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The CUK Gardening Thread

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    The CUK Gardening Thread

    I note we have cookery threads but nothing devoted to horticultural pursuits and I'm sure I'm not the only green fingered CUKer so I thought I'd get the ball rolling.

    Mr Gittins is just putting the finishing touches to a dry stone wall that forms the boundary between our house and the neighboring field. Ever since we've lived there, this old wall has been very higglegy piggledy and tumbledown. It has also been covered with weeds and brambles. Now all that has been cleared I can see that the wall is a good 3 feet across so I'm tempted to fill it with a couple of feet of topsoil and plant it up.

    Now, the first thing that leapt to mind was alpines - saxifrage, aubretia, all that kind of stuff - but I don't really find alpines that exciting, do you? I quite like pinks which are suited to these conditions but I've go planty of thosevelsrwhere.

    Can anyone suggest a few genuses that are suited to these conditions?

    #2
    three feet across ??
    thats Hadrians wall you are about to demolish. There are laws against that type of thing you know
    (\__/)
    (>'.'<)
    ("")("") Born to Drink. Forced to Work

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      #3
      I grow "Tomato" plants. Several in erach room. It helps if you bypass the leccy too.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by EternalOptimist View Post
        three feet across ??
        thats Hadrians wall you are about to demolish. There are laws against that type of thing you know
        It's not being demolished. Quite the opposite in fact. It was a pile of rubble and is now restored to its former glory.

        I'm just planning on infilling the top with soil and planting it up.

        I've always liked the blazing pinky red colours of red valerian (centranthus ruber) but it's terribly invasive and needs cutting back hard after flowering to prevent self seeding.



        I'm also very tempted on the dainty profusion of white blooms produced by seaside fleabane (erigeron glaucus). I think the white blooms would provide a perfect foil to plants of more vivid colours that I would set in their midst. An effect used with great success by Gertrude Jekyll in her designs.



        While I love pinks (dianthus sp.) I'm not massively familiar with the wide variety of cultivars and thus find it hard to incorporate them in the design I have in my mind's eye. I'll certainly go for some common thrift (armeria maritima) for a splash of pink

        and, as I type,it has kinda entered my head that I could have a sea shore themed bed planted up with native littoral plants.



        Now that hadn't even crossed my mind before I started this post. You see, it's good to type

        Comment


          #5
          I am a more practical type of fellow. If I were going to plant things on an ancient artifact, it would have to have a practical value, either smoke it , like BP's 'tomatoes' , or eat it, like my chilles and scotch bonnets.
          what about mushrooms grown on stonehenge or wild garlic on offas dyke
          (\__/)
          (>'.'<)
          ("")("") Born to Drink. Forced to Work

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by EternalOptimist View Post
            I am a more practical type of fellow. If I were going to plant things on an ancient artifact, it would have to have a practical value, either smoke it , like BP's 'tomatoes' , or eat it, like my chilles and scotch bonnets.
            what about mushrooms grown on stonehenge or wild garlic on offas dyke
            It had crossed my mind to have a cordon of dwarf fruit trees running along the top but conditions are just too well drained I think for anything like that. Plus the rootstock would probably damage the structure of the wall over a number of years. Was tempted though because it's a lovely sunny spot.

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              #7
              near the coast though ? that changes the conditions slightly.
              A dry sunny well drained spot ,sheltered by the wall would be perfect for carrots.
              Sand nearby as well.
              Have you considered carrots ?
              (\__/)
              (>'.'<)
              ("")("") Born to Drink. Forced to Work

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by EternalOptimist View Post
                near the coast though ? that changes the conditions slightly.
                A dry sunny well drained spot ,sheltered by the wall would be perfect for carrots.
                Sand nearby as well.
                Have you considered carrots ?
                No, we're about 10 miles from the coast.

                And I've got herbs growing in the sunny spot under the wall. Only one side is available, unfortunately, as the other side belongs to the farmer. I could put veg on top of the wall if I infilled with enough soil but I'm very much an aesthete and regimented rows of veg isn't quite what I'm looking for. Now, if one could design in some food crops, maybe blending them in with some flowering plants to make it look natural, that could pique my interest.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Agent Orange.

                  It works for me.





                  Om.
                  Last edited by zeitghost; 7 July 2014, 09:19.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Gittins Gal View Post
                    No, we're about 10 miles from the coast.

                    And I've got herbs growing in the sunny spot under the wall. Only one side is available, unfortunately, as the other side belongs to the farmer. I could put veg on top of the wall if I infilled with enough soil but I'm very much an aesthete and regimented rows of veg isn't quite what I'm looking for. Now, if one could design in some food crops, maybe blending them in with some flowering plants to make it look natural, that could pique my interest.
                    it has to be climbers then.
                    I would recommend runner beans or peas and please dont neglect the fruit canes, it sounds perfect for blue berries, logan berries or even rasberries. Grapes will grow, even as far north as Hadrians wall
                    (\__/)
                    (>'.'<)
                    ("")("") Born to Drink. Forced to Work

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