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DESIGN ELEMENTS

with Louise McDaid Landscape Designer

Gardening with Shallow and Rocky Soil part2,- What Plants?
Have you got shallow rocky soil somewhere in your garden?
Maybe it’s in all of the garden.

You’ve tried this or that plant and it’s either just sat and sulked, or grown but it’s quite stunted.

Maybe a rethink of what plants work in these conditions is what’s needed.
Look at some of the local plants that do well in your area, generally smaller plants will have smaller root systems – alpine plants are good for rockeries, coming from regions with shallow soil, this applies to Mediterranean areas as well that have shabby soil – use lists from these regions to research plants that might suit your place.

Some herbs like purple sages, tricolour sages, Creeping Thyme - Thymus serpyllum - nectar rich and thrives in thin soil forming a dense cover, stachys, small hebes, small buxus..etc !

There are loads of plants you can grow in soil that’s shallow.

Just take a look at the depth of the pots in the garden centres and you can gauge what might grow in shallow soil-excluding the 3m plus shrubs of course.