If intending growing alpine plants , why not source an alpine specialist and go for different plants than the usual G/C material .
Too rich a soil (i.e.manure) , can lead to weak and leggy growth . The alpines I have are 'hard-grown' ; that's full-sun , very free-draining gritty mix , and an open aspect . I never feed them either ; otherwise (as above) , nothing will be attained but weakened growth .
You're right Paul - I should have made that clear in my post - that alpines wouldn't like the richer soil other plants like. If you can get some rock that's cut in shards, nice an slim, you can lay them in the ground vertically to replicate some of their habitat.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thank you all for sharing your knowledge, there's lots of tips that I'll be using.
I've been weeding for 4 days now, conscientiously watched over by a friendly robin, and finally have a clear border! I've included pictures below to show off my hard work Interestingly I've discovered that some areas aren't sandy and have quite a rich soil with quite a few worms in, so I'm hoping to be able to include a mix of plants - alpines in the sandier areas where I'll include some rocks and shrubs, annuals and bulbs too (amongst others I have yet to discover as a newbie!). I'll be starting off with bulbs and annuals I imagine as I don't have a lot of money to spend on plants but I'm hoping with a good mulch I can keep the spaces free from weeds whilst I grow my collection.
On that note, are there any bargain plants along the lines of shrubs and perennials that I should be looking out for at this time of year? I'd also love to get some small trees in as I'm trying to encourage birds into the garden and would like a bit more cover for them.
Thanks to Wild Edges too for your tip about free rocks, I've found a couple of people giving away/selling nice Purbeck bricks and rocks that we're picking up this weekend hopefully so that's saves us a lot of money that we would have spent on sleepers.
You have worked hard. I should pop in to your local GC (inc Homebase if you have one nearby) and have a look for reduced price plants. Read the labels to check what they are and whether you think they'll be suitable for your border - you can pick up some real bargain sometimes.
Great job Bryony. The tree stumps are a real bonus. Ferns and wood anemones would be nice there. The world's your lobster, as Del Boy would say. Many nurseries and G.Centres have sales at this time of year, and most perennials are filling their pots and needing split, so if you buy a decent sized plant, you can often split it and get two or three clumps. Great value.
I love your sign. I've often fancied doing one in my garden. What place names have you got? I can't enlarge it well enough.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Your hard work has been well worth it. You can be proud of yourself. Hope we see further photos as time goes on. @Fairygirl I can make out London, Tata Beach NZ, B'mouth Beach and Madagascar!
Fran - I could more or less make out London, and I could see it was something Beach, NZ, but that was as far as I could get. Now that you've said them - I can see the other two names!
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Hi All, thank you for your words of encouragement, I'll post more pictures as I get the little retaining bricks in and maybe even a couple of plants.
Thank you for your comments on the bird feeder, I actually have a business where I make them myself and personalise them with people's own treasured locations. It started with this sign which I made for myself on a whim as I love to travel, the places you can see are Tata Beach, New Zealand where I got engaged, London, Bournemouth Beach as we're not far from it and Wimborne as it's our nearest town. I also have some places I aspire to visit some day like Madagascar to remind me to work towards it! Had some long tailed tits visit today which I was delighted with - I think they've just the cutest birds!
Posts
If you can get some rock that's cut in shards, nice an slim, you can lay them in the ground vertically to replicate some of their habitat.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I've been weeding for 4 days now, conscientiously watched over by a friendly robin, and finally have a clear border! I've included pictures below to show off my hard work
On that note, are there any bargain plants along the lines of shrubs and perennials that I should be looking out for at this time of year? I'd also love to get some small trees in as I'm trying to encourage birds into the garden and would like a bit more cover for them.
Thanks to Wild Edges too for your tip about free rocks, I've found a couple of people giving away/selling nice Purbeck bricks and rocks that we're picking up this weekend hopefully so that's saves us a lot of money that we would have spent on sleepers.
The tree stumps are a real bonus. Ferns and wood anemones would be nice there. The world's your lobster, as Del Boy would say.
Many nurseries and G.Centres have sales at this time of year, and most perennials are filling their pots and needing split, so if you buy a decent sized plant, you can often split it and get two or three clumps. Great value.
I love your sign. I've often fancied doing one in my garden. What place names have you got? I can't enlarge it well enough.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Fairygirl I can make out London, Tata Beach NZ, B'mouth Beach and Madagascar!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thank you for your comments on the bird feeder, I actually have a business where I make them myself and personalise them with people's own treasured locations. It started with this sign which I made for myself on a whim as I love to travel, the places you can see are Tata Beach, New Zealand where I got engaged, London, Bournemouth Beach as we're not far from it and Wimborne as it's our nearest town. I also have some places I aspire to visit some day like Madagascar to remind me to work towards it! Had some long tailed tits visit today which I was delighted with - I think they've just the cutest birds!