Troughs

[Graham Catlow]

Back in 2011 I built and planted a contemporary trough mainly for Lewisias but included a couple of other things.
Unfortunately the Lewisias and others didn't thrive but the Dianthus 'Whatfield Magenta' did and this is the result. Looking good but doing too well! I will be dismantling the construction in due course and reconstructing in a more usual way.

Photo 1. The trough in 2011.
Photo 2. The trough now.

[brianw]

I have the "opportunity" to install a number ~6-8 of ceramic sinks, mostly ~2' x 3', in a new garden, but don't have the time or inclination for hyertufa coatings. (I've done it before) Has anyone experience of the lasting qualities of masonary paint or PVA +sand coatings etc. or would I be better off leaving just as they are, i.e. mostly dirty white, but a couple red/brown? I may use a couple for carnivorous plants, although they could be elsewhere.

[John85]

If you use it for carnivorous plants I guess you will use a boggy mixture.As it contains a lot of water it will expand with the first severe frost.So you will have to line it with polystyrene or the sink 'll crack.

[brianw]

I normally grow things like Darlingtonia in spagnum moss alone, or mixed with perlite. This is mostly air so freezing should not be a problem, as long as any water layer at the bottom is minimal in winter.

[Garry Edwards]

I have been really  busy since my last post,we have moved house and are in the process of setting up a Nursery to sell both retail and to contract grow for a couple of large Nurseries in the area.

I have been lucky to find a supply of tufa and have been busy planting up a few troughs.Seed from the various exchanges has been germinating since the early spring over 700 packets sown, bulbs planted and new seed being sown weekly,and new plants are being added as I can find them.

Winter is just around the corner so there is much work to be done,I will post  more pictures as i have time but for now here is a appetizer.

[David Nicholson]

Impressive Garry. In the UK tufa is as rare now as rocking horse manure!

[rgc]

As a newbie, recently bought my first trough. It is empty and so have been reading about composts etc. Have read about the problems of a perched water table and why not to put crocks etc at the bottom of the trough. It all makes sense. However, is it not the case that most people put their troughs on blocks and that will create a perched water table?

Confused.

[Maggi Young]

Well spotted, Bob!

Yes, a trough  raised on bricks will produce a perched water table - but at least it gives the plant roots a bigger root run through the whole of the container.
We get round this problem by having a "wick" of material hanging from the drainage holed to reach the ground. we use thick folds of fleece or some other heardwearing matrial that will last for a decent length of time to help wick away the moisture before needing to be replaced.

 If a trough is seated on soil or sand it will be able to make a connection to allow drainage but then there is the potential problem of worms getting into the compost and roots either escaping from the trough or  the likes of tree or hedge roots getting up into the trough - none of these are very desirable.

Nothing is ever simple, is it? !!

[astragalus]

Maggi, some of my troughs are half buried in a very lean scree.  The bottom of the trough is lined with landscape fabric and I have yet to find evidence of a worm making its way into a trough.  Also, there are no trees around so no roots to worry about.  The troughs do better than the raised ones because I think the interior temperature and moisture level seems to be more even.
Although these troughs are are in a sense more part of the garden than the ones that are raised, the plants in them still have their own special place without interference from nearby more robust scree plants.

[Maggi Young]

Sounds like a perfect situation for your troughs, Anne - which, given  what a super garden you have, is no surprise!

[astragalus]

Thanks, Maggi

[Tim Ingram]

That's a really good idea Anne - we haven't many troughs and I've never thought of the clever way Maggi and Ian use a 'wick' to enable good drainage from a trough. We have two pieces of the 'rare as rocking horse manure' tufa buried partway in the sand bed and these have grown plants well, even through the last dry summer, showing the effectiveness of moisture moving both ways and providing more equable conditions for plants. Even quite some distance from a hedge we have had raised beds invaded by fine tree roots - gardening always seems to take some thinking about even when given excellent advice!

[astragalus]

And even when you have thought and thought, Tim,  there is always something that never occurred to you.  That's where the Forum is so worthwhile.  I never thought of using something to wick from a raised trough a la Maggi and Ian.  A great idea to try.  Gardening just never gets stale.

[penstemon]

All of the troughs here are sitting on cinder blocks, and have for about a quarter century. Most require daily watering during the summer.  I took these pictures a few minutes ago.
1. trough with porophyllum saxifrage (my favorite plants) trying to escape, and Primula Linda Pope, among others. Trough was broken and I glued it back together.
2. trough with dwarf Pinus contorta, Penstemon davidsonii, Douglasia montana (next to the pine cone).
3. trough with porophyllums, growing in mudstone.
4. trough with 20 year old Pinus ponderosa, Penstemon hallii, Phlox pulvinata, Poa abbreviata.

Bob

[penstemon]

Well, I could have waited until the snow melted.
1. Trough with Pinus contorta, Penstemon davidsonii, Douglasia montana;
2. mudstone trough with porophyllum saxifrages
3. trough with Pinus ponderosa, Penstemon hallii, etc. The dwarf conifers are unnamed selections from Jerry Morris; he lives quite close to me;
4. trough with Daphne 'Kilmeston', 'Apple Blossom', Gentiana verna, Campanula raineri.