Gravel gardens have been mooted as the answer to how to garden in a changing climate, especially one where hot summers are a part of our overall expectations, and alongside that we have seen drought tolerant plants from across the globe being added to gravel gardens.
Challenging times . If mulching as a practice was to become more widespread, how soon would this lead to a dearth of suitable material ? And thus, cease to be sustainable practice ?
Good question! We’ve been using sheeps wool and a lot of card reused from boxes that we get from various stores, along with homemade compost, woodchip we get dropped for free from tree surgeons desperate to get rid of it, and composted woodchip from last year. I think we just have to use what we see around us.
Brilliant piece Sara , completely agree that it’s more complicated than some pundits suggest . No Dig is definitely the way forward and a more detailed, less simplistic look at what might work
Totally agree. Despite being lifted and in a heated greenhouse all my pelargoniums have died. Same for my mum and mother in law. My relatively new build garden (20 years) in I’ve filled my garden with perennials, so
much easier and better for the soil. I also let all the leaves act as mulch on the soil. Bristol clay is definitely not ideal for overwintering Mediterranean plants.
Challenging times . If mulching as a practice was to become more widespread, how soon would this lead to a dearth of suitable material ? And thus, cease to be sustainable practice ?
Good question! We’ve been using sheeps wool and a lot of card reused from boxes that we get from various stores, along with homemade compost, woodchip we get dropped for free from tree surgeons desperate to get rid of it, and composted woodchip from last year. I think we just have to use what we see around us.
Brilliant piece Sara , completely agree that it’s more complicated than some pundits suggest . No Dig is definitely the way forward and a more detailed, less simplistic look at what might work
Thanks Lorraine.
Totally agree. Despite being lifted and in a heated greenhouse all my pelargoniums have died. Same for my mum and mother in law. My relatively new build garden (20 years) in I’ve filled my garden with perennials, so
much easier and better for the soil. I also let all the leaves act as mulch on the soil. Bristol clay is definitely not ideal for overwintering Mediterranean plants.
Definitely it’s not Kelly!!