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The Cracked Pot Moss Rock Wall

Moss Rock with Cracked Pots

Moss Rock

I was recently back at a garden where I did a day of rock work last summer, a short section of moss rock wall along a sloping path. When I built the wall, the client and I incorporated a couple of cracked pots into the wall where it tapers into the slope, and then she transplanted a number of her succulents to plant along the wall and in the pots. It’s one of our only gardens in which the client is also a gardener, and it was nice to now see how her planting has begun to fill in. The plants in the cracked pots still need a little more time to spread, but I think they already look pretty cool.

Moss Rock with Cracked Pots

Moss Rock with Cracked Pots

The wall in the background was already there, built by the company who installed the garden five years ago. I like the choice of aloes to plant along the top of it; they do well there, and their pokiness discourages people from messing with the rocks.

Container

One of her containers

The garden is quite spectacular and worthy of a longer post some day. There are always things blooming and I usually take a few photos while I’m there; the shots of the swallowtail and prostanthera in my last post are from this garden. When the prostanthera is done, this member of the aster family will be in full bloom. I’m not sure what it is, but I like the look of the flower buds, and when it gets going, it puts on quite a show. Does anyone know it? I would try to figure it out, but the aster family is mighty big.

Some kind if Aster

Some kind of Aster

The Aster with Coleonema last May or June

The Aster with Coleonema last May or June

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10 Responses to “The Cracked Pot Moss Rock Wall”

  1. April 6th, 2010 at 8:21 am

    Noelle/azplantlady says:

    I love the idea of incorporating pots into the stone wall. I always enjoy working with clients who are gardeners. It makes my job so much more pleasurable 🙂

  2. April 6th, 2010 at 11:47 am

    Town Mouse says:

    What a great idea! I should start collecting pots, one day I want a little rock wall myself…

  3. April 6th, 2010 at 6:55 pm

    Barbara E says:

    I love the wall. The garden looks beautiful!

  4. April 7th, 2010 at 9:53 am

    ryan says:

    I agree, Noelle, clients who garden are the most interesting and enjoyable to work for.
    Watch out, Town Mouse rock work can be addicting…
    Thanks, Barbara E, on behalf of our gardener client who does the bulk of the maintenance and had the idea of the pots.

  5. April 8th, 2010 at 5:56 am

    Frances says:

    What a good idea, Ryan, to put those cracked pots in the wall like that. We always have pots with problems and hate to get rid of them, a great recyling idea. The wall you built looks gorgeous! 🙂

  6. April 8th, 2010 at 3:06 pm

    ryan says:

    It was a ll the client’s idea. She was unsure I would want to use them, but I thought it was a great idea. She has a few other things planted like that in the garden, as a way to deal with the slope.

  7. April 10th, 2010 at 9:09 pm

    lostlandscape (James) says:

    This sounds like a great client, someone with good ideas, someone that makes projects fun to do. And cracked pots are so much classier than the dead-car planters or toilets that you see in some gardens…

  8. April 11th, 2010 at 10:21 am

    ryan says:

    Yeah, I like when clients add more interest and variety to what I do. I’ve built a lot of moss rock walls, but this is the only one with cracked pots in it.
    I’m not a fan of the cars or toilets either, but I’ll admit to having a bathtub (buried in the ground) in my garden.

  9. May 14th, 2011 at 7:50 am

    DryStoneGarden » Blog Archive » The Bay Friendly Garden Tour says:

    […] posted about this garden a couple of times before, here and here. It’s a big garden, the size of a regular lot, on a steep hillside with a view of […]

  10. February 18th, 2012 at 11:03 pm

    Country Mouse says:

    I did some temporary edging around the borders of some largish beds with whatever came to hand, to mark the shape till I got the Real Rocks. A year or so ago. The edging is starting to accrue bits and pieces like your clients’ wall. broken pots and such. I was just sitting out there today for a quiet few mins, me and Rat, and realized I’m really enjoying it just the way it is!

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