Arid section under glazed pergola.

I posted this in my thread on my pond in the water gardening section but it's probably of interest here. Note; contrary to popular advice the Agaves et al have been planted in 100% soil as opposed to gravel. I get away with this because they're protected from the rain. (I live in an area of high rainfall.)

Aeoniums, Evecherias, Cacti, Yucca Gloriosas, Agaves, Sempervivums. (All these plants stay outside all winter.)



½ of mound ground cover is Delosperma Cooperii, the other half is Sempervivum. Unfortunately sparrows keep unearthing a lot of the Sempervivums, sending them tumbling rosette over arse down to the bottom of the mound. The plastic owl has been put there recently as a deterrent.



Beschornerias.



Other side.



Lampranthus. (Dug it up recently from another position. Plonked it here where it looked as though it had given up the ghost but is now coming back. )



Chamaerops Humilis.





As you can see, pics were taken when it was raining but it stays dry under the pergola.

 

Everything looks good, rain in winter is always the bug bear.
Would you consider yourself to be in a reasonably mild winter area?

 

Looks really nice.

 

Hi Pete,

Generally mild with high rainfall but in Jan and Dec 2010 we hit -14°C with a high one day of -6°C. Normal winter lows would be around -6° to -8° but only for a day or two. I also have Echeverias and Lewisias outside in the rain in troughs. Eeeek! The Echeverias in the troughs are more stunted than those under cover but they have survived so far. It's better to have them under cover but I keep pushing the envelope!

I know I'm pushing a bit with the cacti and I lost 2 last winter but that was because we had horizontal rain all day, one day, that soaked everything under the pergola. Then we had frost! I must have angered the Weather Gods.

 

Looks very nice.

I agree, rain in winter could be a problem.
The best way to negate that is a combination of a rain cover over the tops of the plants and a very high grit content of the soil to provide drainage.

 

Moved my Sempervivums into a 1 metre diameter circular trough today.

 

That looks really good.....