The Garden Community for Garden Lovers

Steps to stream.


Steps to stream.

These steps lead down into the stream. My husband uses them when he has to get in to clear weeds from the stream bed.
I just look at them!



Comments on this photo

 

These are so pretty. A neat idea. Did you plant seeds in the cracks of the steps? How did this arrangement come about?

9 Apr, 2009

 

I'm so sorry I posted this twice - not sure how!

No, the plants just grew there naturally. I think there's a small amount of silt left from when the stream floods, enough for the plants to take hold.

9 Apr, 2009

 

Great that this formed naturally Spritz................

9 Apr, 2009

 

They survive being submarine plants sometimes, too!

9 Apr, 2009

 

This is very attractive, Spritz.
Looks like the plants are cascading down....
maybe that's because they know what it is like to be under water. Lol. :o)

9 Apr, 2009

 

Thanks - on the right, there's a Phlox subulata, so there's more colour later on. That has stayed above water (so far!)

9 Apr, 2009

 

lovely picture!

9 Apr, 2009

 

very nice!

10 Apr, 2009

 

How lovely. I love how nature finds a way to fill in the cracks. lol. Goes to show what great stuff is growing in the garden as well. :-)

11 Apr, 2009

 

I am intending to try to get something growing along the bottom step, too - but husband filled all the gaps very well, so I may not succeed.

11 Apr, 2009

 

Very Sweet Spritz..love it..

14 Apr, 2009

 

Thanks, Cat!

14 Apr, 2009

 

These look Fab Spritz ,Iv been planting along My Lttle Steps 2 try & get a similiar effect :)

14 Apr, 2009

 

I think I saw a post a while ago when you were having all the water troubles and you wrote of the steps and the flowers growing in the niches...nice to see it in bloom!! lovely feature.

14 Apr, 2009

 

Wonderfully natural and a lovely mix of colours.

14 Apr, 2009

 

There is nothing more beautifuly than natural planting! Is it Aubritia or companula the blue, I am surprised to see primroses growing out of the cracks. The old stone makes a lovely setting.

14 Apr, 2009

 

It's aubrieta - but thanks for the idea! A spreading campanula would be a good one to try to establish on the bottom step!

You are right, it could be VERY old stone. No idea how long the steps have been there.

14 Apr, 2009

 

How lovely to have such beautiful old steps, a treasure to begin with and then the plants growing in the cracks, wonderful.

14 Apr, 2009

 

Yes, I look at the old stones of the house and steps and the bridge and think of all the history they've seen! King Henry the 8th was on the throne - or was it H the 7th - when the house was built!

14 Apr, 2009

 

How lucky for you to have such history in your garden.

14 Apr, 2009

 

Very nice, Spritz. The stone shows off the primroses very well. Wish we had a stream.

15 Apr, 2009

 

It's lovely when it just burbles along, but after heavy rain when it rises...and rises...and floods the lower lawn, I get twitchy! The village gets cut off as this stream goes right through it - there's a ford about 20 yards from our gate.

15 Apr, 2009

 

Was it between 1485 and 1509, Spritz? Course we know what lies on the other side of the Bristol Channel...maybe one of Henry Tudor's allies or family lived there? Do you have access to copies of old land deeds? What is it like to live in a place with such history? I think you are very lucky...but perhaps you have pause to consider when the water is rising!?
:-)!

15 Apr, 2009

 

Yes - it has been dated at 1508. We have had a historical survey done and know a whole lot about who lived here... it was a Yeoman Farmer, well-off - the signs are there if you know what to look for! Obviously a lot has changed - originally it was thatched.

Our deeds are in the County Archives. We haven't actuallty seen them, only the more modern ones as far back as the early 1900s.

We both feel very, very lucky to live here. We love it!

15 Apr, 2009

 

looks lovely

15 Apr, 2009

 

Very nice.

16 Apr, 2009

 

The steps look lovely Spritz and your house sounds great,history is something that has always interested me and you are surrounded by it ,if only walls could talk.............

16 Apr, 2009

 

Just precious! It's amazing how it self seeded. Nature never stops amazing me.

16 Apr, 2009

 

Are the primroses wild ones? I have wild primroses growing by my brook Spritz - they must like the wet conditions. They self seed all over the place and are such a vibrant yellow.

16 Apr, 2009

 

If the bottom step is the most likely to flood, how about water forget-me-not there?

16 Apr, 2009

 

We had that actually in the stream, Andrew - but husband has to clear the bed of the stream out regularly and it went! Today he has drilled some holes in the cement so I can squeeeeeze in two or three small plants! one will be a Campanula and the other I think will be my Erigeron karvinskanus. I don't think the water forget-me-not would be small enough for the holes!

16 Apr, 2009

Sid
Sid
 

Very lovely :-)

16 Apr, 2009

 

Thanks, Sid.

Yes, Dawn - they are wild primroses.

16 Apr, 2009

 

Really good idea what you've done and looks great. I have steps down to my brook down a grassy bank so the grass encroaches so it wouldnt work for me :-(

16 Apr, 2009

 

Shame - I love looking at my steps! :-)

16 Apr, 2009

 

I love looking at your steps too ... going to add your pic to my favourites :)

16 Apr, 2009

 

Thank you, Dawn - I am very touched! :-)

16 Apr, 2009

 

Lovely Spritz x

17 Apr, 2009

 

Gorgeous. So natural!

17 Apr, 2009

 

Hi there Spritz... I think this is the lovliest photo I have seen on here and there are some real beauties... i have steps too ...their history?? slabs and logs about 18 months ago!!! I have tried to plant small pots of campanulas/aubretia but there doesn't seem to be enough soil, if any, to sustain them... it never occurred to me to try seeds, i may have more luck with a drill and a packet.... you are inspirational, as always!

18 Apr, 2009

 

Thank you - what a lovely compliment!

18 Apr, 2009

 

Your steps are beautiful and you are an inspiration to me. Next summer I will try planting on the edges of the steps. Can't do the middle as we walk on these a lot, buy what a great idea.

3 Dec, 2009

 

I'm glad you found this, Valerie - I love my steps, and I'm glad you'd like to do the same in your garden!

4 Dec, 2009

 

just found this website and asked advice on brightening up my old,slippy,steep,narrow,v. old,utterly beautiful quartz veined steps leading to my postage stamp of concrete,surrounded by 20ft high walls and single basement flat door into my cavern/cave of a dwelling!Ha,only a stream u have....when it rains heavily here in the british riviera my steps transform into niagra falls,then filling the yard,11inches deep last time,and undeterred by a 3inch step it continues to create a stream down the now carpetless hall,maybe mangrove or bullrushes are my best bet!

10 Jun, 2011

 

p.s. your natural,country flower waterfall is stunning,i would be scrutinizing any footfall near it lest they dare to crush so much as a tendril,more beautiful than any carefully planned regimentally placed flowerbed.do u sell cuttings? better still,lets swap steps!

10 Jun, 2011

 

LOL. No thanks - I like mine! I do agree about anyone daring to walk down them, though. especially if the plants are in flower. Thanks for the lovely comments. :-)

10 Jun, 2011



Comment on this photo


Pictures by spritzhenry
2077 of 5902

  • Euphorbia_polychroma_2
  • Stripy_tulip_1

What else?

Members who like this photo

  • Gardening with friends since
    7 Feb, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    30 Jul, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    4 Apr, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    14 Aug, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    11 Mar, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    19 Feb, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    11 Jan, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    29 Jul, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    23 Mar, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    4 Mar, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    22 Jan, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    13 Mar, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    4 Feb, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    26 Feb, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    28 Feb, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    27 Sep, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    12 Feb, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    18 May, 2007

  • Gardening with friends since
    13 Apr, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    29 Mar, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    19 Sep, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    22 Oct, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    16 Feb, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    19 Mar, 2009

  • Sid
    Sid

    Gardening with friends since
    29 Feb, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    18 Oct, 2007

  • Gardening with friends since
    5 Apr, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    19 Jul, 2007

  • Gardening with friends since
    17 Jun, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    1 Apr, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    18 Oct, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    27 Oct, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    28 Nov, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    22 Mar, 2010

  • Gardening with friends since
    14 May, 2010

  • Gardening with friends since
    16 Mar, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    18 Mar, 2013

  • Gardening with friends since
    18 Feb, 2012