Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Alpines => Topic started by: Luc Gilgemyn on April 05, 2011, 03:50:06 PM
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Often having been confronted with pictures on this forum of magnificent, well grown plants on and between tufa rock, the idea had been growing to try and build a tufa feature in the garden. After the long, cold winter had finished, it was time to get things started.
1) Where ?
A piece of lawn in the corner of the garden.
2) What to do first ?
Get rid of the grass of course... ;D
3) The turf was removed and turned upside down, to serve as solid base for the mound.
4) A first load of tufa blocks was fetched from our local Alpine Nursery
5) Tufa blocks and compost were "dragged" to the "scene of the crime" ;D
6) Holes were drilled and the first blocks were given their place.
7) Part of the plan was/is to make one corner of the mound into a small raised bed in which I want to try and grow, amongst others, some Oncocyclus Irisses. This corner will be protected from rain if and when necessary. As I had obtained an Iris paradoxa about to start flowering, I did this part first.
8 ) This picture shows this corner as part of the mound.
9) Couldn't wait to plant a Physoplexis comosa as an official opening in one of the holes
10) a few more plants found a home.
To be continued ! ;)
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A super topic Luc that will be read and re-read many times by members new and old over the months and years to come. This sort of practical demonstration always attracts enthusiastic converts to this wonderful form of gardening and I have no doubt that gardens of this type will soon be created all around the globe (providing, of course, that they can find an inexpensive source of tufa). :D
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Looking good, Luc.
Here, it would be very difficult to source the tufa. Rarely seen.
Paddy
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Great and interesting plan, Luc!
Please watch out for slugs - I'm almost sure they had already noticed the
Physoplexis.
Gerd
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Great and interesting plan, Luc!
Please watch out for slugs - I'm almost sure they had already noticed the
Physoplexis.
Gerd
Yes, that's for sure.... I heard three in our garden discussing a channel hop....... :P ;D
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My bazooka is in place, in case any slug gets within a mile of my Physoplexis !! ;D ;D
And Maggi, I have a submarine watching the channel with orders to sink any Slug afloat... ;D
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Hey Mr G, you've made a start ;D Wow, I'm going to keep my eye on this. I assume Mrs G was in full agreement especially about loosing some lawn? :P
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What a great idea Luc. Already it looks interesting and a good lesson in practical gardening for all Forumists. I really hope you had a liquid something when you planted the Physoplexis, as official "opening." And I don't mean water! (except for the Physoplexis of course. :D)
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Really nice Luc. I would love to get my hands on some tufa and do something similar.
Will be great to see it mature. Just speak nicely to the slugs and tell them to stay away, they might listen ::) ;D
Angie :)
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well done Luc!
Do you and Luc2 want to come for a visit .. and bring a car loaded with tufa? ::) ;D
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Thanks for all your kind reactions everyone - about time for the second episode !
1) Result at the end of the first episode.
2) More Tufa rock was needed, so I had another haul ! :D
3) Plants were patiently waiting for their faith in finding a suitable location.
More holes were drilled, and then came the moment to put a giant Daphne petrea "Lydora" in place.
4-5-6-7-8 : the careful process of sliding the plant in it's hole and filling up the cavities with a mix of J.I. and Tufa dust, result of the drilling.
9 and 10) more rock is put in place and planted with new inhabitants
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1) and yet more plants... ;D
2) view of the mound at the end of an afternoon of planting
A closer look to some of the "stars" of the show :
3) Cryptantha paradoxa - beween two tufa blocks
4) Draba "John Saxton" (sorry for the blurry picture) - in the tufa
5) Erigeron aureus "The Giant" to provide some summer colour
6) Gentiana pumila ssp delphinanta - very close to G. verna, but supposedly longer living.. ???
7) Viola pedata bicolor
Further plants that found a place on or between the Tufa blocks were : Helichrisum milfordiae, Campanula nitida, C. hercegovina nana, Primula x chivalry, Daphne petrea "Grandiflora", Dianthus microlepis albus, Centaurea pestalozza, Viola cazorlenzis, Townsendia hookeri, Ghypsofila aretoides from Iran.
On the slightly raised sandbed at the left of the mound : Iris iberica elegantissima, I. paradoxa and I. korolkowii
8. Iris paradoxa
9. Iris korolkowii
10. General view of the back garden, with the tufa mound in the far corner.
To be continued.. ;)
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Great job Luc :D
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Very nice, Luc, congratulations! Thank you for an interesting and inspiring lesson, I look forward to reports on the flourishing in years to come. By the way, I never knew they made special trowels for planting in Tufa, looks very handy ;D. And I agree with Lesley, this feat deserves at least a Kwak.
Knud
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Expertly done Luc 8)
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Isn't it a wonderful thing how established such a garden looks, immediately a few plants are in place? I also enjoy see it in context with the rest of the garden and house. Is this your house Luc or a neighbour's? If it were mine I would be cutting a large hole in the hedge so I could keep an eye on progress and enjoy the maturation to come. ;D
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Thanks Graham, Knud, Ian and Lesley, glad you like it.
It's the house of my back neighbour Lesley. Our house is from where the picture was taken.
You'll see it when I picture the backside of the tufa mound (that still has to be planted ... ;D)
I'll have to wait and see how expertly is was done if the plants thrive Ian...
Knud, I'm very happy with that "trowel" - I'm sure it wasn't designed to plant tufa ;D... but it does the job !
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Wow Luc what patience you have. What a great thread, most enjoyable for an armchair gardener.
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Luc - what a wonderful thread! Thank you for creating such a useful record of your work.
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Magnificent Luc, a job very well done.
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Wonderful job, Luc. And what beautiful plants!
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WOW Luc - great idea and wonderful work you've done there.
Wish I could also get such tufa stones here :-\
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Thanks for the praise everybody !! :D
Thomas, actually the tufa originates from a quarry in former East Germany... ;D ;)
This makes me think of it I have some more pictures to post :
The two first pictures show the situation at the beginning of another day's work of planting, replacing stones, etc... until the puzzle more or lest satisfied the maker... ;D with some details as shown in pictures 3 and 4 and the general view at the end of the day in pix 5 and 6.
More plants were needed as per pictures 7 and 8 ;)
As the top of the mound wasn't exactly to my liking yet, more stones were fetched and put in place to try and give the whole thing a more dramatic ( :o ::)) aspect.
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The surrounding area was covered with a bark mulch - pictures 1-2-3
And the extra consignment of plants had to be found a suitable spot ;D :
4) Dianthus arpadianus
5) Asyneuma pulvinata
6) Draba molissima
7) Eritrichium nanum - in a vertical tufa block, I'm really anxious to find out if this will hold ???
8 ) Paraquilegia anemonoides - another interesting experiment for me ::)
9) Androsace kosopoljanskii
10) Aethonema subulatum
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Some further inhabitants :
1) Potentilla divina
2) Primula marginata "Lismore Yellow"
3 and 4) The top has now taken it's final form
and this results in 4 views from the 4 sides.
A job well done deserves some kind of reward I thought... : picture 9
I will occasionally post here to show how this develops in the coming months and hopefully years... ;D
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Beautiful job, Luc. I think you'll be surprised at the staying power of plants in tufa. I especially like the pictures of the plants in the box waiting to be planted.
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A fantastic final outcome Luc. You'll have such pleasure from this garden in time to come. I'm sure the Eritrichium will do well in such a home and in such company - and with such a "Dad" watching over it. ;D
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A well deserved beer Luc. Excellent job and looking forward to seeing it as it matures.
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Luc, op uw gezondheid!! (Hope I got that right ??? )
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Many thanks Anne, Lesley, Graham and David !
I hope I will be able to live up to the high expectations ! ;) You'll see how it gets along in future on these pages !
David, your Dutch is getting better every day ;D ;D
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David, your Dutch is getting better every day ;D ;D
And there was me thinking I'd written it in Flemish. Still, you know how good we "Islanders" are at languages ::)
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Great tufa bed Luc, and thanks for the detailed instruction. Now, if only we had one of those quarries here in Northumberland....
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It is very enjoyable watching this tufa mound growing! In Duncan Lowe's book on 'Raised Beds, Troughs and Tufa' there is a super drawing of a large free standing tufa block in his inimitable style. I've never seen anything like it in the flesh except in Alan Furness's amazing garden on the way home from the Edinburgh 2001 Conference. Silly to ask on the SRGC Forum but is anyone down in the South-East thinking of getting a truckload of tufa? If we can find a good source I would certainly be interested.
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Huge numbers of "Southerners" tuned into this forum, Tim.... wouldn't be a bit surprised if you manage to drum up a Tufa cartel/syndicate!
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Loads of potential buyers but it seems to be as rare as rocking horse manure!
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A small update on how a few plants have developped in and between the tufa blocks over the last few weeks.
This, at the very moment where the tufa mound is experiencing just about its first rain shower worth mentioning since I built it.
I've been watering it just about every single day... :( ... but not with the beer shown on the previous picture... ;)
I'm quite happy with how Eritrichium nanum has established itself in its vertical hole since it was planted.
Picture 1 was taken in early April, just after planting and Picture 2 on June 6th.
New growth is clearly visible - I keep my fingers crossed... ::)
3 and 4) Edraianthus serbicus, was one of the first plants to show a flower.
5) Silene hookeri ssp bollanderi is planted in a crevice between the blocks and also shows flowers
6) Same with Erigeron aureus "The Giant" that was flowering when first planted in early April, it's still going strong and quite a lot of new buds show that it's not finished yet ! :D
More in a few weeks.
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Luc
Just found this thread and really enjoyed seeing the process from the beginning.
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It is very enjoyable watching this tufa mound growing! In Duncan Lowe's book on 'Raised Beds, Troughs and Tufa' there is a super drawing of a large free standing tufa block in his inimitable style. I've never seen anything like it in the flesh except in Alan Furness's amazing garden on the way home from the Edinburgh 2001 Conference. Silly to ask on the SRGC Forum but is anyone down in the South-East thinking of getting a truckload of tufa? If we can find a good source I would certainly be interested.
Count me in Tim! At least its not the heaviest rock so onward distribution is less likely to ruin the cars suspension!
(PS I'm coming to talk in Kent later this year.)
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I'm quite happy with how Eritrichium nanum has established itself in its vertical hole since it was planted.
Picture 1 was taken in early April, just after planting and Picture 2 on June 6th.
New growth is clearly visible - I keep my fingers crossed... ::)
That looks good so far ... never thought I'd do more than dream of growing E. nanum but I'll be following the progress of yours closely. Our growing conditions cannot be so very different. The tufa mound looks great, but glad I don't have the responsibility for watering it .... a few drops of rain here now but too little :(
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Luc, I can understand why you're pleased with the Eritrichium nanum. Marvelous plant, incredibly furry. All the plants are looking great. Please keep photographing.
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Thanks Anne, Tony and Arthur !
Yes it's been hell watering it over the last two months, but I can say that so far I've lost just two plants that didn't "take". One was an Asperula, the second one was Kelseya uniflora, which was a very tiny, young seedling, so that might have been the reason as well. I lost some more plants to slugs and/or birds though ; Campanula's mainly. I replaced them a couple of days ago and we'll see how things work out now. On the whole I find I've been quite lucky so far (touching wood).
As to the Eritrichium nanum... well... that's kind of a test. I've never grown it before, just read how ridiculously difficult it is.. ;D ;) and if other people can kill it, why couldn't I ?? ;D ;D I thought.
So far, so good - will have to see how I get it through the heat of Summer, if we get any.
I'll shade it somewhat if necessary. As I wrote, I planted it in a hole in the vertical surface of a stone, even slightly protected by a small overhang...
Getting it through the Winter will be the following challenge then I guess... Still, that's what keeps us going isn't it ??
I'll keep you posted ! ;)
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It looks great Luc, so much happier in pic 2 than in pic 1 at planting time, with all its fluff sorted and lying nicely. I'm looking forward to the first flowers. ;)
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You bet I'm eagerly awaiting wether I will be able to flower it next Spring Lesley !!! :D ;)
In the mean time, here some pictures of early successes and some failures (very few, I'm happy to say ! :D)
1) Saxifraga "Rozny" is struggling, but hanging on... :-\
2) Centaurea pestalozza is (already) getting to big for its allocated space - I will have to find it another spot
3) Asperula daphneola didn't make it ! :'(
All Dianthus are well under way ! :D
They look wonderful even when they're not flowering, don't they ?? 4) D. arpadianus
5) D. "La Bourboule"
6) D. simulans
7) D. webbiana
8 ) Primula x "Marjorie Wooster"
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9) Townsendia hookeri
also both looking as if they like they're new surroundings !
10) Star of the show right now : Silene hookeri bolanderi that has been flowering ever more profusely for the last 6 weeks !
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Excellent Luc.
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Looking good Luc.
Just back from a break in Malta where I saw mounds of tufa which looked as thoughit was going to be used for infill on new road making schemes. Doubt if Air Malta would have been pleased if I'd turned up at the airport with a couple of suitcases full!
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As the first growing season on my tufamound is nearing its end, it may be appropriate to post a little update ! ;)
At first, I have to admit that the losses during our (too wet) Summer increased in numbers... :'(
So here's first a list of the plants that didn't make it.
Had been planted in tufa holes, but died... :
Asyneuma pulvinata
Linum cariense
Asperula daphneola
Kelseya uniflora
Eritrichium nanum (after a very promising start, it was dug out by a colony of ants !!!! :o >:( :'(
Had been planted in a crevice between the tufa rocks... and didn't make it either... :-\
Androsace villosa jacquemontii
Viola pedata bicolor
Cryptantha paradoxa
Primula auricula var. ciliata
This concludes the list of the losses (so far... :-\)
Now let's look at some plants that DID make it !!! :D :D They're (fortunately) much more numerous than the "victims" !
I'll start with the plants planted out on the South "face" of the mound and with the name of each plant, I will be mentioning whether it was planted IN or BETWEEN the tufa rocks !
1) Daphne petrea grandiflora - between
2) Daphne petrea "Lydora" - in
3) Dianthus "La Bourboule" - in
4) Dianthus webbianus - in
5) Campanula ciliata - between
6) Campanula zoysii - in - both species have had to deal with several slug attacks... >:( :'(
7) Dianthus arpadianus - in - turned brown on the side facing the sun... :-\
8 ) Draba condensata - in - still very small, sown in January
9) Draba mollissima - in
10) Draba sphaeroides - in
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Thanks for the update Luc, glad to see that there are more successes than casualties. Well done in the face of ants and a wet summer.
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Thank you Brian, I'm quite happy with the results myself so far.
There are some more good doers left from the "South face" though, here we go :
1) Draba x "John Saxton" -in - a hybrid from Keith Lever
2) Gentiana clusii var. rochellii - between - hasn't changed a bit since it was planted out 5 months ago... ???
3) Gysophila aretioides -in - also received the visit of a slug.... >:(
4) Helichrysum milfordiae -between - grows away like mad ! :D
5) Physoplexis comosa -in - ...slugs again...... :'(
6) Potentilla biflora -beween - seems to be struggling...
7) Townsendia hookeri - in - really doing well
8 ) Veronica oltensis - between - feeling at home !
9) Vitaliana primuliflora - between - a ok !
Further updates of the other "faces" to follow in the next few days ! ;)
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A very impressive array of plants, Luc. Townsendia hookeri seems to be very happy. You'll love it when it blooms. Have you tried Heterotheca jonesii? Stays very congested when grown lean and is still in bloom in my garden.
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Thanks for the kind words Anne ! I am happy with the Townsendia indeed and hope to see flowers next year. I've been growing Heterotheca pumila for a number of years - still in flower right now also - it's not in the Tufa mound though.
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Well done Luc on so many fine plants, doing well. I did wonder about the Kelseya and the Eritrichium and how they'd do in the wet. did you have glass over them? Will you try again with those precious things?
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Luc, I just looked up Heterotheca pumila, which I don't know. It says it grows 1 foot tall. Heterotheca jonesii's height is 2 to
3 inches. It forms a very low mound and just keeps spreading out. Unlike many westerners it doesn't mind some summer rain.
It is very hardy and an easy doer. Here it's never watered except by nature. If the drought is too long it will stop flowering but will immediately start to bloom again after some rain. It blooms until hard frost. The flowers are small and bright yellow. It's really a great plant.
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Well done Luc on so many fine plants, doing well. I did wonder about the Kelseya and the Eritrichium and how they'd do in the wet. did you have glass over them? Will you try again with those precious things?
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Thanks Lesley !! A new Kelseya is already acquired and waiting to be planted out :) and I will definitely try Eritrichium again as well as it was doing very well, even after lots and lots of rain, until the ants decided to remove whatever precious little soil there was in its Tufa hole... >:(
Luc, I just looked up Heterotheca pumila, which I don't know. It says it grows 1 foot tall. Heterotheca jonesii's height is 2 to
3 inches. It forms a very low mound and just keeps spreading out. Unlike many westerners it doesn't mind some summer rain.
It is very hardy and an easy doer. Here it's never watered except by nature. If the drought is too long it will stop flowering but will immediately start to bloom again after some rain. It blooms until hard frost. The flowers are small and bright yellow. It's really a great plant.
As I read your description Anne, I think I just bought mine under a false name... it looks exactly as you describe it : a real ground hugger looking very dead after each Winter, but recovering rapidly in Spring and flowering its heart out until the first frosts ! I think I'll change the label to H. jonesii !
Here's a picture of how it looks.
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Luc - great to see how these plants are doing! I think I need to go and get the load of tufa I have promised myself. I have some of these plants doing well in a small sand bed but they do look so much more content in tufa, and it is so interesting to be able to compare notes like this. I did grow Kelseya many years ago in a large block of tufa and it did well, as did Helichrysum coralloides and the beautiful fern Cheilanthes eatonii.
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Definitely looks like Heterotheca jonesii, Luc. It's a nice plant for tying plantings together. I'm enjoying seeing the progress of your tufa garden.
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Luc I do hope you realize how very fortunate you are to be able to buy such fabulous things as the Kelseya and Eritrichium and all the others. You would be badly starved if you lived here. :'(
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Yes we're a fortunate lot, Lesley ! :P You always have my sympathy whenever I read about your quarantaine rules... :'(
Thanks Anne and Tim, glad you enjoy the posts. Just trying to make people learn from my mistakes ... ;) ;D
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It's been three years now since I built the little tufa mound. About time to do an update.
First 4 general views.
The star of the show at the moment : Jankeaemonda vendedemii
More later ! ;)
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Such a joy Luc... Beautiful. Tufa makes such a difference
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Looking good Luc.
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So gorgeous! The jankaemonda is awesome.
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Fabulous to see the success of the project.
We were talking about tufa at an AGS conference yesterday. It is very hard to get hold of in the UK ... and very expensive. You talked about collecting it from your local alpine nursery when you started this thread. Is it still available? How much does it cost? ...... Could you bring a load over next time you come ;D
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Thanks for the comments everybody !
I will be making some further entries with plant details shortly.
@ Tonyg : It is still available, Tony and in different sizes. The nursery is near Bruges... so why not visit Bruges and go home with a load of Tufa... ??? ;D
The cost is 0,60 € per kilo... it pays to go after a dry spell.... tufa rock is a lot lighter than ! ;D
::) ::) We might consider bringing Tufa when coming to collect our next supply of John Innes... ;D ;D
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Time to havez a more closer look at the plants.
In flower at the moment :
Aethionema kotschyi - in full sun
Asperula daphneola starting to flower.
Ramberlea 'Inchgarth' (ramonda x haberlea) on the shadow side
Viola cazorlenzis x delphinanta in full sun
All these are in their 3rd season now and are NOT planted IN the rock, but in the crevices between the rocks.
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5 more that flowered a couple of weeks ago :
Aethionema subulatum : in a tufahole, 3 years old.
Alyssum propinquum : between the rocks - 2nd year
Asperula arcadiensis : between the rocks - new
Daphne petrea grandiflora : in a tufahole, 3 years old
Daphne petrea 'Tremalzo' : between the rocks - 2 years old
More to follow.
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Luc, such wonderful plants. I didn't know there was a cross between haberlea and ramonda, it's beautiful.
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Wonderful blog, Luc … super plants and gorgeous images.
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Another year gone by since the last entry - this is how the Tufa mound looks at the moment.
Saxifraga x 'Tumbling Waters' dominates.
A self sown Aquilegia bertolonii at the foot of the mound also attracts the attention.
Another work of nature is this self sown Hypericum cerastioides at the front of the mound.
Viola cazorlenzis x delphinanta (front center) is still flowering it's heart out.
The rhododendrons form a welcome background.
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Some plant details :
Aethionema kotschyi... I love it.
The same Aethionema with it's neighbour Edraianthus dinaricus
Aquilegia bertolonii
Campanula dasyantha superba - a giant bell !
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A hybrid Dianthus - seedling of "La Bourboule" but clearly larger in all its parts - does very well in the tufa hole.
Edraianthus dinaricus seeds freely in and among the tufa blocks.
Saxifraga x 'Tumbling Waters'
Viola cazorlenzis x delphinanta
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Very impressive Luc!!!
An informative and enlightening blog with wonderful images!
Makes we want to have a go. Unfortunately there seems to be no source of tufa over here (nor peat blocks).
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Luc, I've followed this since the beginning and your plantings are so impressive. Loved seeing the Hypericum cerastioides which never seems to have a problem, lasts for many years and over here seems to be ignored. The background of flowering rhododenrons is spectacular (and not possible in a windy, dry garden like mine). Please keep posting pictures of your success story.
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Great! Please more!
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Looks WONDERFUL, Luc!!
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Such a great way of growing plants Luc! Like Steve says the lack of availability of tufa in the UK is so frustrating. It turns up every now and again and gets snapped up like golddust ;). An enterprising stonemerchant would surely generate specialist interest amongst all that fine polished stone that comes in for all sorts of other uses. Once you start using it to grow alpines you are hardly likely to stop!
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Stunning Luc.
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couldn't agree any more, the result is stunning. Well done Luc!
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An update as to the situation on the tufa mound.
Right now, Edraeanthus dinaricus dominates it's spot which is ever growing as it is seeding about freely... very happy with it though.
Whilst Edraianthus pumilio sits happily on top of a tufa cliff. (4)
Front view of the tufa mound.
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Some inhabitants :
Dianthus 'Conwy Star' flowers irregularly this year as a lot of plants do after our erratic non winter.
Saxifraga caesia is new but settles well in its tufa crevice.
Globularia incanescens is born to grow on tufa.
Viola delphinanta x cazorlenzis flowers a bit less profusely than the previous years so far.
Aethionema subulatum
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Some more from earlier this year :
Veronica oltensis with Phlox 'Tiny Buggles' in the back ground.
x Jankaemonda 'Inchgarth' vandedemii in full swing.
Silene acaulis 'Correvanii'
Androsace villosa coll. Pyrenees
Dianthus 'Conwy Star' in a tufa hole
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And more :
Gentiana clusii
Linum elegans
Saxifraga Vlatava
Draba x 'John Saxton'
Saxifraga 'Coolock Gem'
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I believe your Jancaemonda 'Inchgarth' is in fact the plant raised by Brian and Maureen Wilson in Aberdeen- it is a x Ramberlea 'Inchgarth' - a hybrid of Ramonda and Haberlea....
see more here : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=11327.0 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=11327.0)
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Lovely stuff Luc, we shall have to promote you to MTM status. (Master of the Tufa Mound)
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I believe your Jancaemonda 'Inchgarth' is in fact the plant raised by Brian and Maureen Wilson in Aberdeen- it is a x Ramberlea 'Inchgarth' - a hybrid of Ramonda and Haberlea....
see more here : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=11327.0 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=11327.0)
Oops, I mixed things up Maggi - the plant shown is x Jankaemonda vandedemii (no such thing as jakaemonda 'Inchgarth' :-[ ) I have Ramberlea 'Inchgarth' right beside the jankaemonda (no flowers this year though) hence the mix up... so sorry...
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Lovely stuff Luc, we shall have to promote you to MTM status. (Master of the Tufa Mound)
I am most honoured Sir ! ;D
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No need for you to apologise, Luc- your plants and photos are a treat! I should have looked closer at the plant and not the name!! :-X
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What a superb construction Luc!!!
I really enjoyed reading this thread and it's great to see how your tufa mound has matured.
This is very inspiring.
Do you know of a source of tufa that might be willing to ship to the UK? ;)
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What a superb construction Luc!!!
I really enjoyed reading this thread and it's great to see how your tufa mound has matured.
This is very inspiring.
Do you know of a source of tufa that might be willing to ship to the UK? ;)
Thanks Steve. The only tufa source in our area is the Nursery of Cathy Portier http://www.alpenplanten.be/ (http://www.alpenplanten.be/) but as far as I know they don't ship Tufa anywhere. Its collection only - but you could still ask :-\
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No need for you to apologise, Luc- your plants and photos are a treat! I should have looked closer at the plant and not the name!! :-X
No worries Maggi, as you see, together we get there... ;D the right name on the right plant !
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Many thanks Luc!
The website suggests that they have a big range of tufa products but sadly it seems they don't arrange shipping.
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Steve, given all that I have heard about the nursery of Cathy Portier, I would imagine that it would be well worth hiring a van and making a 'channel hop' to visit - there are more treasures than tufa to be found there I think! (mind you, for many, the tufa would be enough!)
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Brugge isn't far from here!
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Looks really lovely, Luc, and filling in so nicely.
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We've had this query about a tufa garden and I thought it would be a good idea to reopen this thread with it ... it comes from Michelle Swann ....
"Help please. Any Ideas for Tufa Pile Revamp?
Any help you can offer us would be greatly appreciated.
What plants would you put between the gaps? We don't want anything that will dominate like we have at the moment. We are also towards the North of England.
What seeds would you propagate in the tufa? If you have planted seeds in tufa, what made you successful, or equally unsuccessful?
About the Tufa Pile
West Cheshire and Wirral Alpine Garden Society work in association with the University of Liverpool and Ness Botanic Gardens to promote the love of Alpines. There only have 3 volunteers that maintain the alpine area, but we will all admit that we are not the best tufa experts. We have asked if we can have a look at sorting out the Tufa pile. "
I hope that forumists will contribute their ideas .... :)