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Hi folks. Just a quick post to show you what I’ve been up to in the garden recently. Mrs A had been watching Monty Don on TV and he had been planting a small container up with some Alpine types of plants. We have a small container spare so it seemed like a good way to use it. As you can see, the container didn’t have any drainage holes in it.
The first job was to fit a 10mm masonry bit into the drill in readiness for the drilling of the holes.
The holes were drilled in no particular pattern, other than there were chips in the base of the container so I used these as a starting point for the holes.
I’ll add a few photos of some of the birds that were visiting the garden over the last couple of days as well, like this lovely male Blackbird who was foraging around.
We visited a local garden centre in the morning and returned with most of the stuff we were going to need to plant the container.
As it’s only a small container, we only got a smallish amount of plants so as to give them a bit of space to spread out.
The container was then given a good scrub out and hose down before being used.
The finished product, ready for putting in place.
We’re getting quite a few Chaffinches at the moment, this male being one of them.
And the Blue Tits are showing themselves a bit more again.
I used a couple of old bricks to put the container on as this will keep it off the ground and should help drainage and maybe make life just a little bit more difficult for the slugs.!!
As the garden slopes a bit, a spirit level was used to ensure that everything ended up level.
The container in its chosen place next to the fence where it’ll get plenty of sunshine.
We still get plenty of Corvids visiting, like this handsome Rook....
…and this rather pretty Jackdaw.!!
A layer of old bits of broken concrete, mortar and stones was put into the bottom of the container to help again with drainage.
Mrs A said that Monty had advised a 50/50 mixture of coarse grit and general purpose compost should be used. He grit is put into a rubble bin….
…then mixed up with an equal amount of compost.!!
The finished mix is then put into the container.
A few Goldfinches have been coming to the feeders as well..
..and we’re also lucky to have a few gorgeous Yellowhammers coming in every day, including this cracking male.!!
The plants are put in with the taller ones going to the back of the container….
And finally everything is topped with a layer of coarse grit to finish it all off.
It just goes to prove that you don’t actually need a large area to create something really nice in the garden and I think that this could have been done just as well in a plastic container or even a window box. I’m now looking forward to seeing the plants grow up, spread out and mature. I hope you’ve enjoyed this.
Paul
My bird photos HERE
Fabulous post Paul - as ever! Love the way you interspersed the planter instructions with the bird photos - a bit of literary technique - going off topic now and then to create a bit of suspense about the finished product!!! Lol!
It looks great - can't wait to see the photos in weeks to come when the plants have grown a bit - keep us posted.
The birds look pretty good too! Especially the jackdaw.
See my Flickr photos here
https://www.flickr.com/photos/115745582@N04/
Thanks Christine. I only recently got the container so it was a nice way to use it I think. I'm glad you liked the bird photos as well, it just doesn't seem right to do a thread without adding some bird photos to it, especially since they are always around when I'm out in the garden.
Thanks Birdie, you're very kind. The plants are still looking good; I may add another photo once they mature a bit. The lady next door has a Belfast Sink planted up and I can understand why you didn't want to part with any of your ones, they make a really nice feature once the plants are in them.
Great thread as usual PHA with your wonderful pics & commentary!! We used to have a Belfast sink when I was a youngster & when it came time to re-furb the kitchen the sink went outside by the shed with cold water supply to one tap - came in very handy for washing garden pots etc!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Thanks Wendy, I'm glad you enjoyed. A number of the houses in my street had wash-houses built on many years ago and they all had a huge stone sink with a mangle/wringer attached. I don't know whatever happened to all the old sinks but it wouldn't surprise me if they were used in the gardens somehow. Like you say, most people got rid of these things and 'modernised' although I think the trend now seems to be going back towards the old style sinks again.
Evening Paul, love your idea of the stone sink and the alpines, it looks fabulous and the photos of your hard work and also the birds are wonderful. I have to say when I read your thread it was such a bizarre coincidence I as only said to Mike yesterday that we should keep our eyes open for an old stone sink or trough for the garden so I can plant it up with summer bedding plants LOL !! Another idea I had was to pick up an old style bicycle with basket or carriers front and back which can hold containers as planted up they can look terrific as a garden sculpture of sorts !... there is no end to what you could do with a bit of ivy and moss in the spokes or cross bar LOL, although I not sure I will ever get that project done !! Knowing my luck Cyril would end up riding it round the garden rofl
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Regards, Hazel
Evening Paul. Once again enjoyed the thread. I love how you give us each and every step with all the equipment used! The birdie photos are lovely also. Looking forward to
seeing the plants when grown. Thanks.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Those old style sinks were very handy for bathing the babes, much less backbreaking than big bath & we had a lovely warm feel wooden draining board too, great to sit them on all wrapped up in a fluffy towel ... happy days!!
Thanks everyone for your nice comments. I've got another similar thing which I've only recently planted up with Herbs in it. I'd have never thought of the bicycle Hazy although I can see the potential in it. I've also seen an old rowing boat planted up as well which was very nice although I don't think Mrs A would be too chuffed if I was to bring one of those into the garden. I can remember my mum bathing my wee sister in the sink Wendy, thankfully she used a fluffy towel to dry her instead of the Mangle.!!