Showing posts with label Hypertufa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hypertufa. Show all posts

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Growing Tiny Gardens: First Steps


A year ago, my friend Heather and I began making troughs. We knew what we were doing only insofar as knowing how to mix the needed ingredients (cement, peat and perlite). Beyond that it was an anything-goes proposition. We tried molds; we played with shapes and sizes; we experimented. Rain or shine.

Aspiration: Start somewhere -- build inventory.



Garden Lesson Learned: Making trough gardens takes time and involves a lot of combinations. The first time element is the making, curing, and leaching of the trough, which you've made with the proper balance of the three ingredients noted above. The second time element involves thinking through plant choices, learning their habits and light & soil needs, and then finding (or propagating) the plants. The third time element occurs after the previous two steps have been realized and you've introduced plants to your trough. The waiting and watching begins.


Life Lesson Learned:  Try anything. You'll be amazed at what works (and what doesn't).  Be patient: anything this good and long-lasting is going to take time. Watch your troughs as you watch your life: watch for evidence of stress and look for answers on the internet.

To view "Second Steps go here.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The Year of the Trough




For over a year now I have been experimenting with hypertufa trough-making strategies; plantings that are congenial to this horticultural arrangement; propagating, purchasing and otherwise playing with a variety of plant types building knowledge and skill at creating exotic and quaint small precise landscapes. Over the next several posts I will unpack this year of experimentation and thereafter we will enjoy the adventure together as I document in this blog new troughs I'm making and fun plants I'm discovering to fill them.

Please join me! I'd love to hear from you.