Building a tufa cliff

[Lesley Cox]

You're only 22 years old David. Right?

Well I feel only 22 years old when playing with rocks.  Does that count?
Actually I will be retiring in March to become a full-time rock gardener and mountain traveller. I can't wait.

So why is it that you feel 22 when playing with rocks and I feel 140? 

[David Sellars]

So why is it that you feel 22 when playing with rocks and I feel 140?  

To get that 22 feeling you have to get down on your knees (literally), put both arms around the rock and hold it close.  Only then will it move for you.  If the rock is too big for this treatment, use a steel bar and gently move it to a position of prominence.  It will reward you with its splendour and durability, outlasting even the most long-lived plants.

[Jiri Papousek]

Hello David,
I share pain of muscles with you, as I am currently building crevice garden...
Here is some inspiration for you. First picture (sorry about quality) comes from alpinehouse of dionysia master Michael Kammerlander in Germany.
Another ones are from garden of my friend Jiri Sladek in Czech Republic- there is supporting construction inside, it will carry later on light roof from polycarbonate. There is also watering system as top part can dry out very quickly. It was just finished, so plants will need to develop.
I got an idea to create north oriented slope and rise troughs on the top of railway sleepers (hope it is correct name). It was really funny first, as trough stayed in place, but construction was going ahead...

[David Sellars]

Hi Jiri:

Thanks for your examples.  They are truly inspiring. In the Jiri Sladek mountain of tufa is he using cement to hold the pieces in place?

I am also gardening on a north-oriented slope.  Saxifrages seem to really like it, especially Saxifraga oppositifolia.

I would be interested to see more pictures as your project develops. The railway sleepers in your photo look like a good way of sliding troughs and rocks up a slope.

[David Sellars]

Well the rhododendrons have been dug up, loaded into a trailer, transported by ferry to the Sunshine Coast and planted in my daughter's garden.  So it's back to the cliff construction.

First I had to build a cliff of granite rocks to the left of the tufa.  The photo below shows this underway and the second photo shows the sand backfill from the top.  I had a pieces of exfoliated rock which I thought could make an overhang for protecting Androsace vandellii.  We had seen this lovely plant growing in Andorra under granite overhangs (third picture). I have a few coming along from seed which I will try planting out later under the overhang.

The trick with the overhang slab is to weigh it down with a big rock on top so that it is stable.

[David Sellars]

I had a few large pieces of tufa left and I decided to construct another overhang in the tufa cliff and raise it a bit.  I then had to construct steps to the right of the cliff to create a path to the top of the cliff.  I had saved some large rocks with one flat side for the steps.  I like to use large rocks for steps and set them in sand so that plants around the steps have good drainage. 

The first photo shows the completed tufa cliff from the east with the granite cliff and granite overhang to the left. There is still more granite cliff to build to the left of the overhang. The second photo shows three of the steps in place with the tufa cliff to the left.  The final photo shows the tufa cliff from the west.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Very impressive David ! 
Should look great when planted 

(wished I had that amount of rock..  )

[David Sellars]

Very impressive David ! 
Should look great when planted 

(wished I had that amount of rock..  )

Luc:
I'm having second thoughts about planting.  After all, this is a rock garden. Having spent so much effort building the cliff, I don't want plants covering up the rocks.

[David Nicholson]

Very impressive David ! 
Should look great when planted 

(wished I had that amount of rock..  )

Luc, you wish you had that much rock in the whole of Belgium

[Luc Gilgemyn]

... we do have some rock in Belgium David N.... but it's in the wrong place... 

David S., it would take a lot of plants to cover up that cliff !!! 

[christian pfalz]

hello,
here is my tufa wall...

and the smal one...

regards
chris

[David Sellars]

Beautiful plantings Christian.

How do you build a wall like that?  What holds it together?

I have just started planting my tufa cliff.   This is what it looks like now.  Most of the plants are Kabschia saxifrages plus some Saxifraga longifolia.

[christian pfalz]

hello david,
i built it with "Fliesenkleber" for outdoor situations...
regards
chris

[mark smyth]

when image Tufa cliff -first planting.jpg is small do you see a small pink head looking over the wall?

[cohan]

hello david,
i built it with "Fliesenkleber" for outdoor situations...
regards
chris

very nice design.--i had to check out 'fliesenkleber' which google translated as 'tile adhesive'..interesting...