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.