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Author Topic: The Gardened Wall - Alpines at the Edge  (Read 7834 times)

Hoy

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Re: The Gardened Wall - Alpines at the Edge
« Reply #15 on: August 20, 2016, 09:57:12 PM »
Hi Trond, I think this is my Sax cotyledon (or a hybrid of it). It's on the heath wall and definitely seems to like it! The Lewisia looks a bit underfed to me, maybe I just need to give it a weak feed. What is the Campanula in the background of your photo? I think this environment could be quite good for saxatile campanulas, not as many slugs.

...

Also thrift is a great idea, I'll collect some seed when we go to the beach.

In the nature bergfrue (Sax cotyledon) grows both in full sun and shade and flower reliable. I have seen a lot of it!

The Campanula is the common harebell, C. rotundifolia :) It is very variable here and several ecotypes/forms exist but they are not clear cut. Here are some flower forms from our cabin collected in 5 minutes (a few years ago).

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It is commonly found in crevices like this:

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 . . . and in meadows like this:

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Trond Hoy, gardening on the rainy west coast of Norway.

Tristan_He

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Re: The Gardened Wall - Alpines at the Edge
« Reply #16 on: August 20, 2016, 10:00:44 PM »
Some more plants, now coming down the wall a bit. These are on the south-facing heath wall, although it's not exposed to sun all day due to shade from the house.



Some spare bits of saxifrage were planted here - S. 'Gregor Mendel' I think, also a purple hybrid. They settled in rather slowly last summer and growth has been slowish, but they are doing ok now. To be honest they have done better than I expected as the aspect isn't ideal.



Another larger saxifrage. Not doing as well as the cotyledon.



Houseleeks look good on their side too. That's a real cobweb, rather than S. arachnoideum parentage!



This Erodium 'Natasha' is struggling though.



Another saxifrage, planted more recently.

Planting in these situations is quite a challenge. I tend to use pure, sterilised topsoil as drainage isn't an issue, but drought certainly is. I used to try to scoop this in dry direct from the bag, but this was problematic as (i) a lot of it used to fall to the ground and (ii) it's very difficult to water vertical crevices without washing the soil out again. To overcome this I wet the soil beforehand until it is about the consistency of wet cement, then shove as much of it as I can into the gap. Effectively this creates a pre-watered planting pocket. Then, I plant into this. Due to the difficulty of watering it's also better to plant during a period when it's not too dry, to give the plants the maximum chance of establishment.





Tristan_He

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Re: The Gardened Wall - Alpines at the Edge
« Reply #17 on: August 20, 2016, 10:27:46 PM »
Lovely rotundifolias Trond.

In Slovenia we came across a fair bit of C. cochlearifolia in the tiniest crevices.



I have tried to replicate this by planting small plants into crevices. We'll see how they do.





This Sempervivum calcareum variety looks great near the top of the ruined outbuilding. It's growing well too.



Finally for now here is my favourite rockery planting tool!

ian mcdonald

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Re: The Gardened Wall - Alpines at the Edge
« Reply #18 on: August 21, 2016, 04:31:44 PM »
I pushed soil into my wall crevices from an old coal shovel. The shovel was held below the gap and the soil pushed in using a piece of wooden dowel and then rammed in quite hard as far as it would go. I had more success with plants that were very small to begin with. Seed can be blown in the crevices as in nature.

Tristan_He

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Re: The Gardened Wall - Alpines at the Edge
« Reply #19 on: June 14, 2021, 08:46:12 AM »
A bit of an update on this thread just showing what's flowering at the moment and how plants have established.

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Dianthus 'Whatfield Magenta' has slowly made a good compact clump with a nice shape.

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Lotus corniculatus. I can't remember if I put it there deliberatley or if it arrived by itself. However it looks great here and stays really compact. Some years if it is very dry it gets frizzled up but it has always bounced back after rain.

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Dianthus alpinus, a 'Joan's Blood' seedling. I have this in the rockery too but the slugs like to chew it there. Here is is a bit harder and there are fewer molluscs. Unfotunately I have to crane over a bit to admire this plant.

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Edraianthus pumilio. Funnily enough the slugs here don't seem to go for this one, even though almost everyone else mentions how slug prone it is (I also have three in a pan in a much more sluggy part of the garden and one on the rockery right next to the chewed Dianthus alpinus mentioned above). All my E. pumilio were grown from alpine-seeds seed a few years ago.

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Minuartia langii is a new one I am trying. So far it looks promising. These are the first flowers.

Tristan_He

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Re: The Gardened Wall - Alpines at the Edge
« Reply #20 on: June 14, 2021, 09:01:17 AM »
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Sempervivum are not a very original choice for this setting, but they look very good here.

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Dianthus pavonius. Although dwarf, this has quite long airy flower stems that are difficult to capture. It is an easy pink that self-seeds gently in the rockery.



A view up part of the wall - the purple is Erinus alpinus which makes itself a little too at home here! Still, it's very pretty.

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Edraianthus niveus
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A nice little Helianthemum growing with Sedum anglicum.

Tristan_He

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Re: The Gardened Wall - Alpines at the Edge
« Reply #21 on: June 14, 2021, 09:04:28 AM »
I am thinking of trying a few bulbs here, though of course the soil isn't very deep which is tricky. Probably seed or seedlings would work best. Any suggestions?

ian mcdonald

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Re: The Gardened Wall - Alpines at the Edge
« Reply #22 on: July 17, 2021, 11:23:10 AM »
Tristan, spring squill grow in thin turf at the coast.

Tristan_He

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Re: The Gardened Wall - Alpines at the Edge
« Reply #23 on: July 17, 2021, 05:15:55 PM »
That's a good idea Ian, thanks. Funnily enough I have a couple of year-old bulbs in a pot. I'll see if I can get hold of some seed as well.

 


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