Bzz Garage Gravel Garden
The Gravel Garden is our response to the record breaking temperatures in the summer of 2022. With very little water supply to the Bzz Garage, our wildflower section took a hit, and we decided that we needed to work with our changing climate, rather than battling against it.
With funding from Norwood Forum and Station to Station, as well as expert advise from The South London Botanical Institute, we established a small gravel garden full of drought-resilient plants that require very minimal watering, and will hopefully thrive in the sun spot on Rothschild Street!
With funding from Norwood Forum and Station to Station, as well as expert advise from The South London Botanical Institute, we established a small gravel garden full of drought-resilient plants that require very minimal watering, and will hopefully thrive in the sun spot on Rothschild Street!
How to make your own gravel garden
If you're looking for a low maintenance but beautiful garden with year round interest, gravel gardens may be exactly what you're looking for.
Choosing a location
The ideal spot is an area that gets a lot of sunlight and doesn't get waterlogged. Gravel gardens can go on top of any soil, though the ideal is sandy/gravelly soil. Ours is on West Norwood-clay soil, and seems to be thriving! If your soil is particularly clay-heavy, you could work in a bit of organic matter to make it a bit lighter.
Planning a layout
Decide on how big you want your gravel garden to be - get creative with sketches and layout designs. We ordered the majority of our plants from Beth Chatto's Plants and Gardens, which came with a layout we based ours off of. We changed it slightly knowing mostly our garden would be viewed from the front. We put the taller plants at the back, with the sprawling plants at the front.
Choosing gravel
There's loads of options for gravel out there. We went for a golden colour, at 10mm size. We calculated how much we needed by using the gravel calculators on building merchant's websites. This bit can be tricky to get right, so if you do have the ability to buy in person, this may be a safer bet as it's easier to return the bags you don't need. Although there's no harm in having extra, as sometimes gravel gardens can sink after a few years and need a small top up. We went for a 7cm depth, but there's a variety of recommendations out there.
Choosing plants
This is the fun bit! We recommend having a look at recommendations on reputable UK websites, such as RHS and Beth Chatto's Plants and Gardens. Think about colour, height, plant spread and year round interest. The plants that are thriving in our gravel garden are:
- achillea coarctata
- verbena
- stipa
- catananche caerulea
- iris
- armeria
Preparing the ground
We removed the top 7cm of soil that would be replaced with gravel, and dug out as many weeds as possible. Creating a border is advised so your gravel doesn't end up everywhere else! We used reclaimed bricks, but other borders could be from upcycled pallets, stones, or get creative with old crockery.
Planting
Using your plan, start putting your plants in the ground. Remember that gravel is going to go on top, so don't plant your plants soil level or they'll get covered in gravel. Some people may use landscaping fabric or weed suppressant at this stage, however we decided a more natural route and relied on the gravel to suppress the weeds, and we've been happy with the results.
We planted ours quite late in November, and did have a few failures. Spring or autumn is the ideal time, and hot months are to be avoided. Your drought-tolerant plants will love the sun, but they need a year to establish before they can handle the heat.
Aftercare
Do water your plants during dry spells occasionally during the first year while they establish. They'll need watering during their first summer, but by the next summer they'll barely need watering at all. During the 2023 June heatwave, we only watered ours once a week, and then hardly ever the rest of the summer!
Weed when you can, most will be easy to remove thanks to the gravel, but dandelions are hardy so make sure to get them early!
Check out the gallery below for our gravel garden creation and result!
Choosing a location
The ideal spot is an area that gets a lot of sunlight and doesn't get waterlogged. Gravel gardens can go on top of any soil, though the ideal is sandy/gravelly soil. Ours is on West Norwood-clay soil, and seems to be thriving! If your soil is particularly clay-heavy, you could work in a bit of organic matter to make it a bit lighter.
Planning a layout
Decide on how big you want your gravel garden to be - get creative with sketches and layout designs. We ordered the majority of our plants from Beth Chatto's Plants and Gardens, which came with a layout we based ours off of. We changed it slightly knowing mostly our garden would be viewed from the front. We put the taller plants at the back, with the sprawling plants at the front.
Choosing gravel
There's loads of options for gravel out there. We went for a golden colour, at 10mm size. We calculated how much we needed by using the gravel calculators on building merchant's websites. This bit can be tricky to get right, so if you do have the ability to buy in person, this may be a safer bet as it's easier to return the bags you don't need. Although there's no harm in having extra, as sometimes gravel gardens can sink after a few years and need a small top up. We went for a 7cm depth, but there's a variety of recommendations out there.
Choosing plants
This is the fun bit! We recommend having a look at recommendations on reputable UK websites, such as RHS and Beth Chatto's Plants and Gardens. Think about colour, height, plant spread and year round interest. The plants that are thriving in our gravel garden are:
- achillea coarctata
- verbena
- stipa
- catananche caerulea
- iris
- armeria
Preparing the ground
We removed the top 7cm of soil that would be replaced with gravel, and dug out as many weeds as possible. Creating a border is advised so your gravel doesn't end up everywhere else! We used reclaimed bricks, but other borders could be from upcycled pallets, stones, or get creative with old crockery.
Planting
Using your plan, start putting your plants in the ground. Remember that gravel is going to go on top, so don't plant your plants soil level or they'll get covered in gravel. Some people may use landscaping fabric or weed suppressant at this stage, however we decided a more natural route and relied on the gravel to suppress the weeds, and we've been happy with the results.
We planted ours quite late in November, and did have a few failures. Spring or autumn is the ideal time, and hot months are to be avoided. Your drought-tolerant plants will love the sun, but they need a year to establish before they can handle the heat.
Aftercare
Do water your plants during dry spells occasionally during the first year while they establish. They'll need watering during their first summer, but by the next summer they'll barely need watering at all. During the 2023 June heatwave, we only watered ours once a week, and then hardly ever the rest of the summer!
Weed when you can, most will be easy to remove thanks to the gravel, but dandelions are hardy so make sure to get them early!
Check out the gallery below for our gravel garden creation and result!