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| 10th August |
I was prompted to post about this vertical pallet garden after reading accounts of other more professional ones. This is located in the school garden and consists of two posts driven into the ground with a wooden pallet slotted over them. Containers are then wired to the pallet slats. Last year we tried a variety of plants, but this year the theme was a mass planting of lobelias. What do you think?
The display was somewhat short lived. Either this is because lobelia roots don't like to be closely contained, or just possibly, the feed of diluted worm pee was too high in nitrogen so they stopped flowering. The lobelia in half barrels in the school playground are still flowering happily away so I venture to think the former. At any rate by the end of August they had stopped flowering.
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| 28 August |
I am not sure this experiment is worth continuing. The watering regime was three times a week (to tie in with three fills of the bird feeders a week). Even if it rains you need to water the lower tiers as they are in a rain shadow. A cynic would say that this experiment has demonstrated why horizontal is the norm for gardens.
The lobelia looked lovely but watering must be an issue. Could you use sedums and sempervivums as they tolerate being dry? The impatiens thar I planted in the garden and tubs and some bedding verbena were killed off early by the cold nights.
ReplyDeleteIt just so happens that I have a nursery of sempervivums and a green roof full of sedums....
DeleteWhen you first posted this, I thought it was the loveliest thing I'd seen in awhile and I wanted to try it. So pretty. This is the way lobelia always looks after it blooms here. It is a springtime plant only. Sometimes it will return if you cut it back. It is very often used in hanging baskets. You could try lobelia again but, as an experiment, grow some flat on the ground in a tub next to the vertical ones. You could try nasturtiums, petunias or alpine strawberries. But I am definitely going to try a vertical planter this winter-spring. So once again there is nothing wrong with the lobelia. It's just the end of the season and is a little drier than the shadier, damper, than the one that is still blooming.
ReplyDeleteConsidering it is habitually 15 degrees C warmer with you, you demonstrate an impressive understanding. Thank you for your kind comments.
ReplyDeleteOh, I grow lobelia just about every year. My latest (last? oldest?) plant is about three years old.
DeleteAnd incidentally, just for the record, since you like wildflowers, we have a native (rare) lobelia, Lobelia dunnii, that grows in the spray of waterfalls. One of the more fun summer mountain hikes is to walk up a stream bed searching for them.
DeleteOh I always like suggestions!
DeleteWhat a shame it was short-lived, it looks so pretty. I started reading this thinking we could have a vertical area by the gate of the allotment, but by the end of the post I had changed my mind 😀
ReplyDeleteOoops. Don't let me put you off! Being by the gate would mean lots of passing traffic = lots of watering opportunities.
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