter Korn, Sweden]

You are welcome.

[Tim Ingram]

Peter - how is it you are able to grow so many choice plants without some form of winter cover? I'm thinking of species like Lewisia tweedyi and Pulsatilla vernalis, and also many of the dryland alpines. Is it because your sand beds are on such a scale and top-dressed with coarse gravel? It reminds me very much of Alan Furness's garden in Northumberland, which is made in a similar way but with varying grades of gravel, and with the same sensitivity to the requirements of the plants.  If only I was starting my garden again....!

However long will it take you to top dress this last sand bed?!!

[Peter Korn, Sweden]

Tim, in the beginning I covered my plants in the winter but I have not done it for the last 12 years. P vernalis is native to Sweden so there are no reasons to cover it. Lewisia tweedyi likes a dry summer and then it can take a lot of rain in the autumn. I have lost some plants when I stopped covering them but very few. A big bed makes a difference... And it has to be a slope. Why don´t you start your garden again?

[Tim Ingram]

I am sorely tempted if we could buy the field next to us!! It would really wake up alpine gardening in the UK to see growers breaking new ground like this. Hope to visit in the summer.