A must ground cover plant for a dry climate
Anyone who has seen a carpet of Ice Plant (Lampranthus roseus) in full colour cannot help but be impressed, if not moved. I don't think there's anything quite like it in the gardening world. When covering a reasonably significant area, say from 5 square meters, the flowers form a kind of wave, which not only provides staggering colour, but texture and "movement" as well The Ice Plant is a succulent from South Africa, and apart from the hottest desert areas, can be grown when established, virtually without irrigation. Compared to annuals, which in a Mediterranean climate require at least 1000mm (1000 liters per square meter) of water a year, that is some saving!
In order to get satisfactory results from your Ice Plants, I suggest the following fairly easy, but essential steps:
· Plant in the autumn/winter, not in the summer or spring. In this way the plants should be established before the summer.
· When in flower, do not wait for the last of the flowers to die off, rather, "give-up" on the last 25% or so, and lightly clip the plants, using sheers or even a hedge trimmer. By doing this vegetative growth is encouraged, and instead of an increasingly leggy and balding mess, you get a nice clean (if unspectacular) compact ground cover during the summer, lovely winter growth, followed by the amazing display in the spring. Lampranthus should not be pruned back to the wood.
· During the winter, which is its growing season, prune some cuttings, say 10 cm in length, and just stick them in the ground. As Lampranthus tends to degenerate after a few years, planting a certain percentage of the area each year, will allow for continual rejuvenation of the bed.
Jonathan Ya'akobi
About Me:
· I've been a professional gardener in Israel for nearly 25 years
· I am the former head gardener of the Jerusalem Botanical Garden
· I now design and create gardens for private home owners
· And now:
I am the owner of a web site dedicated to the home gardener in a dry climate
See you at www.dryclimategardening.com
In order to get satisfactory results from your Ice Plants, I suggest the following fairly easy, but essential steps:
· Plant in the autumn/winter, not in the summer or spring. In this way the plants should be established before the summer.
· When in flower, do not wait for the last of the flowers to die off, rather, "give-up" on the last 25% or so, and lightly clip the plants, using sheers or even a hedge trimmer. By doing this vegetative growth is encouraged, and instead of an increasingly leggy and balding mess, you get a nice clean (if unspectacular) compact ground cover during the summer, lovely winter growth, followed by the amazing display in the spring. Lampranthus should not be pruned back to the wood.
· During the winter, which is its growing season, prune some cuttings, say 10 cm in length, and just stick them in the ground. As Lampranthus tends to degenerate after a few years, planting a certain percentage of the area each year, will allow for continual rejuvenation of the bed.
Jonathan Ya'akobi
About Me:
· I've been a professional gardener in Israel for nearly 25 years
· I am the former head gardener of the Jerusalem Botanical Garden
· I now design and create gardens for private home owners
· And now:
I am the owner of a web site dedicated to the home gardener in a dry climate
See you at www.dryclimategardening.com
posted by Jonathan at 6:20 AM
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