Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

General Subjects => Alpines => Topic started by: mark smyth on November 11, 2010, 08:09:38 PM

Title: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: mark smyth on November 11, 2010, 08:09:38 PM
I've done lots of thinking today

Since losing all my Nerines I have a plunge in the green house going to waste. It's 8 feet 2.5m wide. I thought today it would make a good under cover crevice bed or rockery. Have any forum members done this? What plants do you have. What mix do you suggest?

Thanks
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: mark smyth on November 16, 2010, 01:16:22 PM
anyone have anything to say?
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Maggi Young on November 16, 2010, 01:24:52 PM
Sorry Mark.... been busy..... lots of folk have done this.... Davie Sharp comes to mind... there's an article in a recent Journal...... yes, I think it's a NZAGS journal ..which I caanot find at the moment...  and I think some Forumists have "shown us theirs", if they'll pardon the expression!
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: ashley on November 16, 2010, 01:29:32 PM
Something like this (http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3004.msg72533#msg72533) maybe ;)
Obviously it depends on your current interests but sounds like a great opportunity.
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Maggi Young on November 16, 2010, 01:57:07 PM
There are examples of crevice/rock/tufa beds created inside alpine-houses/glasshouses in various threads dealing with visits to the Czech and Dutch Gardens ...  :)
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Lesley Cox on November 16, 2010, 06:47:49 PM
And the late Roy Elliott built a brilliant tufa cliff garden either in a greenhouse or under deep eaves. Worked a treat for him.
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Mike Ireland on November 17, 2010, 10:10:45 AM
Mark
I have a raised tufa bed in my alpine house and it works well.   Lots of glass removed from the side the bed is situated to give a good air flow. 

Mike
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: mark smyth on November 17, 2010, 12:34:10 PM
Thanks for the reply, Mike. Can you post some photos and tell me more about the planting mix. Did you choose easy plants or ...
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: christian pfalz on November 17, 2010, 12:46:57 PM
hi mark,
look at the link, it looks very good, i saw it by my own eyes, very well culture....
cheers
chris

http://www.dionysia.de/
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: art600 on November 17, 2010, 01:41:36 PM
I've done lots of thinking today

Since losing all my Nerines I have a plunge in the green house going to waste. It's 8 feet 2.5m wide. I thought today it would make a good under cover crevice bed or rockery. Have any forum members done this? What plants do you have. What mix do you suggest?

Thanks

Mark
Sorry for your loss.  How did this happen?  Was it a virus or bad weather. 

Have not been on the Forum so much lately and missed any reference to this.
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: mark smyth on November 17, 2010, 01:48:11 PM
Arthur it happened during the winter of this year. Despite being well wrapped they all froze to death.
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Mike Ireland on November 18, 2010, 01:57:35 PM
Mark
Have taken this panoramic photo of my raised bed this morning.  Constructed using paving slabs as the base and breeze blocks for the walls.  Two thirds of the bed is filled with sharp sand and grit the remainder is a very gritty compost.  Thirty years ago I used sandstone and created a crevice bed but changed over when I acquired the tufa.

Mike
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Luc Gilgemyn on November 18, 2010, 04:44:57 PM
Mark
Have taken this panoramic photo of my raised bed this morning.  Constructed using paving slabs as the base and breeze blocks for the walls.  Two thirds of the bed is filled with sharp sand and grit the remainder is a very gritty compost.  Thirty years ago I used sandstone and created a crevice bed but changed over when I acquired the tufa.

Mike

The plants seem to enjoy it Mike !  Looks excellent !!
Thanks for showing.
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: mark smyth on November 18, 2010, 05:11:11 PM
oooo I like it. Other than Cyclamen what other bulbs are in there?
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Mike Ireland on November 18, 2010, 08:05:26 PM
Mark
Bulbs growing in the raised bed include:-

Allium kurtzianum
Narcissus & Frits
Iris winogradowii & Katherine Hodgkin
Various crocus
Tropaeolum azureum & tricolorum
Acis

Mike
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: mark smyth on November 18, 2010, 09:20:00 PM
I'm a bit confused now. Are those plants inside or outside of the green house
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Mike Ireland on November 19, 2010, 09:04:06 AM
Mark all the plants are inside the greenhouse, growing in the raised bed.  The greenhouse has lots of glass removed on the sides to allow good ventilation but all the plants are protected from overhead.
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: fermi de Sousa on December 23, 2010, 05:49:01 AM
Sorry, Mark,
I've only just caught up with this thread and thought you might like to see these pics I took at Peter Korn's in 2007,
cheers
fermi
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Maren on December 23, 2010, 08:14:13 AM
Fermi,

that is most impressive, thank you for showing. I'd love to know about the material and construction. Do you have any information?
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Maggi Young on December 23, 2010, 10:50:53 AM
Maren.... Peter may have some details on his website....
http://www.peterkornstradgard.se/
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Luc Gilgemyn on December 23, 2010, 05:25:56 PM
This is how part of it looked in 2008 !  :D
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: mark smyth on December 23, 2010, 05:59:41 PM
Myakea integrifolia ohhh. I have tried it twice from seedlings and each time they have died. Who has a spare plant? I'll go down on my knees  :)
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Maggi Young on December 23, 2010, 06:56:32 PM
Myakea integrifolia, now Pulsatilla integrifolia will again be featured in the coming IRG....... for December....posted online for Friday 31st December..... 8) ..... actually posted online on 24th December as an early Christmas treat! ;)
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: cohan on December 28, 2010, 07:59:21 PM
any thoughts on why peter would need to put the pulsatilla integrifolia under cover in his climate?
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Maggi Young on December 28, 2010, 08:43:04 PM
Cohan, where did you see that Peter puts it under cover? He doesn't, as far as I know.
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Ulla Hansson on December 28, 2010, 09:14:47 PM
Peter has a Miakeya in the alpine house previously been shown in the figure. He has also set out many seedlings in the garden.
 I have only seen the alpine house in the summer, then it's roof but no walls, how it is in the winter I do not know. There are some really beautiful plants in it.
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Maren on December 29, 2010, 11:47:25 AM
Maggi, thanks for the link. It's not responding at present so I'll try it later. :)
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: cohan on December 30, 2010, 12:45:58 AM
Cohan, where did you see that Peter puts it under cover? He doesn't, as far as I know.

i was assuming it was inside the structure seen above..
but from ulla's comments above, i guess its just for comparison with those growing completely outside?
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Maggi Young on December 30, 2010, 10:24:35 AM
Sorry Cohan, I was missing that point! Yes, I see now what  you meant.... but, as you say, it's just to have a comparison, I think. It may be to see if the one under cover has less trouble with aborting buds.... the plant is seemingly prone to that.
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Palustris on January 13, 2011, 09:19:43 PM
I made a hyper tufa crevice garden in my Alpine House a few years back. The method was featured in the AGS Bulletin.
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Maggi Young on January 13, 2011, 09:31:09 PM
Good evening, Palustris and a warm welcome to you.
That is a very fine construction you have made there and the plants are looking  very happy in it.

I will look up the article, but in the meantime, may I ask if all the plants are planted directly into the bed and if they need thinning out regularly? ?

Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Palustris on January 14, 2011, 10:26:23 AM
Yes, most of the plants are in the 'soil' of the bed. I think there is only an Allium (name escapes me now) from California which is still in a clay pot plunged into the soil. Most things are reasonably well behaved and any seedlings which appear are easily removed and potted up. About the only 'thugs' are Acis autummnalis and Campanula cashmeriana. I spend a lot of time removing seedlings of both. The one mistake that I did make was to plant Cremanthodium arnicoides (bought under a different name, my excuse). This does grow to a 1 metre plus tall perennial in the garden. I might get round to removing it one day.
Not everything I have planted has survived, but it looks good enough for me. This winter and last when we had extreme frost some of the more tender things went, but that just leaves spaces for more things this year.
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: mark smyth on January 14, 2011, 11:49:01 AM
Now that is what I want to do. I hope I have a copy of the bulletin.

Please tell me/us more about the planting mix. What rocks. What plants you have used.

Can you post larger images about 700 pixels wide?
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Palustris on January 14, 2011, 12:41:27 PM
Hi Mark. If you do not have the AGS Bulletin I am sure there must be some way of getting the details to you via this site.
I usually post at 450 by 338 because of the time it takes my Dialup connection to upload things. One of the penalties of opting for an extreme rural situation I suppose.
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Maggi Young on January 14, 2011, 12:53:24 PM
Palustris, if you agree then I can arrange to copy the article ?

 The article, "A czech style crevice garden" is in The Alpine Gardener, volume 73 December 2005 ( no. 302) pages 380 to 383
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: mark smyth on January 14, 2011, 02:15:48 PM
Thanks for the larger photos. I feel an urge building.

I have the bulletin so now for some reading with a coffee.
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Palustris on January 14, 2011, 03:04:35 PM
Palustris, if you agree then I can arrange to copy the article?

 The article, "A czech style crevice garden" is in The Alpine Gardener, volume 73 December 2005 ( no. 302) pages 380 to 383


If you feel that it would be  of interest to anyone then that is all right by me.
Eric.
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: David Nicholson on January 14, 2011, 03:10:04 PM
Yes please, I would like to read it. Nice job there Eric it looks great. You must have some very heavy duty staging?
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: angie on January 14, 2011, 06:06:55 PM
Thanks for the larger photos. I feel an urge building.

I feel the urge to get another greenhouse ;D ;D

Angie :)
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Mike Ireland on January 14, 2011, 07:44:40 PM
David the ideal staging for this type of bed is either breeze or concrete blocks for the supports and then 3ft x 2ft paving slabs as the base for the beds on the top.

Mike
Title: Re: crevice and or rockery in the green house
Post by: Paddy Tobin on February 13, 2011, 04:09:50 PM
I made a hyper tufa crevice garden in my Alpine House a few years back. The method was featured in the AGS Bulletin.


My goodness, such wonderful work. Well done, it really is beautiful.

Paddy
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