Scree gardening

Top five plants for scree gardens:

In the garden, a scree bed tries to emulate nature. Screes occur in mountainous areas where rock faces disintegrate due to freeze-thaw action. Rock particles and loose stones travel down the slope and reduce the angle of steepness. Streams bring stones of varying sizes. Melting snow in the summer provides water, and in winter a blanket of snow protects plants from frost and desiccating winds.

To make your scree garden, choose a sunny site that is well lit even in winter, and away from trees and their leaf fall. Then;

• Clear all perennial
  Perennials are plants that live for multiple years. They come in all shapes and sizes and fill our gardens with colourful flowers and ornamental foliage. Many are hardy and can survive outdoors all year round, while less hardy types need protection over winter. The term herbaceous perennial is used to describe long-lived plants without a permanent woody structure (they die back to ground level each autumn), distinguishing them from trees, shrubs and sub-shrubs. weeds
• Dig out about 75cm (30in) of soil from the site, making the base slope gently towards the bottom. Enough slope is needed to allow excess moisture to drain away, without the upper part becoming over-dry in summer
• Cover the base of the area with about 15cm (6in) of rubble
• Place another 15cm (6in) layer of small stones about 2.5cm (1in) diameter on top of the rubble
• Fill up the hollow with a mixture of stone chips and gravel
• Lay a layer of about 7.5cm (3in) depth of free draining soil mix of one part loam or good top soil, 1 part leaf mould, or peat substitute and 2 parts grit by volume
• Top off with a 5cm (2in) layer of gravel. Limestone chips are used for alpines from chalk or limestone areas and shingle, washed gravel or granite chippings for those from neutral or acid soils. Avoid flint chips as they do not conserve moisture
• Try to add some larger stones to add character to the site, and create some protection for plants. Just a few will do, but they are useful as stepping-stones when weeding, as well as for aesthetic reasons. Large stones should match chippings

Plants with leaves covered with fluff or down need winter protection from drying winds and damp. In their native

A native plant is one that originated or arrived naturally in a particular place without human involvement. In the British Isles, native plants are those that were here during the last ice age or have arrived unaided since. habitat snow protects them. From October to March, suspend a sheet of acrylic or polycarbonate over the plants using corner supports.

Water well in dry spells during the growing season. In well-constructed screes plants are deep-rooting, as in natural screes, but may need extra water.

Lightly top-dress in May with the compost

Can refer to either home-made garden compost or seed/potting compost: • Garden compost is a soil improver made from decomposed plant waste, usually in a compost bin or heap. It is added to soil to improve its fertility, structure and water-holding capacity. Seed or potting composts are used for growing seedlings or plants in containers - a wide range of commercially produced peat-free composts are available, made from a mix of various ingredients, such as loam, composted bark, coir and sand, although you can mix your own. mixture used in the original construction, with added fertiliser. This will wash down deep into the scree bed, providing nutrition for searching roots.

Cushion plants and those that are mat-forming are ideal for scree gardens. Try to avoid rampant growers, tall plants or those with large foliage.

Spring-flowering (April-June) up to 15cm (6in) in height

Androsace sarmentosa
Aubrieta
Draba aizoides
Gentiana verna, Gentiana verna 'Alba'
Geum montanumAGM (through to October)
Lychnis alpina
Petrocallis pyrenaica
Saxifraga (Kabschia Group) e.g.S. burseriana, S. 'Gregor Mendel' AGM
Soldanella alpina,S. montana

Spring-flowering up to 30cm (1ft) in height

Alyssum montanum
Aurinia saxatilis 'Citrina'
Saxifraga oppositifolia, S. oppositifolia subsp. latina, S. retusa

Summer-flowering (June-October) up to 15cm (6in) in height

Acantholimon venustum
Androsace lanuginosa AGM
Anthyllis montana ‘Rubra’ AGM
Aquilegia saximontana
Armeria juniperifolia AGM
Asperula gussonei
Aster alpinus AGM
Campanula pulla, C. raineri AGM
Cyananthus lobatusAGM, C. microphyllus AGM
Dianthus alpinus AGM, D. freynii, D. pavonius
Dryas octopetala ‘Minor’ AGM
Edraianthus pumilio AGM, E. serpyllifolius
Erinus alpinus AGM
Erodium
Gentiana saxosa
Geranium (Cinereum Group)'Ballerina' AGM, G. subcaulescens ‘Guiseppi’ AGM
Hypericum coris
Lewisia cotyledon AGM,L. oppositifolia, L. rediviva
Linaria alpina
Oxalis enneaphylla AGM
Petrorhagia saxifraga
Potentilla nitida, P. nitida ‘Rubra’
Silene acaulis
Vitaliana primuliflora

Summer-flowering up to 30cm (1ft) in height

Aethionema grandiflorum AGM
Geranium sanguineum, G. sanguineum ‘Album’ AGM
Papaver alpinum, P. triniifolium

Plants suitable for partial shade

Androsace laevigata
Aquilegia saximontana
Campanula
Cyananthus lobatus AGM, C. microphyllus AGM
Gentiana
Linaria
Mertensia
Omphalodes
Primula auricula
Ramonda
Saxifraga

Dwarf shrubs and conifers

Shrubs
Betula nana
Daphne blagayana
Daphne cneorum ‘Eximia’ AGM

Conifers
Abies balsamea Hudsonia Group
Cedrus deodara ‘Pygmy’
Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana’ AGM
Cryptomeria japonica ‘Nana’
Cryptomeria japonica ‘Vilmoriniana’ AGM
Pinus mugo ‘Mops’ AGM

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