Vegetation

Eventually, there will be some details of the plants used around the railway. For an erstwhile botanist, there's an embarrassing paucity of first hand information here at the moment.

As I was particularly looking for inspiration of a horticultural nature at the time I started compiling the Library, I'll include here a few comments culled from some of those books, just to get us started. Later on, I'll try to add some of my own thoughts in the light of experience in our own Hampshire chalk pit!

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Landscapes in Miniature by John Constable

The obvious place to start if you want to know what to plant so that your railway doesn't look like a scene from “The Day of the Triffids”!

Here's a list of recommended plants from the book, but you'll need to read the notes for more details. These are all miniature plants, so ‘shrub’ means a miniature shrub! Actually, the book recommends working to a scale of 1:32 (about 9½mm to 1’). So we should be OK with our scale!

Just remember that, “a slight difference in a long name may make a large difference in the habit. For instance, Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Caespitosa’  is five times smaller than Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Rigida’. You will see from this that ‘near enough’ is not good enough”!

Plants Arenaria balearica (Corsican sandwort) Calluna vulgaris ‘Foxii Nana’ (heather) Frankenia laevis Mentha requienii Minuartia imbricata Potentilla eriocarpa Raoulia:    R. australis    R. glabra    R. lutescens Sagina boydii Scleranthus biflorus (knawel) Viola yakusimana Shrubs Arcterica nana Berberis ‘Corallina Compacta’ Cotoneaster congestus nanus Genista sagittalis pilosa minor Jasminum parkeri Rhododendron radicans Rubus arcticus Thymus ‘Doone Valley’ Tsusiophyllum tanakae

Deciduous trees Betula nana (birch) Salix (willow):    S. boydii    S. herbacea    S. hylematica    S. myrsinites    S. retusa Sorbus reducta (mountan ash) Syringa velutina (palibiniana) (lilac) Ulmus parvifolia (elm) Zelkova nivea (elm) Conifers Abies balsamea hudsonia Chamaecyparis:    C. obtusa ‘Nana Caespitosa’    C. obtusa ‘Nana’    C. obtusa ‘Kosterii’    C. obtusa ‘Pygmata’    C. pisifera ‘Boulevard’    C. pisifera ‘Nana’    C. pisifera ‘Nana Aureovariegata’    C. pisifera ‘Nana Variegata’    C. pisifera ‘Plumosa Compressa’ Cryptomeria japonica ‘Vilmoriniana’ Juniperus communis ‘Compressa’ Picea abies ‘Pygmaea’ Picea mariana ‘Nana’ Thuja orientalis ‘Minima’

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Steam in Your Garden by Tag Gorton

Tag's notion of horticulture is more akin to modelling than gardening and just what we need! It seems to come down to just a mixture of small conifers, alpines, stone and gravel, and the ubiquitous Corsican Sandwort (Arenaria balearica) and ‘Mind-Your-Own-Business’ alias ‘Babies Tears’ (Soleirolia soleirolii). And that's all there is to it!

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Railways in Your Garden by David Pratt

This book has some things to say about the suitability of various plants:

• Dwarf conifers: check carefully that they are dwarf and not just slow-growing varieties. Consider size of leaves for proprtion, spreading habit (if any), rate of growth and overall shape. Some specimens can be made more tree-like (hence less shrub-like) by removing the lower branches and revealing a trunk.
• Box (Buxus) and Lonicera nitida can be trimmed to create miniature trees or hedges. Cuttings (clippings) are easy to grow on.
• Miniature flowering shrubs: Some of the Hebes with small leaves and flowers but choose carefully. Likewise with some of the Potentillas which provide colour with small dog-rose shaped blooms all summer though they are leafless in winter.
• On acid soil, dwarf azaleas can look like stunning full-size rhododendrons.
• Miniature roses, especially ground cover varieties, can look effective.
• Euonymus varieties, if kept trim, provide evergreen foliage.
• Heathers are versatile but few will tolerate a limey soil. Those that will, are limited to the winter-flowering Erica. Must be kept trim after flowering if not to become straggly.
• Many alpines and rockery plants are suitable. These include:
  • Alyssum montanum; yellow, spring flowering, grey leaves. This is smaller and more compact than the better known Alyssum saxitale.
  • Arabis & Aubretia; white or purple flowers. Attractive foliage (some with varigated leaves) all year. Likewise, some low growing varieties of...
  • Campanula; small bell-like flowers in summer. Self seeding.
  • Helianthemum; blooms similar to Potentilla.

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Model Railway Constructor Special: 8 Garden Railways by Peter Jones

This book contains a short list of useful plants:

• Box: Hedge plant, easy from cuttings, small evergreen leaves, can be used to cover supports.
• Sedum: Stonecrops. Ideal as ground cover; grows wild in the Cotswolds. Ideal for dry, sunny spots.
• Thyme: Whether the common thyme, the numerous variegated varieties or the creepers, ideal for railway scenes.
• Heather: A few types tolerate limestone (consult your nurseryman). All very useful otherwise.
• Ling: Similar to heather. Both Erica (heathers) and Calluna (ling) are ideal for our use with small leaves and bushy habit.
• Cotoneaster: A must. This slow growing evergreen has red berries.
• Frankenia: Useful low-growing plant with small flowers and leaves.
• Veronica: Creeping shrubs, some of miniature habit.
• Helianthemum: Shrubby plants with smallish leaves and overscale (but attractive) flowers. Worth growing.
• Arenaria: Creeping moss-like with small flowers. Does not like dry conditions.
• Mentha requiemi: Lovely little plant but likes damp conditions.
• Saxifrage: The pièce de résistance of rock gardens.

...Obviously a trip to a nursery or garden centre will provide you with many interesting rock plants for our use - or visit a rock gardening friend and beg a few cuttings.