The tall, thick hedges that line the sides of country lanes in the West Country are known locally as Devon Banks, as beneath the tangled stems there's a stone wall with a soil-filled centre.
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The soil gives the wall extra weight, increasing its stability, and allows grasses and hedging plants, such as hawthorn and Dog Roses, to root and bind the stones together.
In a garden, a Devon Bank makes a superb divide and provides an opportunity to naturalise hedgerow wildflowers like primroses, daffodils, foxgloves and violas. A turf top makes it evergreen and can be cut with shears for a neat 'cattle-grazed' look or simply left to grow shaggy and long.
Alternatively, a Devon Bank makes an ideal home for rock plants such as Sweet William, arabis and aubretia which will spill down its face and look far more natural than on a conventional rockery.
And best of all, you don't need a quarry-load of stone, as even a short serpentine wall situated in a border recreates that country lane charm.
You will need....
- Rockery / Old stone walling,
- Top soil,
- Leaky hosepipe,
- Turf,
- Foxgloves, primroses, violas and spring bulbs or alpine plants
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