Keppel Croft Gardens
Gardening with Rocks
Before we can plant anything we dig a hole with a pickaxe. We use a homemade sifter, made of hardware cloth (screen) stretched over a wooden frame. We place this over a wheel barrow. The soil, sifted from the gravel, is amended with composted barn manure, peat moss and other earth before being put back into the hole. The pebbles collected on the screen are used as mulch. We use the larger stones for a variety of garden features.
The entrance to the Thyme Garden is flanked by two piles of rounded stones Bill gathered when the holes for the plantings were dug. He used cut stone scraps from a local quarry to form the path. There is a thick layer of newspaper under this whole area to discourage unwanted weeds from underneath. Throughout this area pea gravel is used as a filler between the stones.
Bill used flat stones collected from this garden site to construct two semi-circular dry stone walls, which shelter a seating area planted with various thymes and lavenders. These plants are planted into the soil through slits made in the newspaper layer. Collected egg shaped stones are displayed on a stone wall which forms the back of the seat. We discovered this area was once the floor of the original pioneer log barn for this farm.
Path to the Aviary
In this area of the garden good use has been made of pebbles and large flat stones forming a path that leads by one of our aviaries. Once again, we used newspapers and plastic under the pebbles and stones.The larger stepping stones in front of the aviary are set so that they are raised above the surface of the concrete path, a technique used in some Japanese gardens. We discovered that this is not a practical method for creating paths for the use of the public. The surface is a little too uneven and irregular. Fortunately most visitors move slowly through this area as they watch the cage birds or check out our hostas!
This rock garden began when Bill spread a thick newspaper mulch over the grass in the area which was to become the garden. Then the largest of the limestone rocks were put in place. Heavy plastic was put over the top of the newpapers in the areas to be mulched with pebbles. (The combination of newspapers and plastic discourages grass and weed growth). Next Bill arranged the smaller rocks on top of the mulch and plastic. Soil was poked and packed into niches and crevices in the rocks amd planted with alpines and rockery plants. Pebbles were spread over the unplanted areas. Some plants were also planted in small slits made in the plastic and mulch. Flat stones line the edges of the garden, securing the edge of the plastic and papers, and acting as a mowing strip.
A Bird Bath Garden
A miniature garden within the main garden is the focal point of this corner of Keppel Croft. Although this bird bath is situated very well to be the focus of a garden area, the bird bath is too far away from a faucet to make it practical to top the bath up regularly.No water in this bird bath! A drainage hole was drilled through the bowl, soil was added, and a particularly attractive limestone rock was set in place. Tiny sedums, thyme and sempervivums were planted and mulched with fine pebbles. Water is needed only rarely in this bird bath.
For the first couple of years we had this bird bath garden we would take the top off the pedestal every winter and put the bath section in a sheltered position behind a rock wall. This was quite an effort because the concrete section with the rocks weighs quite a bit. Then one winter we didn't get around to doing this. The following spring we discovered that all the plants survived the winter quite nicely, so ever since we have not bothered with winterizing this mini garden.
Several areas of the garden make use of pebbles as mulch. These areas all have materials underlying the pebble mulch to prevent unwanted growth. Bill uses newspapers and recycled plastic, and in one area, the recycled lining of a swimming pool. Uninvited seedlings that take root on the top of the pebble mulch are very easy to remove.