Garden troughs simple to create
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Garden troughs simple to create
By ANNIE ADDINGTON
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
A century ago, rectangular stone troughs dotted the landscape in rural England, where they served as water basins for horses.
Then, as modern farmers and their horses moved on to metal troughs, the old stone troughs became vessels for British gardeners who filled the troughs with herbs and flowers.
Over time, the hobby took hold in the U.S. and beyond - and the troughs themselves grew scarce and costly. Now some gardeners are making their own scaled-down artificial replicas of the old stone troughs.
With just a few ingredients - some pure Portland cement, perlite, and peat moss - you can make your own hypertufa trough, designed to look 100 years old from the day it's crafted.
Louise and Warren Aldrich, who live half-time in Pine Mountain, Ga., and half-time in Atlanta, have been gardening together for decades - with Louise serving as master garden designer and flower connoisseur. But over the past several years they've made trough gardening their shared specialty.
The Aldriches, both New York natives, became experts in trough building and trough planting as they experimented with the art after watching a demonstration several years ago at the Southeastern Flower Show in Atlanta. Now Warren, a retired computer software company owner who recently turned 80, even builds wooden carts with wheels so that he can roll the heavy troughs around with ease.
Together, he and Louise, working mostly on a volunteer basis, hold trough gardening workshops for The State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens, for Callaway Gardens and for local garden clubs.
But with a little inspiration, a wheelbarrow, a garden hose, some plastic gloves and clothes you don't mind getting messy, it's also a project you can tackle yourself.
One essential ingredient in the hypertufa trough recipe is pure Portland cement, which typically comes in 90-pound bags. Warren warns against trying to get by with a smaller bag of Quikrete ready-mix cement: Because there's excess sand in the mix, the trough will never solidify properly and will break, he said.
'You don't want to use it,' Warren said. 'If you do, you fail.'
Trough-making requires an eye for imperfection. Rather than smoothing out the surface of a trough, it's best to leave things bumpy and then, once it's dry, use a steel brush on the surface to add to the aged effect.
Troughs also make excellent miniature herb gardens. Louise recommends using rosemary or chives for nice upright plants at the back, purple basil to add color, and trailing oregano (or ivy or creeping Jenny) for foliage that will spill over the sides. Add parsley to introduce another shade of green to the mix.
Of course troughs can also serve as containers for annual or perennial flowers or for a mix of ferns. Louise and Warren place their planted troughs both indoors and outdoors at their homes in Longleaf and in Atlanta - and they've given dozens more to friends and family.
They expect the weathered looking containers will just about last forever.
Recipe for a trough garden
Ingredients: 24-inch-by-10-foot long rabbit wire (chicken wire is too flimsy); a 1-inch-long piece of plastic pipe; a 16-by-16-inch piece of plywood or -inch-thick masonite to set your mold on while making the trough; 90 pounds of Portland cement; two bags of perlite or vermiculite; 1 cubic bales of peat moss.
Yield: About six 24-by-12-inch hypertufa troughs (or more smaller troughs)
1. Cut rabbit wire into 24-inch lengths and, using gloves, build either rectangular or round molds. The sides should be about 4 inches high.
2. Use the piece of plastic pipe as the drain hole. Apply tape on both ends to prevent the mixture from clogging the hole while the trough is being made. Set aside.
3. Wearing plastic gloves, mix the following ingredients in a wheelbarrow with water until the mixture has the consistency of cottage cheese: One part vermiculite or perlite; two parts Portland cement; three parts peat moss. Do not use too much water.
4. Place mixture about 1 inch thick on masonite board or plywood. (The board allows you to move the trough while it's wet and prevents it from cracking). Spread until it is the size of the mold. Press the drain hole into the mixture. Then place your mold on the mixture and press mold into the mixture.
5. Pretend you are a sculptor as you form the mixture around your mold. Cover the bottom of the mold with the mixture until the rabbit wire does not show. The sides should cover the wire mold and be about 1 inch thick. Remember, the rougher it looks, the more realistic the finished trough will appear. Once the trough is completely dry (after four to five days), brush with a steel brush to enhance its aged look.
6. Finally, use a pencil to poke a hole in the drain hole. And plant the trough.
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