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Plants that grow in walls

M0rganaM0rgana Posts: 47
in Garden design
Hi all,
The attached image is from York Gate Garden. I'd love to have a go at something like this but can't find the information I need on the internet. 

I'm interested in plants that will grow in slate but also, maybe, the gaps in my wall. I live in Yorkshire so quite Northern and I guess the wall is sandstone or Yorkshire stone or whatever Victorian terraces round here are made of! 

Is it the wrong time of year for this now? 

Please share any advice, including timings and plant species that might work xx

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Posts

  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    The majority of those in your pic are   Sempervivum - common name House Leek.  There are a number of varieties - colour, leaf shape and size vary.   
    They like sun and well drained soil and can be grown successfully with a shallow root run. Most are hardy in the UK.
    There are plenty of other plants which will be happy in a similar location - just a case of looking for those suitable for your conditions and location.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @M0rgana I planted up something like it all House Leeks last year but used gravel instead of slate, also in a metal pan or trough  [I do loved how the slate sets off the plants in your photo]. My version obviously didn't have enough drainage as it got very wet then it was frozen so most of the plants died, disaster!

    I would just plant House Leeks, no need to water, choose different forms.
    It is possible to keep this sort of planting going for years if you get it right. I did for many years in a pan shaped terracotta pot.

    Maybe the one in your photo went underglass out of the worst of the rain in winter. With House Leeks the reds and the' cobwebs' do seem shorter lived than the greens.

    I am not surprised your photo was taken at York Gate Garden, at every turn there is a wonderful idea to treasure and copy too! Not a large garden but every tiny detail is exquisite.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @M0rgana I hope you saw Gardeners World tonight if not it featured York Gate.
    @punkdoc Great to see the spanish moss as you mentioned in another thread relating to York Gate earlier this week.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    yes it's a fab garden. I have been several times and have become quite friendly with Jack Ogg the head gardener, he is always giving me exotic things to try.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    Is yours a dry stone wall, @M0rgana, or is it regular mortared stone?  What you can grow in it will depend on the aspect of the wall, and how big the gaps are.  North facing dry stone walls in west Yorks (where I used to live) often had small ferns growing in the cracks.  Some plants will establish best from seed, sown into a bit of soil pushed into the wall; around here, Erinus alpinus (Fairy foxglove) likes walls with a west aspect, and seeds itself into minute cracks.  Wallflowers seed themselves into walls (not surprising, really!) and you can sow seeds yourself into cracks in a sunny wall.  I've seen antirrhinums (snapdragons) happily growing in walls, too.
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • M0rganaM0rgana Posts: 47
    It's a dry stone wall in West Yorks! 
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328


    Letting things seed themselves in a wall can be really pretty... Erinus and hawkweed at the Botanic Gardens in Dublin.   :)
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • M0rganaM0rgana Posts: 47
    I'm wondering about erigeron karvinskianus for the wall & various other little places... as well as having a go with some house leeks in something... 
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    I do think the erigeron would work well. There is also a lilac form called E Lavender lady.
    Not sure if you would want to mix the two.
    In a shady wall there are ferns that would work.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • bettinaJeoNpYIFbettinaJeoNpYIF Posts: 1
    This is in a warmer climate but as you can see there are some ferns and aroids popping up in the cracks here. Nearby there was creeping fig and some begonias.
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