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[miniaturerockgardens] Re: plastic troughs

From: "Lisa and Al Flaum" <osthill@htc.net>


Hi Diana,


For lightening the soil and rock load, try vermiculite in the soil mix
instead of gravel.
Then mulch the top a little deeper to keep the vermiculite under wraps. 
Hypertufa "rocks"
should help as well, perhaps even hollow ones.  

How long do you want the troughs to last?  Those wooden crates that
supermarkets get fruit in
would make nice planters for 2 years or so and would take a textural paint
and sand mix well.  My guess is that plastic might not hold up much longer
when exposed to sun and freezing temps.

Styrofoam holds up well for me.  If the container is too deep, put in a
layer of packing peanuts,
and cover with window screen to keep the soil from falling through.  I
started doing this because I didn't want to pay for the extra soil, and
found it made a big difference in weight.


Lisa Flaum
Waterloo, south-east Illinios, USA
Min -10F Max 105F  Summer dry punctuated by floods, 
high humidity, unreliable snow cover, clay soil
Member NARGS, IBS, SRGC, AGS, AHS, RHS, APS, ACS (I like seed exchanges)

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