Troughs

[Paul T]

Lesley,

I wondered the same thing at first, then just thought he'd make a crevice type garden, with the crevices running horizontally like retaining walls etc.  I think the variability in shape will look quite good.

[Lesley Cox]

Well maybe if the crevices run vertically up the hill, like a mini mountain, Mark can people the slope with little plastic people on an expedition, perhaps to collect or photograph plants.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

A very nice collection of troughs Mark !  Well done !
Bring some to the AGS bulb sale in August - I will definitely buy some !! 

[Gerdk]

Just received two pics of Viola spathulata made by Dieter Zschummel in Iran (digitalised) -
I take the opportunity to add an image of this extraordinary violet growing happily in a trough in front of the house + Campanula cashmeriana and Cymbalaria muralis growing nearby

Gerd

[Ragged Robin]

Gerd your trough is SO natural and pretty, a lovely example of your plantsmanship (if there is such a word) 

Campanula cashmeriana and Cymbalaria muralis are also gorgeous I think I have the last growing here seeded from the wild and it is a miniature beauty 

[mark smyth]

I havent been getting updates to this thread

Lesley the sloping trough was a normal fish box cut to that angle. It was done to add something different. All the troughs will eventualy get some drift wood placed in them so hopefully it will hold back the planting mix. So far even with all the rain we have had recently nothing has moved.

Now for some of the Hostas.

 hosta alan p mcconnell.jpg
 hosta cats eye2.jpg
 hosta country mouse.jpg
 hosta cracker crumbs.jpg
 hosta green with envy.jpg
 hosta hope.jpg
 hosta lakeside ninita.jpg
 hosta lemon and lime.jpg
 hosta lemon frost.jpg
 hosta little caesar.jpg

[Ragged Robin]

A wonderful collection of little hostas in your troughs, Mark, the cats eye with the coin is perfect for sizing and I love the lemon and lime colour leaf - little Caesar has a most unusual leaf shape and wave to the edge - gorgeous, thanks for sharing them (but not literally with slugs and snails!)

[Gerdk]

Gerd your trough is SO natural and pretty, a lovely example of your plantsmanship (if there is such a word) 

Campanula cashmeriana and Cymbalaria muralis are also gorgeous I think I have the last growing here seeded from the wild and it is a miniature beauty 

RR, Thank you for your kind remarks !

-  and please let me tell at this place that I also enjoy ALL your moody impressions with your particular view!

Gerd

[Paddy Tobin]

Gerd,

Loverly troughs, well planted, very nice indeed.

Mark,

The hostas are looking brilliant. Mary is the one who grows the small hostas here and she has several of those you grow. I showed her 'Cat's Eyes' and she tells me she tried to get it previously but that it had sold out at the time. I think you have reminded her to try again.

I like the bigger ones in the garden, good ground cover and plants which are very suited to splitting and multiplying. Photograph of one hosta planting attached.

Paddy

[Carlo]

I'm always after the little hostas. Had a nice collection at one time--including Uzu No Mai, which doesn't appear to be around anymore...

[cohan]

Just received two pics of Viola spathulata made by Dieter Zschummel in Iran (digitalised) -
I take the opportunity to add an image of this extraordinary violet growing happily in a trough in front of the house + Campanula cashmeriana and Cymbalaria muralis growing nearby
Gerd

wonderful violet! and i guess on the rock like that it needs a steady drip of water?
your trough is very delicate and beautiful, as are all the plants in it..

[Gerdk]

Paddy,Cohan,
Thank you both!

Cohan, the photographer of this violet told me that it grows on vertical limestone cliffs in the Elburs mountains north of Tehran in shade. He did not mention a permanent water supply there. Under my conditions there is no want for additional watering.

Gerd

[Lori S.]

Cohan, your comments in the other thread reminded me of something else...
I was very kindly given some rooted echeveria cuttings last spring, which I reluctantly accepted (given that I have next-to-no interest in house plants, and yet feel a little guilty about growing them as mere annuals!)  I planted them up in a 17" W (43cm)  x 7.5" H (19cm) unglazed terra cotta pot filled with half grit/half compost, along with some sempervivums and sedums from the yard, to fill it out.  The pot sat on a wooden deck that is raised a few inches off the ground through the winter.  All that survived, come this spring, are a couple of little sprigs of Sedum reflexum.  Meanwhile, the same small unknown sempervivum that died completely in the pot has survived in one of our rectangular troughs for 12 years, and also in our square troughs and in the ground for a few years.   (I started moving some divisions to the square troughs and to various other areas in the yard a few years ago).    

While this is hardly conclusive, I can only imagine it comes down to the volume/mass again... and a delicate balance... ??  The pot, though terra cotta (which helps, I imagine), has less volume due to the curved sides, than do our square troughs.  Plus, the pot was raised off the ground, which is very likely detrimental.  
Beyond that, I dunno...

[cohan]

Cohan, your comments in the other thread reminded me of something else...
I was very kindly given some rooted echeveria cuttings last spring, which I reluctantly accepted (given that I have next-to-no interest in house plants, and yet feel a little guilty about growing them as mere annuals!)  I planted them up in a 17" W (43cm)  x 7.5" H (19cm) unglazed terra cotta pot filled with half grit/half compost, along with some sempervivums and sedums from the yard, to fill it out.  The pot sat on a wooden deck that is raised a few inches off the ground through the winter.  All that survived, come this spring, are a couple of little sprigs of Sedum reflexum.  Meanwhile, the same small unknown sempervivum that died completely in the pot has survived in one of our rectangular troughs for 12 years, and also in our square troughs and in the ground for a few years.   (I started moving some divisions to the square troughs and to various other areas in the yard a few years ago).    

While this is hardly conclusive, I can only imagine it comes down to the volume/mass again... and a delicate balance... ??  The pot, though terra cotta (which helps, I imagine), has less volume due to the curved sides, than do our square troughs.  Plus, the pot was raised off the ground, which is very likely detrimental.  
Beyond that, I dunno...

hmm.. so a wide bowl shape.... and how big are your smallest troughs again? my square pot from last year (with one surviving semp and also  a sprig of reflexum!) has acquired more plants over the summer--a veronica repens, more bits of semps and sedums...it will stay where it is--well, i may make one concession--its just very slightly raised, on a bit of wood, i may slide it off onto the ground... we'll see if any of those things make it...
i have a bunch of new semps received as small cuttings, and all are in smallish pots for now, but i will be burying all those pots for winter..

[mark smyth]

Here are some more that have been made recently. These will be in full sun all year except for a few weeks between December and January. When Bob Gordon is asked what size is his garden he always says "about half an acre". How many troughs do I have now? One or two!

I've also started a mini woodland bed about 2m square