Gardening: Paths of perfection & beat the drought,
Thirty years ago, i made a dry gravel garden. inspired by planting genius Beth Chatto — and with family help — we got hold of pea shingle and laid random paving slabs to act as stepping stones. the ground beneath was a mix of limestone bedrock and fast-draining alkaline soil. Soon, rock-roses, Alpine pinks, thymes, little cranesbills and other plants flourished and multiplied.
For winter and spring, there were crocus species, scillas, anemones and dwarf irises. Focal-point features included a big rock planted with saxifrages and an old stone trough for dwarf primulas.
years later, tV makeover programmes made gravel gardens more trendy. But they usually had weed-proof membranes laid under the shingle. that limited planting to a few specimens whose roots were shoved through holes made in the membrane. they could neither spread nor self-seed, so those gravel gardens never came to life.
that was a pity, because creatively planted gravel looks superb. type ‘Beth Chatto dry garden pictures’ into your search engine and you’ll see.
her dry garden changes week by week, all year, with meandering paths, wonderful texture combinations and luscious colours. Few of us have room for anything on that scale. But we can learn from her and apply similar principles to tiny sites. in A small garden or tiny courtyard, a shingle zone can be charming. Sunny sites work best but partial shade is fine, too.
i used local pea gravel on my patch — the cheapest i could buy. But cracked limestone, granite grit or slate fragments are possible alternatives. in larger gardens, gravel might already feature.
Our parking area is covered with gravel and is not at all pretty. But it’s edged with masses of tough, self-generating plants such as red valerian, purple toadflax, a white variety of rosebay willowherb and other oddments. Butterflies and bees love it.
it’s got weeds and i’m ashamed of the scruffiness, but vegetation, even when nondescript, softens hard lines and makes a place less forbidding. there’s almost always something in flower that suits wildlife and is capable of cheering us up.
in tiny spaces, we must take a lot more care. But that’s easy when there’s so little to keep tidy. you could even create a mini gravel garden in a trough.
the same rules apply, but results are best if you choose only the prettiest plants. Autumn gentians and other rare Alpines could look enchanting in a trough. the best artistic planting has natural style and structure.
in Beth’s dry garden, curvy pathways tempt you to explore. tall feature plants appear on the bends or are set back to give a sense of depth. Colours and textures of plants are skilfully blended to sustain interest.
CREATE A FOCUS
SimilAr rules apply when you scale down. in a small, gritty area, a single feature with yearround interest could create the focal point around which the planting can be arranged. that might be a sculpture, a prominent pot, a dwarf tree, or an outdoor bonsai tree.
the rest of the plants can have more freedom. Carpeting thymes or mat-forming sedums will want to spread. So go for modest spreaders in small gravel areas and more vigorous ones in larger gardens.
Over the years, you may have to remove troublesome plants and keep others to a minimum. Slow growers need protecting and over-productive self-seeders must be controlled.
it’s a matter of balance and to get that right, you may be tinkering for years. that shouldn’t matter, because tinkering is what makes gardening such fun.