Goodbye concrete, hello..?

[thehonscupboard]

In a burst of enthusiasm I pulled up a section of the concrete paving that covered my garden. The earth underneath was full of rubble. I've pulled that out. A small bit of it has a layer of sand over it. Another small bit is a gravel (almost) filled hole.

I should have planned ahead but I just couldn't bear staring at the concrete anymore.

Now I have no idea what to do. Very little money. Only tool is a little hand spade thing. I had a little twiggy supermarket rosemary so have put that in the ground. It looks sad and alone.

I want to have fun and (slowly) work on making something beautiful to look at but how? How much t

Oops posted too soon but I'm a very rambly writer so probably for the best. Any help/direction/encouragement much appreciated.

👀

What shape and how big is the concrete area?

If budget is limited, can you ask friends for cuttings off their shrubbery? It would take longer to establish than if you buy a plant in a pot from a garden centre, but you'd save money.

Lots of plants will grow quite happily in rubble (including rosemary), but what sort of aesthetic are you going for here?

If you're on Instagram have a look at John Little (grassroofco) for inspo, he experiments with growing in all sorts of substrates and shows ways to work with waste materials. For example, if you want to get rid of the concrete it could be broken up and put in gabion baskets to create divisions in your garden and provide habitat for invertebrates. It's a way of reusing waste and benefitting the environment.

Also have a look at Dan Pearson's Delos garden at Sissinghurst for another example of a rubbly garden and plants that would grow well in that sort of substrate

http://danpearsonstudio.com/delos-at-sissinghurst/

Plus of course Beth Chatto for planting inspo

https://www.bethchatto.co.uk/garden-nursery/gallery/gravel-garden.htm

Sorry for the gazillion posts. Here's a link to an interview with aforementioned John Little

https://www.gardensillustrated.com/gardens/gardeners/john-little-interview

Can we see a photo? I did something similar with a flower bed at the front of my house, it had been filled with kerbstones and then topped with gravel - was a nightmare to dig out. Took a while, and was still finding stones months later. Ideally you probably need a spade, a fork and some manure to dig into improve the soil. I’m about three years in with mine, so maybe if money is tight treat it as a longer term project?

Sorry I got waylaid with teatime/bedtime etc.

Please don't apologise for the gazillion posts. I'm so grateful to everyone for taking the time to help.

This is a bad guess because it's dark and cold so me and my tape measure are staying indoors for now but think it's about 5m x 4m that I've pulled the slabs off of.

The majority of that I've de-rubbled. Not the gravel filled hole though. I love that Sissinghurst Delos garden. Saw it this time last year but haven't seen it in it's full glory.

Just googled gaboon baskets. Great idea!

I'm embarrassed to say I have no idea what to do with cuttings. I'll have to do some begging of people with pretty gardens, and some more googling.

I think @Sundaefraise is right that I should treat as a long term project. No plans to move so no hurry. I hope yours is looking lovely now?

Thanks again everyone 😊

Herb plants can be bought quite cheaply in 9cm pots (£2-3 each) - rosemary, thyme, oregano, lavender will all love those conditions. Or you can propagate thyme from one of those living herb pots from the supermarket (cut it back, separate the seedlings, pot up in gritty compost and bring on on a windowsill).

Longacres do a very good value range of perennial plants - three 9cm plants for about £5 or three 2L plants for £15 - so that’s worth a look come spring.

Local plant fairs can be a good source of cheap plants or do a shout out on facebook local group? I always give away loads of irises when I divide them through my local fb group (btw bearded irises grow well in stony conditions )

Sounds like you’ve done loads of backbreaking work out there already!

Come spring time, you'll find in cities or big towns, local FB groups (or gardening ones) will post events for plant/seed swaps (if you don't have anything to donate, to offer a cheap donation). Sometimes someone will offer a free plant/shrub/tree, so it's worth a look-out or you can post a request for plants Also, you can check any local authority parks with an proactive nature/gardening ethos if they have workshops/tree giveaways etc. like the one I go to.

Also, in community gardens, they'll often do plant swaps too as well as having cheap plants for sale.

setting the area up with some no dig principles may be useful - layer with grass clippings then cardboard then compost or top soil and plant. Gives you a decent amount of planting substrate for pretty cheap.

Salvia may be a good fit, and you can usually get cuttings quite easily from friends and neighbours.