Request for help - suggestions for plants Thank you :)

Hi all,

I am a very new member and hope you will excuse me joining just to ask questions. I have been researching around for weeks (months) and thought it might be more effective to ask some experts!

I am in my second year of an Masters degree, and work with textiles. I want to design/produce an outdoor piece of work that incorporates living plants. I have experimented with growing moss on flat vertical surfaces, and have researched vertical walls and other similar things but don't want to bore you/go on too much!

Basically, I need help identifying a type of plant that will grow in cracks, perhaps with very little water - like the sort of gaps between bricks. I have found some info on sedum's, are these the most suitable?

Sorry to be so demanding, I hope you don't think I am just looking for an easy answer or quick fix, have just gone round in quite a few circles looking for ideas!

Many thanks, Jude and Lola (my dog!)

 

Request for help - suggestions for plants

Gaps between bricks can mean a few different things.

If its just mortar, then I think moss is the only answer, unless its very old and crumbly.

The smaller sedums are ok but need atleast a bit of soil to get going as do Semperviviums, but once established, manage on almost nothing.
Getting the plants established is likely to be the most difficult part.

 

Request for help - suggestions for plants

Hi & Welcome to the forums,

Ivy leaved toadflax would be a goer, the seed pods curl round until they find a crack in the wall to deposit a seed, gives good vertical coverage.

Also pelitory of the wall and fumitory. These are all native British plants.

You could consider a couple of ferns too, Rusty Back & Maiden Hair, oh i think there is another called Wall Rue.

 

Request for help - suggestions for plants

Wallflowers grow in cracks in walls and so does red valerian (otherwise known as centranthus). I've seen primroses growing on walls in the West Country too.

 

Request for help - suggestions for plants

Hello Jude and Lola ...

If there is a smidgen of soil in these cracks you mention, how about Thyme or even Aubretia?

 

Request for help - suggestions for plants

Hello all, thank you so much for all the replies, I really do appreciate it!

I am working through all the suggestions and will let you know which one/one I go with.

In theory I will be exhibiting my work in August, so will need to be planting springtime to allow enough time to grow. My work will most likely be on an existing brick wall, or something similar that I construct myself so the cracks will either be normal mortar or whatever I chose to put in there, if that makes sense. I am at the research stage at the moment so everything is quite loose and flexible - which is why I am grateful for all the suggestions!

Thanks again, Jude and Lola

 

Request for help - suggestions for plants

You'd be better off with a lime mortar rather than cement, much softer & the plants can take to it better. Have a look at my website below, click on samples of work & then click the slideshow, the brick wall is pointed with lime and already had ivy leaved toadflax growing on it. You can see the plant clearer under the green man corbel.

 

Request for help - suggestions for plants

Sounds interesting Jude.
How long will you need the exhibit to look good and will it be indoors? From a practical point of view, it might be sensible to consider this when looking at options.
Moss, liverworts and ferns would give good textural qualities, but might not be at their best in August.
Mind your own business, Soleirolia soleirolia might be an idea? I have seen it running from cracks in a patio and spreading vertically up lower walls nearby?
I'm sure you will be familiar with Patrick Blanc's work? Makes you think you could do ANYTHING you wanted.
Sedums and Sempervivums as well as cushion forming alpine plants? Good luck.

 

Hello again

Thank you to everyone replied to my original message, I am very very grateful and used all your suggestions to help with my work.

I need to start thinking about growing a crop of things I can plant into the pieces that I will be making and putting into an exhibition in August this year. I am not a particularly experienced gardener - I know bits and bobs and can be pretty practical, but I have a few questions that I would be eternally grateful if anyone could answer!

• Where would I get some ivy leaved toadflax/liverworts from if I wanted to grow them (i have some of the toadflax in my garden, could I just take a cutting?
• When would be the best time to start something like this off? Does it need to be indoors?
• If I wanted to plant some toadflax into cracks in a wall at a later date - is that possible - and should I just grow it in small pots and transplant later?

I know my questions might sound a bit silly/random, but I really would appreciate advice from experts or people with more experience/knowledge.

Thank you all again for your advice!

 

Hi,

Ivy Leaved Toadflax is best transplanted, as its very delicate & I don't know if cuttings would work, mind you they do with busy lizzies so might be worth a try. If you grow it in situ, then the plant will have a chance to spread by its self rather than leaving it till the last minute & then finding that transplants have failed.

Liverworts grow in damp places, you often get them as a freebie when you buy well watered plants from a garden centre. In fact, I didn't look at what daughter was buying in pots last year & one of the flowers had died & she had just bought the remaining liverwort:DOH:

If you want to propagate liverworts then you will need to keep it very damp.

 

[size=large]In warm and dry climates I guess you would find quite a lot of plants that would find sufficient a little sand between two stones to grow.[/size]

 

I've always liked the look of Biting Stonecrop for the role you describe, but I've never grown it (yet). Here it is:

http://www.plantpress.com/wildlife/o623-bitingstonecrop.php

 

Good call Dave

I've always loved those. Very drought tolerant.