[wheres me trowel]

Hello

i have a patio area in one part of the garden which has gravel leading up to it and around it. now the gravel is about 6 inches deep to bring it up to the patio level. i would love to sink some plastic pots into it and so hide the containers and have the plants coming up out the gravel. can anyone suggest some reasonably sized non annual hardy plants that would be happy with those conditions and would look good with the gravel. i could re-pot them yearly if necessary.

thanks

[AJ]

Hi wheres me trowel,

I have some lupins and foxgloves although not in pots, which seem to have no problems forcing their way up thru probably 2'' of gravel. Only covered this area late last year so I suppose this year will tell all. However the new leaf growth is very good. I'm sure most things planted in pots and sunk in would do well especially if you top up with compost on a yearly basis, also this micro climate business re damping down gravel should also add to your success. But I'm sure there are more expert than me here so it will be interesting to have their thoughts.

Best of luck

[Sive]

How about grasses? I think they can look lovely in gravel. I will be looking for ideas myself as I have quite a large gravelled area in a new garden....so far all I've planted is some alpine-type plants and they are doing very well.

[Liparis]

Grasses, Agaves etc to give a mediteranian setting amongst your gravel.
Bill.

[verge]

Although not grasses, phormiums will give a similar grassy look. As a bonous the pots will stop them going haywire on you.

[wheres me trowel]

Thanks for all the suggestions. grasses and phormiums would look great. i looked at a Phormium called emerald isle after verge suggested, got to try and get that one. Agaves frighten me, they are overpowering looking, but stunning thanks bill. i will put the grasses and phormiums in first and sive could i ask what alpines are doing well for you, id like something else along with the foliage.

thanks AJ, sive, bill and verge
any more suggestions anyone

[Sive]

Sorry wheresmetrowel......I know nothing about alpines, and so I haven't a clue what exactly I bought.......I chose a couple that I liked the look of when they were in flower, and they both have survived the winter well, and one has even got little babies growing nearby already! A lot of my gardening is trial and error I'm afraid, especially as my garden is very exposed, so I'm never sure what will thrive here. Alpines probably survive wind well as they come from mountainous areas, so I'll be planting more.....and trying grasses too.

[walltoall]

Sive. Like you I'm a trial and error gardener. Instead of fighting to achieve a preplanned result, I let the garden lead me. For an example, I have tulip bulbs under gravel and very successful they are. So much so I am going to try daffs under gravel in 2010. It started by accident when a gravel path was extended in 2007. Last year in Feb. some tulips I'd totally forgotten popped through. At the end of flowering, I used garden ties to keep all the leaves of individual bulbs together until they died down so I could rake the gravel and weed very selectively by hand. This year they flowered again and beautifully, along with extras added last September from a border on the basis of what the others had 'told' me.

Gravel can act as a natural seed nursery. For instance feverfew and flat-leaf parsley, thyme and clovers which others might deem weeds and all of which self-seeded in my gravel. An overflow of arrowmint is thriving elsewhere along the gravel path walked on regularly .

[Sive]

HI walltowall.....gravel gardening is a whole other world isn't it? But great fun. I have to be really careful to dead-head any plants that are in flowerbeds near gravel, otherwise, as you say, the gravel acts as a seed bed.
I'm fascinated at the idea of bulbs doing well in gravel....I had never thought of that. I'd say the small narcissi and species tulips would look particularly nice.

[Sarah Evans]

http://twitpic.com/4lgy7 a suggestion of alpines to complement phormiums and grasses without the pots though[/url][/code]