Softening our gabion seating area with plants

Right from the off, back in May when our plans were hastily redrawn after just happening to buy a pizza oven, I planned to have a second row of gabion baskets and plant them up with plants from our garden. MOH was less sure about this part of the plan, but as he wanted a pizza oven he went along with it.  I thought that adding at least a tonne of hardcore at the back of our garden would need some softening and I think the two photos below show that I was right.

GABION BASKETS INSTALLED AND FILLED, BUT STARK...

PART OF THE SECOND ROW OF GABION BASKETS PLANTED UP WITH FERNS, CROCOSMIAS, SEDUMS AND DIGITALIS

The difference is amazing isn't it? I'm pleased I persevered with this as not only did it help us lose some of the soil we've been collecting but it helps the new structure stand out less, which may seem an odd thing to say but it gives it a more natural feel. 

So how did I turn them into planters?

The answer is membrane. I could have used plastic but that's non-permeable and so they would eventually become like mini bog gardens, that's fine if that's the look you're going for, and if you're planting plants that like those conditions, but I wanted to use the plants that I'd displaced - the ferns, as well as some other plants from around our garden. Crocosmias seem to grow two a penny and I had a pot of those from where I laid some of the old patio paving slabs under the cherry tree. I'd also been collecting sedums and so those were destined for their too.  The final plant I wanted to include was a foxglove that was growing in a pot. Not the usual place for foxgloves but I wasn't sure if it was a weed or a plant (it was a plant) so had moved it there for observation. 

But first things first, membrane.

I cut two ultra-long lengths and used them to line the baskets in a cross form. I found that securing them with string worked well and quickly found a way to do this so the string was out of sight. On seeing them MOH said they looked like waste bins... Hmmmm.  With soil added, less so I think?

In went the plants, and more soil to top up the baskets. And as with any planting they got a good long water.

And they seemed to thrive. Even the foxglove that was moved while it was flowering seemed happy - phew. 

I'm a fan of dense planting and especially in this kind of space it's worked well. Nearly two months later and the plants have settled in really well, filling out and softening the space as I'd hoped. 

We've still a little more to do, as I want to add a further gabion basket planter on the end so that each of the three seats have plants behind them, but that's just finding the time to level the soil, line the basket and fill it with soil. I've a couple more ferns and crocosmias waiting to go into that space, so the plants are sorted.

I also want to line the three triangular spaces between the seats with membrane in the same way and plant those up with camomile, penny royal (a ground covering mint variety) and thyme, so that when you sit there and brush against the herbs you get a waft of scent too.  This, alongside sorting out the front of the baskets - I think it needs some kind of step - and then I'll happily declare this part of the garden finished.

What do you think?

Marrow-tastic!

I've said before that it's rare for us to leave Norfolk empty handed, and last weekend was no exception especially as it's prime marrow time. They grow prolifically in dad's garden. often seeding themselves from compost. I tried to leave with just one, but the choice I was given was "this three" or "those three" - so I did the honourable thing and opted for three, I've no idea which three though! 

To make it up to a nice round number - well five - dad also cut a couple of pumpkins for me to ripen at home. I've a growing supply of pumpkin recipes, but marrows not so much.  Stuffed marrow was a childhood favourite and I've updated that by using a spicier bolognaise sauce and even adding some chorizo, but even so there's only so much of that you can eat.  My other top use for marrow is chutney making, but as I've a mountain in the cupboard already from previous years chutney making isn't on my agenda either.

So, hit me with your marrow recipes, I'm all ears...

Storing logs in our gabion baskets

I'm on a roll with these gabion basket posts aren't I? Last week I shared our first pizza and today it's somewhere to store the wood.  And always one to go with an idea and see it through, our log store is also slightly unconventional and made from gabion baskets. When I ordered them I wasn't sure if we'd have a three in a row or a cube of four, that depended on how things worked out. 

As it turned out we could fit in all of the gabion baskets as per my hand drawn plan, with a few refinements along the way, so that left a row of three baskets for the log store.  Instead of clipping the lids off, we've simply folded them back on themselves so there's a double layer of wire on the top. 

Usually wood stores have a small roof to help keep the logs dry - ours don't yet - but they're also under the laurel tree, so they don't get too wet. My plan is to cover the top if we need to, most likely with a paving slab over winter, but we'll see how it goes.

This was one job that I left to MOH. I had an important date at the hairdressers!  I mean, priorities...

This no doubt left him in a quandary about getting them in the right place. But he needn't have worried as before I left I cleared a space and levelled it with a flip-flop clad foot. He was umming and ahhing and telling me it'd never be level, but later admitted he wasn't quite sure how I'd done it but it was pretty level after all. 

I'd hoped it was as I'd mostly done it by eye and by shuffling along the area compressing the soil.  Phew.

He'd placed the baskets on the last few broken paving slabs we had, so they logs are off the ground to avoid them getting waterlogged. And when I got back they were all in place, and the logs were ready to be added. That was definitely something he was keen to leave to me, and I didn't mind - it was quite therapeutic to fill and I soon got into a system to make the best use of the space. 

I think they turned out pretty well, and continue the gabion theme in our garden. I've one more use of gabion baskets to share with you, and that's not quite done yet, but I hope it will be soon!

What do you think?