Customer’s gravel pathways provide immense interest, when it comes to easy propagation.
I love to spot a new seedling (preferably of a non invasive perennial ) from several paces. It is really simple to remove them from loose gravel with their fragile roots intact, pot them up, and grow them on. Whereas at home any windblown seeds from existing garden plants, have to germinate in the gaps between brick pavers. My success rate at attempting to prick these seedlings out is much lower, as I generally end up slicing essential roots off, as I fail to ease them out from their narrow and confined growing space. I think we would all benefit from a gravel propagation pathway somewhere in our gardens.
This years gravel pathway collection include seedlings of Euphorbia characias wulfenni and Eryngium. I decided to leave the cyclamen, wood anemones,grape hyacinths and scilla to edge the pathways. They look perfectly happy and perfectly lovely in situ at Geoff’s.
Other plants are self-propagating too well. I would go as far to say there are some that are extremely skilled at swamping anything in their way, as they spread outwards . Asters and ground elder have yet again marched through borders. Previous years have found me removing them by the bucket load, this year I am removing them by the wheelbarrow load..
Sally Wicks 