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Containers for Gardening with Alpine Plants

© Diana Pederson

Rock gardening has always been associated with rather strenuous work. It involved moving massive rocks and lugging tons of sand and gravel. This is impossible for me but I've developed a deep interest in learning to grow these miniature plants (and eventually shrubs) well.

I've spent the last several weeks trying to find ways to make rock gardening easier for myself and other disabled gardeners. This past Saturday I had the joy of participating in one of the Rock Garden Society meetings in Michigan. One of the gardens I was able to visit had the perfect solution. Let's look at the example I saw this weekend, and then consider some less expensive alternatives for those just wanting to experiment with these plants.

Wooden Horse Troughs

One of the newest fads seems to be to construct waist high wooden horse troughs of deck wood planks. These should be constructed by someone experienced in carpentry work. These should also be considered permanent fixtures - not something to be moved around.

You can adapt this to your needs. I would suggest measuring a comfortable work height for you and having the top of the trough level with that height. This would work if you were in a wheelchair too--just make it high enough for you to work easily. Dimensions are pretty much up to you, as are the length and width. If you are in a wheelchair, I'd suggest you make it as long as you wish, but have the width be no more than 18-24 inches depending on your reach length.

Since you will be growing miniature shrubs and plants, I suggest a depth of 18 inches of soil mixture is adequate. One of the garden visitors (mentioned above) asked what the fill in the trough was. She found out it had an old sink,and other odds and ends for about half the 38" depth. The growing media was a mix of gravel, sand, and soil. We didn't get the exact composition but it should be based on the needs of the plant you select.

In addition to plants, pieces of tufa rock were buried partway to make it look like a mountainous terrain. The whole trough was made to be a garden scene complete with a home, miniature garden tools, etc. These could be challenging to your imagination! Perhaps you would like to mimic a particular natural scene you enjoy?

Gravel was used as a mulch. A miniature gentian, columbine and several other plants were in full bloom. It created a wonderful scene and brought plants to a height that made it easy to study them carefully.