A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Tone down a rock wall

I have a 3' high 25' long boulder wall in front of my house. The street is higher then the front of the house so this wall is a retaining wall. It is made of huge boulders that are quite white in color. Does anyone ? I planted ivy last year but the field mice over the winter(snow covered) ate everything to the ground . I saw a show on starting moss over the rocks, looked interesting but I am unsure. Interested in any ideas .

Thanks

BFVISION

I'm thinking that if it is a retaining wall you don't want to put any plants on it that would put their roots into the mortar and weaken the wall. Maybe it was a good idea that the mice got the ivy. I've painted rocks in the service but it didn't stick all that well...which was fine with them they had a never ending supply of labor lol. Epoxy paint is used on cement floors in garages but I have no idea how that would work on rocks.

Ok here is a thought. Tressle(sp) in front of the rocks and mount planters on the tressle(sp). Then plant all kinds of pretty things.

Consider growing an annual rambling plant like nasturtiums. Many different colours and varieties available and they look great in mass plantings. They require little looking after and i don't reckon critters would eat 'em. They'll die off in winter anyway and self seed prolifically. I don't think roots moving a 3' high rock wall is likely to be a problem unless you plant an oak tree on it. Does the wall have mortar holding the rocks or is it drystone/ If they're boulders i don't imagine there's mortar so there'll be plenty of nooks n crannies to poke a few seeds.

No Mortar, lots of space. I am interested in your advice. Can you tell me more about this plant?

I have some of that in the cement container. I bought the bright red although mine hasn't bloomed yet. From what I understand there are suppose to be two types one hangs down and one stands upright. I have the one that hangs down.

I punched nasturtiums into the google and there's a wealth of info. Plenty of pics if you include 'images' in your search too.

Basically they're a rambling vine type of plant. They don't attach themselves as they grow though and are easy to cleanup. A herb i believe.

They're used extensively by organic growers as a pest repellant and companion plant to repel damaging nematodes and eelworm.. The leaves taste a bit peppery and are ok on a roast beef sandwich.

There are colours of red, orange, yellow and probably others. As TKH suggests some like to hang and others tend to stand or climb.

I'd be inclined to get the hanging ones and on the area you're talking about i'd plant all the same colour together in sections along the wall. More toward the top of the wall. A single colour for say 10' then another different one will have a more eyecatching effect than planting them mixed up. If you can shovel a bit of decent soil into the gaps to get them started and then go along and just push the seeds in less than an inch you'd be right. You'll need a lot of seeds. Proably a few hundred. They're the size of a pea and you'll get about 30-50 per packet i reckon. Just check for the germination temps in your area before you plant them. If the soil is still cold don't water them or they'll rot. Just plant and wait till it warms. If it rains then you're away. Once they get going they flower and dump seeds everywhere. Not all will germinate next year but another shovel full of soil over the top come thaw would certainly help. You can collect the seeds. Once the first flowers start to die off they'll be developing and they keep well. Lift the vine and look underneath. There'll be gazzillions of them.

Oh yeah, to get that green weathered look on the rocks spray the rocks with milk. It'll get fungus and algae growing.

Sounds smelly!! But is a great idea!!!