Our experts tackle your gardening queries, including poorly box plants, a forked fern frond and a cluster of strange, egg-like objects
Anne Swithinbank
A keen fruit, vegetable and house-plant grower, Anne was formerly the glasshouse supervisor at RHS Garden Wisley.
Ashley Edwards
As a head gardener with charity Horatio’s Garden, Ashley enjoys sharing his passion for plants.
Pippa Greenwood
Pippa is one of the foremost experts on pests and diseases. She gardens using organic methods.
Q What can I plant as a ‘lawn’ in our gravel garden?
Steph Jarrett, by email
A ASHLEY SAYS It’s great to think of lawn alternatives, as turf is often very high maintenance, and if mown regularly, provides little attraction to pollinators and other beneficial insects.
I would recommend trying chamomile. It has attractive, blue-grey foliage and daisy-like flowers which pollinators adore. The best part of this plant is the scent. It’s reminiscent of apples and will release the scent if you walk on it or crush the leaves. You will need to deadhead it to stop the plant from becoming patchy, or go for the dwarf, non-flowering variety ‘Treneague’.
Another option to consider if the conditions are very dry is plants from the thyme family. Again, these are highly scented plants and form a spreading carpet with beautiful flowers in summer. They are very attractive to pollinators and come in variegated forms. They will love the protected conditions of a sunny walled garden.
A ANNE SAYS First, consider bedding some simulated stone slabs into the gravel to create a variety of textures. You would only need a few of these, to create a couple of informal areas and perhaps a boundary to your ‘lawn’.
The classic plant choice here is non-flowering lawn chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile ‘Treneague’), admired for the softness of its fine, aromatic fern-like foliage. Or for colour, evergreen, aromatic creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum) is covered in a haze of purple-pink flowers in summer, attracting bees and other pollinators.
Use just one cultivar of any given species so that you have the same shade all over, or use different ones for a tapestry of white, pink, purple and red. Both lawn chamomile and creeping thyme are low, creeping plants but a trim towards the end of the season will keep growth tight an
