Blog of the construction of a new tufa mound in the rock garden

[Lesley Cox]

Isn't it a wonderful thing how established such a garden looks, immediately a few plants are in place? I also enjoy see it in context with the rest of the garden and house. Is this your house Luc or a neighbour's? If it were mine I would be cutting a large hole in the hedge so I could keep an eye on progress and enjoy the maturation to come.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Thanks Graham, Knud, Ian and Lesley, glad you like it.

It's the house of my back neighbour Lesley.  Our house is from where the picture was taken.
You'll see it when I picture the backside of the tufa mound (that still has to be planted ...  )

I'll have to wait and see how expertly is was done if the plants thrive Ian... 

Knud, I'm very happy with that "trowel" - I'm sure it wasn't designed to plant tufa  ... but it does the job !

[shelagh]

Wow Luc what patience you have.  What a great thread, most enjoyable for an armchair gardener.

[Darren]

Luc - what a wonderful thread! Thank you for creating such a useful record of your work.

[David Nicholson]

Magnificent Luc, a job very well done.

[astragalus]

Wonderful job, Luc.  And what beautiful plants!

[Thomas Huber]

WOW Luc - great idea and wonderful work you've done there.
Wish I could also get such tufa stones here 

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Thanks for the praise everybody !!  
Thomas, actually the tufa originates from a quarry in former East Germany...  

This makes me think of it I have some more pictures to post :

The two first pictures show the situation at the beginning of another day's work of planting, replacing stones, etc... until the puzzle more or lest satisfied the maker...   with some details as shown in pictures 3 and 4 and the general view at the end of the day in pix 5 and 6.

More plants were needed as per pictures 7 and 8  

As the top of the mound wasn't exactly to my liking yet, more stones were fetched and put in place to try and give the whole thing a more dramatic ( ) aspect.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

The surrounding area was covered with a bark mulch - pictures 1-2-3

And the extra consignment of plants had to be found a suitable spot   :

4) Dianthus arpadianus
5) Asyneuma pulvinata
6) Draba molissima
7) Eritrichium nanum - in a vertical tufa block, I'm really anxious to find out if this will hold
8 ) Paraquilegia anemonoides - another interesting experiment for me  
9) Androsace kosopoljanskii
10) Aethonema subulatum

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Some further inhabitants :
1) Potentilla divina
2) Primula marginata "Lismore Yellow"

3 and 4)  The top has now taken it's final form

and this results in 4 views from the 4 sides.


A job well done deserves some kind of reward I thought... : picture 9

I will occasionally post here to show how this develops in the coming months and hopefully years... 

[astragalus]

Beautiful job, Luc.  I think you'll be surprised at the staying power of plants in tufa.  I especially like the pictures of the plants in the box waiting to be planted.

[Lesley Cox]

A fantastic final outcome Luc. You'll have such pleasure from this garden in time to come. I'm sure the Eritrichium will do well in such a home and in such company - and with such a "Dad" watching over it.

[Graham Catlow]

A well deserved beer Luc. Excellent job and looking forward to seeing it as it matures.

[David Nicholson]

Luc, op uw gezondheid!!                   (Hope I got that right   )

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Many thanks Anne, Lesley, Graham and David !
I hope I will be able to live up to the high expectations !    You'll see how it gets along in future on these pages !
David, your Dutch is getting better every day