The Rockery

There’s an updated version of this article here

This autumn we are beginning to transform the rockery into a flowering grassland area. Excuse the appearance with heras fencing, this will be replaced by a lower and more natural-looking barrier.

Creating an area that is less intensively managed than other areas of the gardens provides habitat for small mammals, amphibians and invertebrates. Many of these animals will act as natural pest control eg. frogs eat slugs, beetles eat grubs, ladybirds and hoverflies eat aphids.

The Beckenham Place Park volunteers will be working with the BPP Gardeners to grow the plants and maintain the area. We will be removing thistles and dock, but allowing most of the wildflowers (aka ‘weeds’) to grow, as natural regeneration from the existing seed bank is most beneficial for wildlife.

We will install a low barrier to deter people from entering the rockery area as there are concealed trip hazards and delicate plants and seedlings that could be damaged by trampling.

We will experiment to see which plants are happiest growing in long grass. In the spring we will plant out seedlings and sow wildflower seeds. Our initial plant list includes:

Galega                                   Galega officinalis

Foxglove                               Digitalis purpurea

Byzantine Gladiolus          Gladiolus byzantinus

Sweet Pea                            Lathyrus latifolius

Lady’s bedstraw                 Galium verum

Narrow-leaf Flax                Linum bienne

Common Mullein               Verbascum Thapsus

Common Cowslip               Primula veris

Wild Carrot                          Daucus carota

Evening Primrose               Oenethera biennis

Ox-Eye Daisy                       Leucanthemum vulgare

Harts Tongue Fern             Asplenium scolopendrium

Hard Shield Fern                Polystichum aculeatum