Work on Arid Bed

[Dave Brown]

It is that time of year when the Arid bed needs tidying. There is a fair bit of damage and some plants have not survived.

I started off with the large Agave americana. This has opened out to almost horizontal over the last year following on from the roots rotting and the plant falling over.

More to come on this but a bit tired tonight after 12 hours in the garden

[stephenprudence]

Still looks very good though despite the pruning Dave, do you have any more photos of the arid bed?

[Dave Brown]

I didn't take a pic of the whole bed yesterday, but will take one today.

Agave salmiana was not as hardy as I thought, and even though under the edge of the Chamaerops canopy suffered quite a lot of damage.

I tidied it up but it was quite difficult as the leaves are still mush and goo. There was a sweet fermenting smell so I probably have my own Tequila

It is now growing well so will recover by mid summer I guess.

[daz]

Very nice dave!!!! very nice indeed mate

[Nigel Fear]

That Americana's still a fine specimum Dave, and the A.Salmiana should recover soon enough hopefully.

How about the Opuntia's are they badly affected from the winter, I can't focus on them from here?

[smurnan]

How deep is the gravel Dave?

I've got clay soil and anything other than a raised bed full of gravel and I lose the plants. I'm thinking of just using pots in the future. At least i can move them out of the rain for the winter.

Nice agaves btw.

[Dave Brown]

Steve, I dug out about 12 inches of clay. The Northern edge is above ground level so is a semi raised bed. The bed was filled with about 6 inches gravel with 6 inches of ballast on top, then gravel and rocks on the surface.

Also SEE HERE

[metalhammer]

You lot would love my soil,4 feet of free draining valley bottom loam over gravel beds.Waterlogging ain't problem,keeping it wet in summer is.




metalhammer.

[becky]

they still look good Dave , my salmiana looks the same as yours, will it take long to recover from the winter damage and shall i just cut of the lower mushy bits, it stinks

becky

[Dave Brown]

Opuntia Santa Rita looks dead. The pads just did not root over the last 2 years and it does not look good now, so maybe I've lost it.

Opuntia robusta is looking good, in a coarse sort of way, and the Opuntia trichophora, which I was told was only hardy if perfectly dry, is looking good as well

Finally Opuntia robusta is showing signs of growth, which is earlier than I expected.

[Dave Brown]

Started planting out the other half of the Arid bed over the Bank Holiday. This bit did not get as much sun due to next door's conifer, so was shaded from around 2pm. Now the conifer was cut back last autumn and felled a couple of weeks ago the only shade is the 18 foot tall Trachycarpus and cordyline. This means it get partial shade around 2 to 3pm then a bit more sun in the afternoon. As a result I have planted up with more cacti this year

The advantage of planting in almost pure ballast is that the tender cacti like Golden Barrel can be lifted easily in October and overwintered in dry ballast in pots, then planted out maybe in a different place in late spring.

Not finished yet, and don't like taking pics of cacti in cloudy conditions as it looks unatural, so waited for the sun to shine for this

[stephenprudence]

Looking good Dave, I've gone down the road of planting stuff in pots as well, such as an Aloe variegata which despite its lack of hardiness is growing very very well.

Arids in general are doing very well because of the amount of sun this year so far and having too much rain.

Are your cacti starting to flower yet?

[Dave Brown]

Looking good Dave, I've gone down the road of planting stuff in pots as well

I think you misunderstood Stephen The large Tricerotops (can remember dinosaurs, but never cacti names) looks similar anyway. is in a pot as too heavy, and with 2 inch spines, to move safely otherwise, but all the others are planted out in the ballast. They are easy to dig out as the ballast does not consolidate and the roots are not damaged getting it back out.

Arids in general are doing very well because of the amount of sun this year so far and having too much rain.

Have you left a negative out somewhere Stephen "They are doing well having too much rain" .

We certainly are having a lot of sun, but more than that the atmophere is so clear. I am sitting here today in summer sunshine but with winter clarity to the air. The sky is normally more white than blue at this time of year. Certainhly the bluest summer sky I have seen in the UK.

Yes some look like flower buds are forming.

[stephenprudence]

Ah yes Dave I understand now.

I meant not too much rain I'm surprised I didn't notice that

Glad to hear the sky is crystal clear where you are Dave, unfortunately pollution, humidity and other things mean we have that milky white sky you mention, but there has been more cases of clear sky recently.

Didn't stop a greenhouse rainsed Opuntia being burnt though!

[Dave Brown]

There are two with flower buds

Ferocactus pilosus Edit: Name changed on Chalk Brow's advice

and Opuntia pottsii

This was O pottsii in flower in July 2009