Alpine Gardener
This site records plants in flower on our alpine rock bed through the seasons. Buffy McClelland is the gardener, and the new restoration commemorates Buffy's mother Pat McClelland's love of alpines.
Our garden is in the south midlands of the UK, with slightly lime-rich soil. We have very dry conditions here, with sandy soil. The site is south-facing, and is shaded for a few hours at mid-day by a cherry tree. Our aim is to create an alpine garden in flower in all seasons, so we will have colour all year round.
South face of bed
The alpine bed uses limestone blocks which were recovered from our old house during installation of a new roof. The layout was created mostly in 1994, but became overgrown with large inappropriate plants. In autumn 2009, drastic action was taken, some choice plants removed, and everything else dug up and discarded. Buffy bought plants to restock from two online nurseries (???), local garden centres and friends also donated plants.
North side of alpine bed
The bed was extended on one side using rocks from piles left over from the house restoration and an edging was put in to separate the bed from the lawn. This still looks rather stark (see right hand edge of picture below), but will weather down in time.
Looking from the south east
Text and Layout, Copyright © Dr Buffy McClelland, 2010. All rights reserved.
