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...

GABION BASKETS INSTALLED AND FILLED, BUT STARK...

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

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.

add membrane to gabion baskets to use them as planters

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.

Planted with ferns, crocosmia, sedums and digitalis sourced from the garden

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

The foxglove was in flower when I moved it - it'd been growing in a pot - but it coped well with the move to our gabion planters

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. 

the plants have settled in well and are softening the area, just as I hoped
 
sedums growing in our gabion planters

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?

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Filling our gabion baskets

It's been a while since I shared the start of our gabion basket journey, and I can't believe how quickly it's gone, so today, belatedly I'm sharing how we filled them. I was keen for a mix and match approach, but MOH favoured buying rocks and going for a more normal look. The sort of look you see on the sides of motorways, and as we later discovered in our local B&Q, and then again for part of the gabion wall at Hyde Hall. They're everywhere and it’s like when you've decided on a new car, you’re suddenly aware of it everywhere, and wonder if you’ve made the right choice.

I don't expect you'll be surprised to learn that we didn't go for the uniform and more usual buying rocks to fill these. MOH had worked out the quantities needed - using one of the gabion basket providers sites - and told me a big number, I think in the hope to shock me. It didn't shock me as I'd already used that calculator and gone one further and worked out the cost for buying the stones too.  Yes, exactly.

I did some speedy internet searching, on eBay and Gumtree and Freecycle, to see if we could buy bricks and rubble, and even if people would give them away. It turned out we could, and even better, there were a couple of people giving stuff away less than twenty minutes away by car. Proving to MOH that we could collect enough stuff for free, and he knows me well enoug to know when he was beat.

So on another one of those hot days we headed over to Hither Green and loaded the boot of my Renault Clio full of sacks of rubble, bricks and broken slabs. The lady there was happy for us to take as much as we could and a car-full was gratefully accepted. The next day we headed over to the other side of Blackheath and loaded the car again, this time with help from the man giving the rubble away.  He said he was glad to be getting rid of it, so it was the least he could do. In this collection there were roofing tiles, more broken slabs, some rubble and some bags of post-crete that had been activated. 

So now as well as the stones, bricks and other suitable garden rubbish we had two car-fulls of free rubble or hardcore. And the latter was all stored in our front garden, so there was still the large job of moving them through the house and up to the end of the garden. In the heat that wasn't a job we relished, and then while we were preparing the area and getting the baskets positioned I managed to get a reaction to a mosquito-like bite.

We'd already decided to fill the large 1 metre depth x 1 metre high x .5 metre wide baskets first. There's two of those and they were the most important to be filled as our new pizza oven would sit on top of these. With the bite growing ever bigger and me becoming increasingly grumpy about it and less mobile, I was banned from carrying bags of rubble.  

Thankfully that coincided with the day that my SIL and BIL were drafted in to help out, and the day the four of us installed sleepers in another part of the garden.  And yes, they did work hard and we were ever so grateful. It's amazing how much more work you can get done with four pairs of hands, over two (even when one pair of hands isn’t as useful as they’d be without that bite!)

So while the three of them carried our newly found collection of rubble through the house, around the chicane of the dining room table, out of the conservatory, across the circles and up to the stone circle at the end of the garden I waited and sorted out pieces suitable to be at the front and on display. The thing with gabion baskets is they get their strength from how they're filled. So the filling needs to be compacted and free of large gaps, as large gaps don't equal stability.

And so we made a start. 

Starting to fill our gabion baskets with bricks and rubble sourced from freecycle

What we immediately learnt was that 1 metre is a long way to place things, and I quickly became a dab hand of nursing blocks for the edge down the drop using hands through the wire baskets. And even then it'd often fall over as it got to the bottom, and that's where the rake (both ends) came in handy. 

Never let it be said I'm not resourceful!

And gradually I got into a rhythm and worked out how many bricks and half-bricks I could fit into a row, and how by using slate I could make the small level adjustments I needed. I was also keen to use the remnants of paving we had leftover from our patio and the stone circle (and subsequently the patio extension and barbeque stand) so there was some continuity and of course, so we could finally use up what we had left!

Starting to fill the gabion baskets ensuring the front was 'pretty' enough to be on show and negate MOH's  concerns

It didn't take that long for them to fill. And clearly that's easy for me to say, as I was waiting for the rubble to be delivered rather than lugging it up the garden!

Filling the two larger baskets - a hands on shot

Throughout the afternoon there was much stepping back to admire and check progress. And if you tackle a project like this (or in fact any project) it's something I recommend. The level may be telling you it's level, but what does it look like? For a detail person like me, who annoyingly can often spot when things are millimetres from where I wanted them, it's the only way to go and be sure you're happy with it. 

That of course occasionally gets me into slight pickles, like the time when I wanted the stone circle moved by five centimetres, thankfully I'd spotted its location wasn't right before digging really started, so while the gardeners were a bit miffed to start with, once I'd shown them the difference it would make, they were totally on board, but it was touch and go for a moment.   And if you're wondering how I managed to show them something that didn't exist, well I didn't of course, but I did show them the view from our rear windows and how the circle was niggle-ling-ly (yes I know that's not a word) out of kilter for the eye.

Stepping back to admire our work

And let's zoom back in for a moment, as once the gabion baskets are filled, they need closing and so the sewing with wire skill was called on again. It's pretty neat isn't it?

ALL MOH'S OWN WORK

ALL MOH'S OWN WORK

Following advice from Katie Rushworth, from ITV's Love Your Garden, we laid a paving slab inside the basket, then closed the lid and added a paving slab on top. The reason for this is that if (or when there's movement inside the basket, the internal paving slab will help retain some the baskets stability. Clever huh?

Feeling pleased with how the first of the smaller cubes - aka the designated cooking stand - turned out

Oops, it's time to stand back and admire our work again!

Stepping back again - that happened a lot - to check progress

And this is with all of the baskets filled. We didn't have enough rubble and hardcore for all of the smaller baskets and ended up buying some London Stocks bricks to give it enough of a yellow feel for me. We also bought some thermal blocks (think breeze blocks that are easy to cut) for the inners. This made filling the final three seating baskets much quicker and gave us the knowledge that our seating blocks, will be pretty stable. 

And then suddenly the baskets were full

So our gabion baskets are filled, and it's starting to take shape - what do you think?  There's still a bit to do and I hope to share the next installment much quicker than before, because it won't be long before we get to the pizza!

If you're keen to see more examples of how gabion baskets are used, then why not follow my board on Pinterest. It comes highly recommended as MOH also undertook research and sent me links to some of the things I'd pinned onto my board. He doesn't do social media, and couldn't work out why I found this amusing...  

But if gabion baskets can get him looking at Pinterest (albeit through Google searching) then it really is quite a powerful tool!

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Sean Murray's Great Chelsea Garden Challenge

I recently discovered some unedited and mostly un-looked at photos from Chelsea in 2015, and as I won't be at Chelsea this year, I thought the timing fortuitous so am sharing some of those, now edited photos, today. 2015 was the year the BBC and RHS partnered on The Great Chelsea Garden Challenge TV programme with the winner fulfilling their dream to design a garden at Chelsea. 

Now wouldn't that be fun. And, no doubt, a lot of hard work. We watched the series avidly - armchair gardening really was the best that year!

In his Chelsea garden the winner, Sean Murray, created a front garden for a couple of keen gardeners nearing retirement. There's an abundance of plants, and practical off street parking too, and I suspect there's another message in there for all of us that have very little greenery in our front gardens.

The Great Chelsea Garden Challenge 2015 - a front garden by Sean Murray

At the time I remember thinking I didn't think much of the roof of their house - isn't it funny how those things stick with you? I know it's just a facade, but there you go. Looking back there's a lot of stone and slate in this garden as well as more natural and realistic planting, even for keen gardeners, so you've a feeling that they'll actually have time to sit down and enjoy the garden too.

The sunken garden worked well, and is much more adventurous than lots of front gardens, which for many - and me included - is somewhere to park the car and somewhere that leads to the front door. I wonder though if having a prettier front garden would encourage me to spend more time in it, or if the busy main road would still dominate. I think the latter, but I do wish we had more greenery there - maybe one day, if logistics can be worked out and around - ours is a complicated space, used by us and the three flats next door.

The sunken garden element of The Great Chelsea Garden Challenge 2015 - a front garden by Sean Murray

Even then - before I re-acknowledged my love of yellow - it was the yellow flowers that drew me in. And lupins too, another favourite, which although a favourite I'm still struggling to grow. I've some seeds in the greenhouse which are resolutely refusing to do their thing (so far)

Lovely yellow lupins softening an area of The Great Chelsea Garden Challenge 2015 - a front garden by Sean Murray

The sculpture looks great, but even though MOH admired it I think I'd struggle to get him to agree to a "ring of old rusty tins" in our garden space, let alone the catering size tins under the bench seating.  And it is a lot of tinned tomatoes to eat isn't it?

A look at the garden sculpture used in The Great Chelsea Garden Challenge 2015 - a front garden by Sean Murray

While we were there the winner of the TV programme and garden designer, Sean Murray was talking to people admiring his garden. And who could blame him, it was definitely his moment to shine. Shortly after his competition win he quit his job to become a full-time gardener and by all accounts he's still doing that today, having recently designed a community garden for a local mining village, so that's great to know.

Sean Murray in his garden for The Great Chelsea Garden Challenge 2015

As I flicked through the photos it was these slate ones that jumped out at me. I hadn't realised at the time that this "river" of sedums and alpines was the off street parking area - surely it's way too pretty to plonk a car on top of?  My car rarely moves off the drive these days so I wonder how they'd cope, but isn't it great to challenge our idea that parking spaces have to be dreary.

Pretty and practical off street parking in The Great Chelsea Garden Challenge 2015 - a front garden by Sean Murray

And take a closer look. I know it was a Chelsea garden, but the attention to detail is phenomenal. I think I mooted the standing the slate up on its edge approach to MOH at the time in our own garden, and you're right, we didn't do it, nor even consider it. But it's a great look.

Intricate slate patterns in The Great Chelsea Garden Challenge 2015 - a front garden by Sean Murray

What do you think - would a front garden like this work for you?