Plants for the Garden

[INJIN]

Mr Bond asked me to post some advice on plants for Garden Railways.
The truth is I don't know much (anything), its all down to my wife Christine. This is what she says....................


Here are some recommended plants for garden railways.

Thymes, these are some of the best plants, and they are so good at covering the ground they can spread very quickly. If you end up with too much growing in one place they may be gently pulled apart to place elsewhere. Every time your trains go past, small parts of plants will be removed and deposited elsewhere along the line. Seed will be dispersed and low and behold a new plant starts growing in another place. That is nature at its very best. We have a large amount of bees attracted into the garden. This is a fantastic joy for both family and visitors. The bees love the thyme and remember, if you leave them alone you won’t have any problems. The best thyme we have is a creeping thyme, the colour is outstanding and every person that has seen it has commented on it. It flowered for about two months. I think of it as the happy curve in our line. I trimmed it back taking all the dead flower heads off after blooming and another flush had started. It is very low growing and close knit which helps with the curve and slope holding the soil together.

Thymus serpyllum “Minor” is another good one. You may find it in garden centres under thyme minimus, as a typing error in a 1975 catalogue that has continued today. It is a mat forming low creeping tiny grey leaves with mauve flowers, happily left alone, it spreads.

Thymus “Doone Valley” has bright green and gold variegated leaves and a heavenly scent, with a fruity lemon flavour, brush your hands over it and rub your hands together, take a deep breath in, it’s a must have for your garden. It has purple flowers and may be used in cooking for meat, fish, fruit salads and baked custard. Not just good for nature but also nurture and railways!

Sedum or stonecrop is another fantastic plant. There are lots of different types available, and as long as you purchase the alpine varieties you can’t go wrong. These plants will grow anywhere and from the smallest piece dropped anywhere. They will root so easily, a young child could plant them. If you bought one plant and pulled it apart into the smallest pieces and placed it just on the soil it will root. When you take it from the pots look at the root structure along the stem you will see minuscule hairy roots, this is a succulent plant and will grow near rock or on the smallest piece of soil. It usually has yellow flowers on this plant, it will flower its head off and shine like the sun for weeks and weeks. Place a piece of cardboard or plastic sheeting to collect the parts of the plant that you are about to cut off when it has finished blooming, look into the plant to see where it has died back to and with a positive hand cut off the dead stems. Don’t worry, it may look a little bare for a while but remember your eyes need a rest from such a fantastic colour. As winter approaches you will look forward to seeing it again next year. Look through the parts you have cut off, drop these on some soil that my be bare and press them into the soil they may take again, have the patience to wait and see, you may be surprised.

Purchase, Sedum Spathulifolium “Cape Blanco” this is a low growing carpet forming silver-white succulent foliage with yellow flowers in late spring to mid summer. They look like little rose heads in the pots. You can split them in the same way as the thymes, but be careful not to knock each individual flower head. After flowering remember cut back the same way, ready for next year and a bigger plant. The height of this plant is 5cmx30com spread. (RHS AGM plant).

The Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit is awarded to plants judged to have excellent garden qualities. These plants have a symbol on the labels. They have been tested for their ability to survive most problems novice gardeners encounter.

When you make your purchases look for a few things. Check that the plants came from Britain, they should have a British flag on the label. You are helping our country’s nursery men and women to work.


Christine Skillicorn (Mrs INJIN!)

[benchmark]

Thank you for the good advice, i have copied and saved the names to my hardisk for future reference. My gratitude goes to your kind wife.

[TonyW]

Thanks Christine ... Ruth was looking for this information earlier today!

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Brilliant advice there! I'll keep a look out for those thymes, never had much success with thymes as we have quite a shady garden. Maybe if anyone else has had successes with other plants on their lines they could add them in here?

Thank you very much Mrs. INJIN!

[INJIN]

Here is a list of thymes:
Creeping Red Thyme vivid crimson-magenta blooms in June and July on a fragrant dark green carpet. An important nectar source attracts bees and butterflies. Hardy evergreen perennial spreading mat to 2ft across. (Thymus serpyllum coccineus)

Golden Thyme is a mound of foliage with lilac flowers, Hardy evergreen grows 10in. Looks green in spring and foliage turns bright gold in summer (Thymus vulgaris aureus)

Silver Posie Thyme variegated bush with pink flowers in summer is a Hardy evergreen grows 12in. This will grow on rock edges in well drained soil (Thymus vulgaris)

Archers Gold Thyme is golden foliage which is brightest from September to April with lilac flowers in summer and is a hardy evergreen grows to 4in. (Thymus x citriodorus)

Thyme Russettings is a low growing creeper with fragrant grey green foliage that forms a slow spreading tightly matted mound covered in mauve pink blooms in early summer. Great in rockeries or gravel, good for bees! 4in height by 12in spread.

Water well before planting and sit back and enjoy them growing.

Christine Skillicorn.

[Mrs F Controller]

WE use a lot of thymes too and I can confirm they are a brilliant size for the railway. I must admit to not knowing any of the names but we also have a lovely little alpine (which I think is a sedum) and is called Bressingham Pink! It is lovely and has just finished flowering. I have been trawling through all the pics on the website but can't find a decent piccie of it! One to look out for though. Plus we use quite a lot of hebe especially the miniature hebe as they grow well on soil and stay a lovely size. We've just discovered some that flower too.

[INJIN]

You want scenery?

Get this.............




Best ever.............

[jim@NAL]

plants thanks for this post iv planted lots of the plants you said about lots of tymes only 2 pounds each from a farmers market bargin

[Big Al]

An excellent post just what I've been looking for some plant names I think Ill have to buy Beckys book also.

[Narrow Minded]

If you want "the book" at a bargain price, follow this link;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350809135416? ... 1423.l2649

I've just ordered one and there's only 3 left at the time of writing!
(Oh, and I've used this seller a couple of times before and can vouch for their excellent service!)

[Big Al]

Thanks for the tip just got it on E.bay

[Narrow Minded]

Thanks for the tip just got it on E.bay    :D

Get 'em while there there!

[Narrow Minded]

I ordered the book (late) on monday night - it arrived this morning in time to have a look through it over a cuppa, now that's great service for free postage!

(And yes, it's a fantastic book - my new "planting bible" in fact!)

[Big Al]

My book also arrived today must say it is better than I expected it to be. A very good guide to plants and planting, Recommended reading.

[invicta280]

Just a word about thymes. They are a basically a mediterranean plant
and they can tolerate dry conditions, but i don't think they like rich soil
very much.