Planting up the main succulent bank.

Building the main succulent rockery has been a lot of physical lugging or rock, soil and gravel. Monday saw the final large delivery of soil and gravel, time to enlist the family for one final push. In the morning the bed was set out ready, extra blocks had been added over the weekend to build up the end so it was ready to go.

The vertical posts had also been added continuing the wave from the side garden.  It was interesting having both the oldest nephew and niece around, they are really getting into gardening; not just the plants but the design as well and there were several discussions about why things were going in certain locations.

By lunch the plants were going in and the biggest rocks were in place.

Then it was just a matter of selecting the best rocks to create a more terraced look.

The gravel ran out before the entire bed was covered, but as the front row has to be finished it's no disaster.

Now the real fun can begin. With most of the big plants in, I can start to see the gaps and where all the bonus interest can be added. every time I look around it I see crevices in rocks that I can see being filled with some choice alpine.

The backbone is there and will fill out over the next few years, but what will really set everything off is the other plants that are not noticeable at first, or that bring colour at different points of the year.

There are so many good corners, gaps, hidden spots I am going to be able to add a lot more plants than expected. There is no rush to do this; I have some plants ready, other gaps will be an opportunity to buy one of the plants off my must have list. Hopefully I will be able to restrain from planting any old plant, to fill the spaces with those rare or special varieties.

Lots of new views to discover

The agave x nigra didn't seem to mind being in pots, the root balls were really strong and there are pups on each plant.  They look good and blue against the rocks which wasn't planned but one of those happy coincidences.

One of my favourite aspects to the bed is the different view you get when sitting on the wall at the table.  It's nice to look down on the plants while also being able to touch them

Plenty of space in there for some litte (and not so little) gems.

There is still a lot of work to do to get it looking how I want, but the main physical stuff is done with the fun bits to go. 

The area around the patio is almost finished, or at least it's looking like a garden.  At some point I am going to have to buy some non-spikey plants to fill the beds along the fence. I'm not going to have an excuse to delay it much longer.

Tin snips are my favourite tool of the week

In a blatant spin-off from Dangers Gardens "My favourite plant this week", which is excellent for those that have not seen it (The latest post can be found here), my favourite tools this week are giant tweezers and tin snips. Shown in the photo below with a standard trowel for size.

The giant tweezers look like a joke but are perfect for fishing leaves out of those hard to reach agave and yucca crowns. 

The tin snips, usually used for cutting thin metal sheet, turn out to be perfect for trimming dead leaves off yuccas and dasylirions.  I must admit to being in the "no skirt" group.  Before you get too concerned this is just a term used to describe the ring of dead/old leaves that hang down around the trunk forming a skirt.  Some people think the plants look better in this more natural state, for me though they have to go. Getting in to trim them off you need something with enough power to cut through the fibrous leaves but precise enough to get a good clean look.  Secateurs are often not strong enough, and sheers are messy. The tin snips made light work of a dasylirion serratifolium and I'm amazed I never thought of using them before.

As it happens dasylirion serratifolium would be my favourite plant in the garden this week.  It has been in a pot since I got it, and really needs to get into the soil as it must be chronically root bound by now. It copes with London winters unprotected without any problems at all, and apart from having to watch the serrated leaves needs no care at all. Pop over to Loree's Danger Garden blog to see what others have selected as their favourite plants.

Yet another day of digging and moving rocks

It seems to be that days in the garden involve hours of digging and sorting soil, or moving rocks. Today did not disappoint, with real progress on the main succulent rockery. The idea was to build a bank up to the top of the patio wall and continue it around along a new wall down the fence line.

The photo above shows the area ready for work.  The plan for the day was to start the bank and see if it would reach the top of the patio wall.  It started ok, but very quickly became clear that there was not going to be any where near enough material to bank all the way to the top.

I have been given strict instructions not to put anything sharp near the top of the wall, it will form a seat for the table, and it would be a shame to spike anyone sitting there.  With the lower height and saving the big agaves for the far corner it should be save.

Sadly even with the reduced height I am going to need to sort out some more ballast; we are down to the last pile of builder rubble and that is almost gone.

That lot is not even going to get me to the fence, so it is time to think of a back up plan.  In the mean time I can plant up the first bit and it will give me an idea of how much soil and gravel I am going to need.

With the first part getting there, the patio end to the garden is starting to pull together.

There is still a way to go, but hopefully I'll meet my deadline of getting the succulent beds built and planted before the end of July. I have strict rule of no planting succulents in the ground after July; it gives them time to settle before winter and they have a better survival rate.

It is good to have the yucca rostratas back again. They have not liked the move and being in pots. Given they drop their roots as soon as you suggest touching them I guess it is no surprise.

A new home for the sempervivuvms

The in-laws coming to stay, three birthday parties and a 50th wedding anniversary party all meant it was not a very productive weekend in the garden. The great thing about it's current state though, is that I can now potter around doing little jobs, or just water and weed the pots. So in between everything I got the alpine section of the rockery planted up.

I decided in the end to make it a home for some of the sempervivums I have accumulated over the last few years. It looks a bit empty at present as they have been given space to fill out, but in a year or so should look good.

I have selected some of my favourite varieties and it is good to get them out of their pots and give them a bit of space.

Sempervivum 'Engles'

Sempervivum 'Green Dragon'

Sempervivum 'Apple Blossom'

Sempervivum 'Lavender and Old Lace'

Sempervivum 'Rosie'

Sempervivum 'Virgil'

I have put some of the big boys in as well to see how they do with space

Sempervivum 'Orthello'

Sempervivum 'Packardian'

Sempervivum 'Titania'

There was also room one of the dwarf pines, it gives a bit of variety and will provide shade from the strongest of the summer sun. Apparently it only grows to 3 - 4 feet and should take a long time to get there.

No doubt I will add more rocks of smaller sizes and swap out any of the sempervivums that don't perform. There is also one more alpine to go in, my alpine nemesis scleranthus biflorus

Having failed twice in pots, I am hoping that it will be more successful in the ground.

Rocks, gravel and finally some plants

It's been a hectic few days, after two false starts the rocks and gravel turned up for the rockery and paths, 3 tonnes of rock and 1 of gravel meant it was always going to be a hard work weekend.  It didn't get off to the best start, the first pallet of rock off the truck the pallet snapped the stone was not balanced and the whole lot fell off.  So much for the nice gentle start. The rest wasn't much smoother but we got there in the end. (This is the two pallets that made it to the curb, the other tonne is sprawled over the front garden.)

The afternoon was spent entertaining the neighbours, to apologise for monopolising the parking during the build. The weather was perfect for gardening, so I had to stop myself from thinking this was interfering with the things I should be doing.  Once people had left it was time to get on with the paths which was the focus of Saturdays post.

On Sunday, I had a little help from my oldest nephew, who luckily happens to be a rapidly growing rugby playing fitness fanatic. It was time to move all the rocks and to at least get the cycad rockery started.  Moving them went well, although with only 2 tonnes in the back, and the main rockery not built yet, it takes up a lot of space.

For my last garden I used river boulders, this time it is a grey sandstone.  The colour is good, but a lot of the rocks are thin and flat meaning it is harder to get the look I want. I guess it is just getting used to the different shapes and is one reason for starting with a smaller section.  Hopefully by the time I get to the main succulent bed, I'll have worked out the best way to use the rock to show it off.

Anyway, by about 4pm there was enough complete for the real fun could start.  For the first time since moving we actually had plants coming out of pots and into the ground.

Originally I used the same gravel for the path and rockery, but the bricks looked out of place. While they will weather, in the end I felt the more traditional gravel worked better overall. I am sure it will evolve as I live with it.

For a first run I am quite pleased, it will definitely do for this summer as it settles in and I see what likes the location and what struggles. The plant list is quite limited with agave parasana, agave bracteosa, aloe striatula, aloe aristrata, aloe poyphylla, echeveria elegans, a twin headed yucca gloriosa and the cycad revoluta.

So far I've only planted up to the posts. The next stage will be to plant up the other half most likely with alpines. The flat rock would actually lend itself to the garden style of the moment: a crevice garden.  It's tempting try one out, but undecided at the moment.

In the mean time I'll enjoy getting used to the different views and give my body a chance to stop aching.

It is very exciting to finally have plants in the ground!

Shapes

Today in the garden was all about shapes.

Hexagons.

The is the matting used for the path.  It has a membrane to restrict weeds and then when plastic hexagons which hold the gravel and keep it nice and firm.  Amazing even this small relatively thin sheet is rated to take vehicles including vans when used for driveways.

Filling it, you can leave the hexagons showing if you wanted.

Circles.

Whose idea was it to have a circular seating area.  The sheets click together nice and easily, and can be cut to shape.  There is a separate sheet for the man-hole cover, it's been left for now as sadly the builders are back next week to finish off and may need access.

S

The S shaped path seemed like a good idea at the time. Amazingly, the measurements worked out as expected and there was enough matting to do the entire area without having to go and buy any more.

?

So was it worth it?

Look plants!

Sadly the rockery stone didn't turn up today as planned.  Apparently the person who took the order didn't bother to write down that they were to be delivered today, although strangely they did manage to take all the payment details and take that from my account. 

So to cheer myself up and so the day wasn't a total waste, I started to put plants out on the rockery.  I find it easier when building a rockery like this, to set the plants out before the gravel and stone gets added. That way I can place the stone around the pots, and plant it up as I go. It is much easier than having to try to dig holes in gravel.

I'm sorry about the photo, the light was all wrong, but it was so exciting to be placing plants.

The cycad has to go in the middle and that will change the feel a lot, but it isn't quite right yet.  I may move the variegated yucca to where the agave bracteosa is at the back, then move the aloe striatula to where the yucca was, and then agave bracteosa to where the aloe was. No doubt there will be a few games of musical chairs until it is actually planted.  There are some echeverias ear marked for there as well, it will depend a bit on space. Currently I am thinking to keep this as a very neat bed, and not a more lush look, but a stream of blue echeverias running through it could look good.

The big advantage to these types of rockeries is that large bits of concrete and stone should work as a heat sink and provide a bit of extra winter protection.  I know by the time the cold arrives the heat will have gone, but even so plants against big rocks still do better.

I also decided the vertical posts were too harsh without plants, so until the bamboo and tree ferns arrive, they make ideal vertical panters.

It is great to have plants out in the garden and not just in pot storage areas.