...I'm afraid I hate polystyrene with a passion - there was also a segment on GW a little while ago which claimed that you don't need to put anything for drainage at the bottom of pots and containers, just fill with compost.. I think it was Monty Don that said it... I used to use pea shingle but no longer bother... now I just cover the drainage holes with a roughly 3 inch square piece cut from a plastic pot, each piece with a bit of rim which leaves a small gap.. and cover each hole with a piece...
I usually add extra grit to the compost to aid drainage...
..suppose we've all got our own ways of doing things...
Think it also depends what's in the pot - as Jim says. If it's something that's going to live there for a while I'd probably treat it differently to something annual. Size of the pot is a factor too of course.
obelixx - were those bottles all from one session?
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
In Belgium, Oz and Kiwi bottles are not returnable for a deposit and, until about 10 years ago, there weren't ubiquitous bottle banks so we built up quite a collection of empties. When English speaking friends learned I intended to build a bottle wall the men all scoffed (closet engineers of the failed variety) but brought me their empties too.
OH wasn't convinced either but my bottle wall was quick to build and has been in place 10 years and withstood temps ranging from -32C to +38C. What is not to like?
If you should fancy making one yourselves, the straight sided bottles with high shoulders work best. No cement needed, just a firm base and an end wall made, in our case, from granite pavers fixed with cement. The top is made from marble slabs recycled from dismantled fireplaces when we renovated this ex farmhouse.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
If you want to reduce the amount of compost in the pot, for economy or weight reasons, then adding coarse material in the bottom of pots will work, but what it does not do is improve drainage. Wisley, and many others, have been trying to get rid of this myth for some time. Google "perched water table" and you will see lots of discussions on it. The alpine group at Wisley used to demonstrate to visitors pouring water into identical pots, 1 with crocks and 1 without. The former holds onto more water than the latter, because it sits at the change in growing medium. What it does do is prevent water-logging by takeup from below, which can be useful, and means things like hanging baskets need watering less often, but it actually impedes drainage.
Thank you tillium2cv! What a relief to hear some common sense. I struggled to get my head around that whole idea from my days at college doing soil science to years later. It just didn't make any sense to me. I did some experiments myself and it was clear that all the extra rocks etc did was take up space that otherwise would have been occupied by water holding compost. I think I've already said as much. And a bucket of gravel or a bucket of clay will still make a pond if you poor water in. By the way, I was watching a recording of GW last night and Monte clearly said adding gravel will improve drainage, despite me shouting at the screen, he didn't listen! Let's not forget Monte, as great as he is, and I do have a huge respect for his presenting of GW and his garden, he's not a horticulturalist. Like many GW presenters in the past he's an amateur. That's no criticism; who better to understand the needs of Amateur viewers than an Amateur? Sorry Monte, you've still got my vote.
Think it also depends what's in the pot - as Jim says. If it's something that's going to live there for a while I'd probably treat it differently to something annual. Size of the pot is a factor too of course.
obelixx - were those bottles all from one session?
Oh, blinking eck, I couldn't see what I was supposed to be looking at, Bottes? What Bottles? Could see the bottles for the wall.
Don't forget that those of us who want to put polystyrene in to the compost for drainage one handy gardener on this forum told us how they put their grit into tights so that it could be reused and didn't get into the compost.
If you just want to stop the compost falling out of the hole at the bottom of a big pot, an old green scourer does the trick, but it doesn't improve drainage.
Posts
...I'm afraid I hate polystyrene with a passion - there was also a segment on GW a little while ago which claimed that you don't need to put anything for drainage at the bottom of pots and containers, just fill with compost.. I think it was Monty Don that said it... I used to use pea shingle but no longer bother... now I just cover the drainage holes with a roughly 3 inch square piece cut from a plastic pot, each piece with a bit of rim which leaves a small gap.. and cover each hole with a piece...
I usually add extra grit to the compost to aid drainage...
..suppose we've all got our own ways of doing things...
These days we mostly drink Oz or Kiwi wine with screw caps so it's just as well corks can be re-used. The bottles can come in handy too.........
Think it also depends what's in the pot - as Jim says. If it's something that's going to live there for a while I'd probably treat it differently to something annual. Size of the pot is a factor too of course.
obelixx - were those bottles all from one session?
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
In Belgium, Oz and Kiwi bottles are not returnable for a deposit and, until about 10 years ago, there weren't ubiquitous bottle banks so we built up quite a collection of empties. When English speaking friends learned I intended to build a bottle wall the men all scoffed (closet engineers of the failed variety) but brought me their empties too.
OH wasn't convinced either but my bottle wall was quick to build and has been in place 10 years and withstood temps ranging from -32C to +38C. What is not to like?
If you should fancy making one yourselves, the straight sided bottles with high shoulders work best. No cement needed, just a firm base and an end wall made, in our case, from granite pavers fixed with cement. The top is made from marble slabs recycled from dismantled fireplaces when we renovated this ex farmhouse.
If you want to reduce the amount of compost in the pot, for economy or weight reasons, then adding coarse material in the bottom of pots will work, but what it does not do is improve drainage. Wisley, and many others, have been trying to get rid of this myth for some time. Google "perched water table" and you will see lots of discussions on it. The alpine group at Wisley used to demonstrate to visitors pouring water into identical pots, 1 with crocks and 1 without. The former holds onto more water than the latter, because it sits at the change in growing medium. What it does do is prevent water-logging by takeup from below, which can be useful, and means things like hanging baskets need watering less often, but it actually impedes drainage.
Thank you tillium2cv! What a relief to hear some common sense. I struggled to get my head around that whole idea from my days at college doing soil science to years later. It just didn't make any sense to me. I did some experiments myself and it was clear that all the extra rocks etc did was take up space that otherwise would have been occupied by water holding compost. I think I've already said as much. And a bucket of gravel or a bucket of clay will still make a pond if you poor water in. By the way, I was watching a recording of GW last night and Monte clearly said adding gravel will improve drainage, despite me shouting at the screen, he didn't listen! Let's not forget Monte, as great as he is, and I do have a huge respect for his presenting of GW and his garden, he's not a horticulturalist. Like many GW presenters in the past he's an amateur. That's no criticism; who better to understand the needs of Amateur viewers than an Amateur? Sorry Monte, you've still got my vote.
Oh, blinking eck, I couldn't see what I was supposed to be looking at, Bottes? What Bottles? Could see the bottles for the wall.
Don't forget that those of us who want to put polystyrene in to the compost for drainage one handy gardener on this forum told us how they put their grit into tights so that it could be reused and didn't get into the compost.
If you just want to stop the compost falling out of the hole at the bottom of a big pot, an old green scourer does the trick, but it doesn't improve drainage.