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Re: Geranium renardii

Thankyou, Susan

You're now the third to recommend scree soil and rocks -- so this *must* be
the answer I've been looking for.

I've been working (seems for ages) on an area that will have a bed that I
had intended to do just about what you're suggesting - for a bunch of gray
leafed plants who have been living too long in pots. 

Anyway, I was going to leave the natural clay and gravel soil at the bottom
of this raised bed, then put in a layer of compost and granite grit and
then a layer of coarse sand.  Plant in this and mulch with pea gravel. 
Does this sound like it will work.  Sounds like maybe I should add the
gravel and *then* plant through it??  The 'clay' drains well.  If you are 4
landscape timbers high, that would be about 12".  Is that right?  Mine was
going to be about half that.  Do you think I need a full 12" of 'scree'
materials to make this work?  I could, actually, increase the height of
this one bed if you think it necessary...have not done the edging yet --
been taking too long with the *&%$#@! grading.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
http://www.suite101.com

determined to grow G. renardii!
----------
> From: Susan Campanini <campanin@ntx1.cso.uiuc.edu>
> Date: Tuesday, August 19, 1997 5:45 PM
> 
> Marge:
> 	I have grown Geranium renardii in zone 5b, where the summers can
> be very humid, in a raised bed:  four landscape layers high with leaf
> mold at the bottom, sharp sand in the next layer, and pea gravel in the
> top layer.
> 	I placed the plant between two rocks (hard to find in IL) as
> David Victor suggests, and even though the scree soil I described gets
> mixed a little just by the trowel action, mostly the plant roots are in
> sand (with leaf mold reachable below by root growth) and the crown of
> the plant is in pure gravel.  The rocks help keep the roots cooler, I
> guess.
> 	Also, I would water quite a bit and maybe provide some temporary
> shade (an overturned pot?) until the plant is well established.
> 	The alpine geraniums are not easy to grow in the muggy Midwest,
> but they are truly lovely and worth the trouble.  Good luck!
> 
> Susan Campanini
> in east central Illinois
> zone 5b, min temp -15F?
> e-mail:  campanin@uiuc.edu
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