Plant collector or garden designer?

Oh, I see...I didn't know you could copyright things like that. Well, no, it's not, and I certainly don't mind if you want to copy it.

Yes, I made the container using a basic hypertufa mix of perlite, peat moss, and portland cement. I have hypertufa containers all over my garden because I really like the way they blend in with all the natural rock we have. Plus, it's really fairly inexpensive, considering the cost of containers you could buy at a nursery. The form I used for that one was some kind of round plastic bin that Walmart sells in the summertime. They always have them in bright colors like orange or pink...I turned it upside down, taped the bottom to a board wrapped in plastic, then applied the hypertufa to the outside, because I wanted maximum planting space for that container. Early Spring is a good time to work on hypertufa containers, so that they are cured and ready to go for the growing season.

Here is another one, on the other side of the yard. I used the same form for this one, too.

Very nice! I love the look of those but it seemed like too much work for a lazy person!

That's beautiful, Noreaster.

Nice container Noreaster I do appreciate them, but have used cheaps ones I buy for now.

Thank you Noreaster............I suspected exactly what you told us. I'm seventy one. I see a grandson and pop pop project on the agenda very soon. I have been toying with using this medium to do just this for a couple of years. Thanks for lighting a flame under my butt. :)

Doc - please send pop pop and grandson my way! My butt is inflammable.

Guessing now..............that the materials will cost under $20.00. The form whatever not much. The finished product in our community as created by others would be in the range of $65.00.

The surface can be imprinted by rubbing leaves into the wet medium.

When doing this sort of thing it is my practice to photograph step by step "how to pix". Stand by. We need to bump winter out of here and then think spring projects.

That's the spirt, Doc. Hypertufa is a fair amount of work, but the worst part is probably just the mess and the need to deal with 100 pound bags of Portland Cement. That's where having an extra sets of hands is ideal. I have not been able to find PC in smaller sized bags. So I get a bag of that, a big bag of Perlite, and a big bag of Peat and that is enough to make several good sized containers. So, quite economical, I think. I'm artist so the need to craft and make things is in my blood, and I enjoy stuff like that. You may want to start with a smaller container for your first one, but you'll soon learn there is not much to it. I made a few my first year, and then last Spring, I quickly knocked out a bunch more, including a little fountain/water feature. I think it's the highlight of my garden, and it is definitely way cheaper than anything I could ever buy.

Noreaster...........had you not told me you could have gotten away with that mill stone being a small but real one. On second closer look those water ways are a bit to new and not worn off from use. Yes indeed that should be your pride and joy. That is a super great feature. I just upgraded you to the super special recognition of ....Hardscape Superior Honor Roll. :)

Noreaster - I was acutally talking about what was inside the container. The design of your plants, the torenia with the others is beautiful. What are the other plants - one looks like a begonia and I'm not sure about the other. The arragement of your plants is what I'd like to copy. Now that I know you made those beautiful pots, I might like to do that also. You are so talented!!! Eleanor

Love the fountain!

Eleanor, I believe I had two Torenia "Magenta Moon"s, one begonia "Sinbad"(?), one Dolce Key Lime Pie Heuchera (that pretty much got swallowed up by the end, though), and a Lady Fern in the back. I hope I can find that Torenia again...I can only recall seeing it at one nursery that I stopped at. Maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough at the others.

Thanks Victor and Doc. Doc, I wish I could have made a larger "millstone" fountain, but the size was ultimately determined by the size I was able to dig for the sunken reservoir. With the amount of ledge in our yard, I lucked out that I could even get one in there at all. I may make one for my father in law at some point, because he really liked it, and we could probably make a larger one for his yard, which will be nice.

Thanks Noreaster!! Eleanor

Noreaster - I am wondering about the thickness of the walls, when using hypertufa. I was told that they might not stand up to all our wet weather here, so - might thicker walls alleviate this problem? Any thoughts?

Wow! does this thread move - I'm about 3 days behind in reading!! But in the interim I'll add this link - the University of Anhalt has published their research project for laying out 'random plantings' (I know that is a contradiction in terms - but bear with me - its quite interesting) - here is the link to their brochure
http://www.perennemix.de/Heftchen%20Perennemix%20engl..pdf

I find alot of the work that the Germans and Dutch are doing in their public plantings very interesting - particularly in relation to what in the US is referring to as prairie plantings. But I think it also raises a whole new set of questions as to what is a designer/gardener/collector/accumulator of plants. Hope you find it interesting.

I would choose "designer" ... even if that means a failed designer at that, which is sort of how I feel at the moment anyway. I'm sort of the mindset that the two concepts are not mutually exclusive ... but ... maybe that is why I am feeling like I am failing as a designer! *sigh*

No design failures - just designs in need of tweaking!

Yes! I'm a Tweaker. "My name is Wrightie and I have a tweaking problem."

How can wrightie be wrong about anything??

That's what I tell people. I'm wRight, even wHen I'm Wrong...

Here's what's Wrong at the moment, but it will be Right when it looks like a glorious cottage garden with multiple garden rooms: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/733791/

Katye, before I started making hypertufa and was reading up on it, I can remember coming across posts with people having problems with it falling apart, etc. Now that I've actually made some, I can't imagine that happening, because the stuff really seems pretty tough to me. Granted, mine are only a year or two old. If they fall apart, I'll just make more to replace them. The walls on my pots are probably 1.5 to 2 inches thick. Another thing that might be good to add to the tufa mix in your climate would be an admix that you can buy in the concrete section of Home Depot, etc. I added some to a few pots and could notice the difference when working with the pots as they were curing. I believe the admix is supposed to add strength and is some sort of binder. One other thing that I understand is important is not to make the tufa mix too wet, since that also yields a weaker end product. I work with it pretty dry, I think.

Wrightie, I really enjoyed looking around your garden - I think the only problem with it is that you can see where it is going, we all look and admire at where it is. But that is the nature of gardening. If you are still concerned about it not filling in for this summer, why not start winter sowing some Hardy Annuals, and plan on some HHA that get sown later on - cosmos is a wonderful filler, and comes in a variety of colours. That way you can get your 'instant' gratification fix without too much hanging about. Nice thing is they leave at the end of the season, and won't hamper the growth of your perennials.

And I would really use those log stores, I actually think they look good. why not grow some pumpkins up and over them for the summer - if you either plant the pumpkins/melons in front and then train them upward, you can leave the fruits to mature and cure in all that lovely wood warmth. If that is hardstanding (sorry, concrete to you guys) in front of the logs, grow them in large tubs - just make sure you feed and water regularly. I can just picture glowing orange pumpkins contrasting beautifully with that stack. would make a very good background, and tempt you to walk back there, and enjoy it.

I don't know if it would work - we are always fighting off moles over here - but I find growing tagetes marigolds close into my vegetables (a row of peas, with a row of marigolds) does seem to hold the moles at bay - they apparently don't like the smell of them - try interplanting the two this year and see if it helps. At the least, it adds a lot of colour and character to the vegetable beds - I grow calendula, and find the petals are really nice added to salads - at the end of the year I just dig the plants into the soil. I think if they are good for people, it must be good for the soil.

I like what you are doing. And for only 2 years, looks great!

Hi Laurie, thanks for the ideas! I totally agree with you on the fillers - I have several different types of seeds for poppies, as well as cosmos that I intend to use for just that reason. The pumpkin idea is fantastic, provided that I can keep DH from mucking with it. I'll start working on him now - hah. Keep those ideas coming, please. I fell in love with the gardens in the UK when we lived there.

I have six flats of plants (medicinal and culinary herbs, butterfly & bird attracting, fragrant, foxgloves, hollyhocks, etc. etc.) under lights in my cellar right now. I can hardly wait to get my thoughts for a design on paper and then install them in the Spring. One "small" problem with that plan, however, is that we will be getting a new Great Dane puppy in a couple months, so good chance that my garden will become Squashed by the thundering hooves of tiny Dane feet!

"Hardstanding" - Not to worry, I am pretty well versed in your language as DH is from Buckinghamshire. :)

Oh, how nice - Bucks is beautiful.

The solution to DH messing with them, I find, is make him responsible for them - get him to get them trailing up and over and doing the watering. Seems to work with mine. They like a purpose.

Laurie1, I think your post says what most of us have been trying to say. Well, me anyway, but you said it right. I think designing can be thought out as well as planted. I seem to be circling out and around. I too hope design never ends because a bed is never ''done.'' I like your plantings against the building. They have height without covering the windows.

Plantaholic, I agree with you too. It's all about the plants!

3gardeners. I think I was lucky to have seeds fall off and germinate. I think it's a tough plant. It grew on a shady road, so you might be ''cool'' enough for it.

Thank's Victorgardener! That reminds me. I have to find Andy's thread again. I lost it long ago, but I sure miss everyone on it.

Noreaster, tuck lily bulbs in the daylilies. Some are pretty short so they won't look like pins in a pincusion. Your garden is beautiful!! I love the way your rocks lay for the outline! Franz Shubert Phlox lives in the shade of my walnut tree and really shows at a distance. I like your ferns and coralbells in the second picture.

Bbrookrd, you have more will power than me to stick to a plan :))

Victorgardener, I love your driveway! I'm always looking to see how I can surround myself with tall plantings, yet I want to be able to look out to the road. I love the pinks!

Eleanor, agreed! Clean slate! My favorite!

Noreaster, the container is lovely. I also like the color of the tree trunk. It reminds me of a cherry.

Patti, your view behind the boats will be a nice work in progress for us to share with you here.

Eleanor, I have a shady spot I called my ''bed of shame'', but I like work in progress better. Last year I put in many astilbes and can't wait for spring!!

Victorgardener, what a color balanced picture! Oohhh, gorgeous !!!

Shrubbs, Very natural! What wonderful projects you get! I am amazed at the bridge transformation. It's so serene now.

Laurawege, I like your yard. I would enjoy walking around looking at the blooms.

Noreaster, how great that you make your containers! Yep, I'm definately too lazy to make them!

Wrightie, I see no wrongie!

Wow, the end. I too was a few days behind, but everyone has interesting posts.

Will it go round in circles?

LOL, Billy, I "dig that bed." Please tell me what type of edging you are using there and how do you like it?

Very nice beds and great looking grass, too, BP. Good job! Is that the red peony fern I spot?

Wrightie, it's plain old black plastic edging from Walmart. 50' rolls. I like it, but it sure is cheaply made compared to the same edging I bought years ago. I even put it around the gardens so I don't have to cut the edges each year. I draw the house and yard to scale each year, so now the measurements will stay the same. This year I'm re-measuring everything as so many things have changed. I've gotten behind and am still working on 2005. We put the arbor in that year and have had big changes every year since.

Thank you Pirl. Yes they are. I shared so many, I need to build my collection up again.

I'm pretty proud of my grass too. Takes me 1 1/2 hours to hand push the mower. My favorite pattern is to go diagonal south to north. Before the bed, I used to be able to go all the way to the driveway behind the picture. DH does the weed control. He hand picks daily. We also use chemicals. You have to or the dandilions kill all the grass.

I love the view you just presented. Did you climb up on the roof for that one? It wouldn't surprise me if you did.

:)) Thats my secret ladder trick. I'm on the highest step without being on the top. I'm also in the neighbors driveway :))

My garden from my own yard. The right side can't be seen in the other picture.

Looks great Sally. Thanks for joining the discussion and please call me Victor!

Very nice, Sally. I just knew it would be you on a ladder with your camera in hand!!!

I deleted and edited the whole post I made earlier #4386773!!

I deleted this whole post because people are getting the wrong idea of how I feel. I was trying to justify having never seen an awful garden and I haven't. I love to see flowers growing in anyone's yard. I sure made a mess of trying to explain how I feel and I've made several people think they have a mess of a garden. I applaud everyone's efforts at gardening and if what they are doing makes them happy, wonderful. My daughter is one I was talking about - she buys a couple of conatiners of flowers and puts them on the porch where they don't even get rain and never waters them and you know what happens. She doesn't think of herself as a gardener though, she just wants to add curb appeal. This statement applies only to my daughter and no one else!!!!! But she has worse problems than dead flowers - roof shingles are blowing off, window frames are all rotted, garage door is broken, and she finds it hard to get time to mow the lawn with working 12 hour days (includes driving time), being away from home on business trips a lot, snow and ice removal from her driveway and steps, and taking care of a toddler. But some day she may get the hang of it so I will encourage her. I really don't care if my neighbors have great gardens or not cause I'm too busy to notice what they are doing trying to grow things in my yard. We live in a lower middle class neighborhood so things aren't that great to look at anyway!! I started at step #1 not knowing anything about gardening and maybe I've made it to step #1.25 by now. All I started with was a love of watching things grow and lots of help from DG. I'm very sorry for not explaining myself very well and hope none of you think your gardens or gardening skills are lacking because of what I said. Eleanor

I'm sure we all know you have a kind heart, Eleanor, and that you were not pointing at any of our gardens falling over laughing though at times we may see our gardens in that light.

There's always a beginning with a garden, and for most of us - an end in sight. What happens inbetween is the process. I for one, thoroughly enjoy the process, and although I wish I had help, reality is: I do it alone. From the time I get home from work, until it's too dark to see, that's where you'll find me. It's my personal investment in my land.
I understood what you were saying in your post, Eleanor. It's more about attitude, right?
And your last post about deleting/editing:
you "started with a love of watching things grow..." boy - that's exactly where i started.
It's infectious, isn't it?
How nice of you to keep encouraging your daughter - I think she'll "get it", too!

Eleanor,

You're beating yourself up too much here. I didn't take it that way either. When my husband and I drive around we always comment on places that have nothing around them, no shrubs, trees or flowers. I hardly ever notice that someone has a garden I'm not fond of, it would have to be very messy and neglected to do that. And if it was, rather then make fun of it, I would worry if something had happened to the gardener, had they become ill, and had to let their garden go? I appreciate if they put forth the effort to do something. That's what I get from your posts. You come across as a very nice person on the threads. Don't fret. And Patti is such a nice lady I can't believe she would take offense.

Thanks guys - I just wanted to make sure that no one felt discouraged because of a post I made. Patti and I d-mailed and talked so I could explain better what I had meant. Then when there was another comment I just felt better explaining myself. One good thing has happened - I'm more careful what I post as it could be interpreted totally different from what I meant. I sometimes get to typing and rambling like I was talking to myself and only I know what I'm talking about!!!! People who know me personally say I can jump from one thought to another so fast they can't keep up with me - my brain has ADHD!! My body doesn't cause I can't move that fast. Eleanor

p.s. - I'm not really beating myself up. Just want to make sure no one else does either.

This message was edited Jan 14, 2008 5:53 AM

Billyporter, I love your veg beds - gosh I like a good kitchen garden!