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Gunnera in a bath
elderberry
Posts: 118
in Plants
We've got a gunnera in a pot, and we've got an old bath, so we were thinking of sinking the bath in the soil and putting the gunnera in it, to make a restricted bog garden area. But where should we drill holes in the bath, if at all?
0
Posts
Does it not already have a hole in it??
Do you mean a galvanized tin bath elderberry? We have a few of them in various sizes, in the garden, as they are always useful for planting up. If this is what you have, then I would drill a few holes in the bottom but also put some pea gravel in the bottom to help soak up and retain the moisture, so the soil is never dry.
Of course, and that could be plugged, or further holes could be added, so what difference does that make?
Maybe drill some holes along the sides- a couple of inches up from the bottom - so that it will always retain a couple of inches of water but won't fill up and turn into too much of a swamp.
I think that's what I'd do.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I'd agree with Dove - you want some holes slightly higher than the base so that there's some water held in the bottom.
The single 'plughole' wouldn't be enough
If it's a typical, old style enamelled bath - drilling holes might be tricky though. Plastic ones as well - they'll tend to shatter if you're not really careful. Attaching masking tape at the points where you drill the holes will help.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...