This is my second attempt at making a hypertufa trough. It was left standing in the weather for almost a year before I finally got around to do something with it.
I had been growing aloes from seed - I bought a small packet of mixed aloe seed. It took more than a year for these to grow large enough to be transplanted. I had a couple of other small succulents as well.
I filled my hypertufa trough with a mixture of sandy soil from my garden, some compost and vermiculite for drainage. I planted the succulents and then covered it with small mixed brown pebbles. I think the result is stunning.
I placed this container near the front door, where it doesn't get direct water from the rain. I've seen some of the aloes take off and they've grown more in 3 months than they have in a year.
Two frogs have made this their nightly home too ! They have shoved some of the pebbles away and make themselves comfortable in the soil at night, most probably catching any unwary insects.
Once the aloes grow too large, I'll replant them and finally transplant them in my rock garden in my backyard - that is at the moment being invaded by nut grass. Yes, that's another project waiting for the cooler months. Right now, the heat and humidity make it an almost impossible task to do any serious work outside.
Aloes from seed?? Cool. I love the variety and they look great in the hypertufa. I went through a hypertufa phase a few years ago. Unlike most things, it seems the get better with age.
ReplyDeleteYes, aloes from seed, before you decide to try, have a lot of patience, they take a long time to germinate and then they take forever to grow just a few millimeters.
ReplyDeleteHypertufa is a lot of work. But the end result is nice.
Hi! I love your hypertufa garden! One day I will make some of these. I saw someone make them using the styrofoam inserts out of boxes containing electronic equipment, and they looked very archetectural, and cute...I need to find that post again, wherever it was!
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