
Photo by Tom Deacon
To make a high-impact, low-maintenance gravel garden:
- Select a sunny site.
- Make sure the drainage is excellent?gritty, sandy soil is ideal.
- Add a small amount of humusy soil to give the plants a good start.
- Choose drought-tolerant plants?those with succulent, silver, fuzzy or needled foliage are usually best.
- Lay landscape cloth over any areas where weeds or self-seeding plants aren?t wanted.
- Cover the entire surface with pea gravel; a few large boulders here and there add emphasis and provide microclimates for more tender plants.
Tom Deacon?s top performing gravel-loving plants.
Statuesque
- Brazilian verbena (Verbena bonariensis) *
- Foxtail lily (Eremerus stenophyllus)
- Giant silver mullein (Verbascum bombyciferum) *
- Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
- Thistle (Onopordum)
Spiky
- Asphodeline (Asphodeline damascena)
- Bear?s breeches (Acanthus hungaricus)
- ?Golden Sword? yucca (Yucca)
- Red-hot poker (Kniphofia), especially ?Shining Sceptre? and ?Alcazar?
Silvery
- ?Big Ears? lamb?s ears (Stachys byzantina)
- Globe thistle (Echinops)
- Miss Wilmott?s ghost (Eryngium giganteum)
- ?Munstead Blue? lavender (Lavandula)
- Sea holly (Eryngium planum, E. alpinum; E. bourgatii; E. amethystinum ?Sapphire Blue?) *
- Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
- Silver sage (Salvia argentea)
Soft
- Canada wormwood (Artemisia canadensis)
- ?Cragg-Barber Eye? artemisia (A. vulgaris)
- ?Gracillimus? maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis)
Succulent
- Bergenia (Bergenia cordifolia)
- Hens and chicks (Sempervivum)
- Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa)
- Stonecrop (Sedum)
Those marked * will self-sow in sandy spots and pathways.