Re: Hypertufa and green walls

I have been wanting to do a retaining wall out of hypertufa rocks for many years. I just need to get a round tuit! The longivity of the hypertufa is irrelevent unless you are using it to hold back something which is not a good idea in the firat place. Most damageis done in the curing stage or when a though is moved. You never have frost damage as you would with clay or sandstone assuming you use a reinforcement like polymesh.. Partial deterioration is very desireable anayway because it gives more crevices for the roots and the plants to meander thru. Half deteriorated troughs are highly prized bcause they look more ancient. The idea is to drill or chisel holes in the stone but not comepletelt thru rathere than spreading the roots out. So many inpossible to grow plants such a Lewisia do great if they can grow vertically and not have water sitting in the crown. The climate here is suited to Lewisias if they grow vertically and are grown in a rain shadow like the east side and are only watered in the spring. Many people have tremendous ucess by using a clay slurry to cement the plants into the hole. Clay in a vertical surface doesn't get much moisture and the roots get air thru the hypertufa. The roots will root into the pores of the hypertufa (if it was not made too dense). Excess water will drain thru the hypertufa as well as provide a moisture source and contribute to evaporative cooling. Using cinder block concrete rubble or anthing similar is typically used to add height without requires use of stone to inulate bedrock. This also tends to isolate the the bed from earthworms and soil pathogens. The trouble with lava rock is that it does hold moisture. The hypertufa does because of the peat moss and perlite. Think muffins where the goal is to have tiny air pockets and not overworking or packing the mix too tight. Hey, I wonder if blueberry hypertufa would work? The the surface scum from the wet surface needs to be brushed with a wire brush to open up the pores and remove the concrete look. With a drip line across the top you caould have a morraine with a fen at the bottom. You could totally avoid any overhead watering that way. Most losses to alpines are due to the crown not drying out like they would with the strong winds on a mountain top. Anaerobic rots can't take all the wind. The creeping plox will still be ruined because it always rains for several days when they are in peak bloom! Speaking of phlox I got a wonderful tiny mounding bright rose-red one called crackerjack. I have wanted to do some recipe testing to see what is best for blocks. Mini styrofoam ice coolers would made a good mold with the bottom cut off I think. The fragilty of removing a mold from a block would not be as bad as with a trough. I have used styrofoam batts for making troughs.
Frank Cooper
central Illinois
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