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Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Original poster

Belfast Sinks

10 replies

AlwaysAlba · 26/04/2023 17:30

Suggestions welcome for my newly positioned sink (plus coal scuttle) - they are tucked in to a quite unstructured area with hydrangea, crocosmia, elder and geraniums nearby. We are west facing and a fairly wet area I suppose (Highlands). I’m unsure if I want just annuals this first year or start as I mean to go on with perennials.
Thanks.

OP posts:
DemonicCaveMaggot · 26/04/2023 17:34

I covered ours with home made hypertufa. The recipe is on the Alpine Society website. I used a mixture of sand, cement, and coconut fiber. I coated the sink with tiling adhesive and made grooves in that to roughen the surface before slapping on the tufa mixture. Then I followed their directions to fill it with gravel and soil, and a slate mulch to make a bed for alpines. How to make an alpine trough with hypertufa - Alpine Garden Society

How to make an alpine trough with hypertufa - Alpine Garden Society

Create stone-look troughs without the expense or weight with our guide to making alpine troughs out of hypertufa - a cement-based mixture.

https://www.alpinegardensociety.net/plants/make-a-hypertufa-trough/

DemonicCaveMaggot · 26/04/2023 17:36

The sink weighs about 2.5 tons when covered, so remember to lift it onto bricks or other supports so it can be free draining before you start covering it, because it isn't moving anywhere after it is finished. Ours is in a South facing position.

Cantthinkofaname2203 · 26/04/2023 17:36

Lord I’m tired 😂

I read the title and thought the city was slowly going underwater 😂

Original poster
AlwaysAlba · 26/04/2023 18:23

They look lovely @DemonicCaveMaggot my neighbour has previously done the same but I never saw them so great to see yours.

@Cantthinkofaname2203 hahahaha that’s so funny! Apologies for any worry caused 🤣.

OP posts:
DemonicCaveMaggot · 26/04/2023 19:53

The photo is the Alpine Society's. I don't have a photo of mine, but it is fairly comparable, and I am a novice to DIY so DH and I were really surprised with how well it turned out. We were expecting the coating to crack in the frost because we messed up on the mixture slightly, but it made it through OK.

napody · 27/04/2023 16:23

DemonicCaveMaggot · 26/04/2023 17:34

I covered ours with home made hypertufa. The recipe is on the Alpine Society website. I used a mixture of sand, cement, and coconut fiber. I coated the sink with tiling adhesive and made grooves in that to roughen the surface before slapping on the tufa mixture. Then I followed their directions to fill it with gravel and soil, and a slate mulch to make a bed for alpines. How to make an alpine trough with hypertufa - Alpine Garden Society

I love this idea- going to try it on a really tatty Belfast sink. The article also says you can do it on polystyrene fish boxes...very cool. Thanks for sharing.

DeedlessIndeed · 30/04/2023 18:21

Drainage was a big problem for mine (shady garden in Glasgow - so wet summers!), so instead of always fighting a losing battle, I created a mini-bog garden in my belfast sink.

I included miniature hosta, candelabra primula, a fern and a sarracenia (carnivourous).

WobblyLondoner · 30/04/2023 19:14

I have a half buried one in my garden which I use as a pond - currently it is mainly filled with irises. I like the bog garden suggestion here - I may give that a go for next year as I've always wanted to try candelabra primulas.

The one thing I don't like is the shiny white ceramic which is quite obvious until spring growth kicks in. Those who have used hypertufa, do you think you could do that in situ (ie just applying the mixture to the parts of the sink above ground?

Mossstitch · 30/04/2023 19:22

Cantthinkofaname2203 · 26/04/2023 17:36

Lord I’m tired 😂

I read the title and thought the city was slowly going underwater 😂

🏊😂

DRS1970 · 30/04/2023 19:23

I blocked the plug on one of mine and planted with Irises and Marsh Marigold. Looks great.

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