THE AFRICAN GARDEN

A Gravel Bed for the culture of less hardy bulbs
or high altitude bulbs that need perfect drainage

This new gravel bed was built from an existing pond. The bricks that are seen being the facing for a large fiberglass
watertank. Prior to any construction the pond housed just
bulrushes and waterlilies and it really never reached its full
potential in terms of the utilisation of space.

  The tank was therefore emptied of water and the bottom cut out and sides slit by an angle grinder, and the plants
re-housed. Then began what seemed the incredibly long process of filling the tank with various aggregates that would afford drainage for the purpose of converting it to a gravel bed.

  The various layers and materials used can be seen in the diagram entitled 'design' on the right of this page. Fortunately, the brick rubble and the broken terracotta used wera recycled for free, which kept the cost down to a certain extent, but the cost of the project which excluded plants was in the order of about £50
($75 approx.).

   The gravel bed was needed for the year 2000 was the wettest year since the mid eighteenth century, since records began. Although the was so much rain, last winter was mild and over 99% of the bulbs grown outside have survived in good condition. However the risk was that if the weather suddenly turned cold and the soil froze for any length of time we would have seen great losses because of the wet soil and the greater depth of associated frost. It is because of this that an area was created for the bulbs and succulents in the collection that need a sunny, free draining site.

   The design for this gravel bed is not taken from a book, it is a design I have made given my location, aspect and the requirements of the plants. It is therefore untried and untested so please don't come back to me and say 'your design didn't work'. It's just an idea that can obviously be adapted to suit aspect and plant type.

Below is a list of what the bed currently contains; all bulbs have been planted
directly into the bed, but there is also room to plunge pots as well, to add some
seasonal interest until the new plants become established.

Contents

Succulents
Adromischus cooperi
Aloe polyphylla
Carpobrotus edulis ssp. parviflora
Cheiridopsis derenbergiana
Ruschia karooica
Ruschia uncinata
Trichodiadema decorum (Dikkopulakte)

Bulbs
Agapanthus walshii
Agapanthus 'Lilliput'
Ammocharis coronica
Crossyne flava
Nerine falcata
Nerine krigei
Nerine undulata
Scilla natalensis
Tulbaghia cominsii CGV1568
Tulbaghia montana