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scree beds

	Marge, the scree beds don't have to be four landscape timbers
high to drain well, but it makes for a nice height for middle-aged
gardeners to sit on for weeding!
I had some in my former garden that were three high and even a
one-railway-tie high bed that had alpine and rock garden plants that
needed drainage.
	I think the secret to drainage isn't so much the height (just
needed to hold or contain well-draining soil in flat Illinois) is plenty
of sharp sand and a generous top layer of gravel.  And yes, put down the
gravel before you plant anything.  After troweling up, there should be
some mixing of the compost, sand, and gravel, which is good, but you
want to add more gravel afterwards at the surface to smooth around the
plant's crown and make it look neat too.
	A gardening friend here who grows a lot of dryland Western rock
plants (like Eriogonum, Astragalus, Acantholimon, Oxytropis, etc.) uses
a raised scree about 8 inches high filled completely with sharp sand
only--and it's under an eave so it only gets water in the beginning when
he's establishing a new plant and when we have a long spell without rain
(not this summer...).

Susan Campanini
in east central Illinois
zone 5b, min temp -15F?
e-mail:  campanin@uiuc.edu
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