Re: Sempervivums


Most of my front garden is concrete (shame, I know, but it's
the only place to park the car).  Separating us from our
neighbours is a strip of earth 9-12 inches wide, 8-9 feet
long.  We've lived here a long time and only kept the weeds
down - I did at one time think of putting some plants in,
but when I investigated I discovered the soil was only 2-3
inches deep, hitting concrete just below that.  Anyway,
during the winter I decided to grow some Houseleeks
(sempervivums) because they're happy to be shallow rooted.
So I've grown some seeds and the seedlings have thrived and
will be ready to plant out sometime soon.  The soil there is
completely lacking in nutrients, baked hard as concrete in
this dry summer (I'll give it a good soak before planting).
We intend putting plastic on top of the soil to stop weeds
and some sort of gravel on top to make it look pretty.  Can
somebody help me on this?  Do you think I should replace the
soil completely for something more nutritious, add compost
to what's there, add grit to what's there or just leave it
as it is?  I know Houseleeks don't need much in the way of
soil.  I love seeing them on roofs - when we were at
Christopher Lloyd's garden at Great Dixter in the spring,
there's an ancient roof that sweeps down to almost ground
level with some Houseleeks growing on it - there was no soil
there at all.  Anyway, if anyone can come up with
suggestions of what might be best to do, I would be very
grateful.

Thanks,

Louise, southern England

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