I am pretty sure I know just what you are talking about. A friend bought a case of them to plant his hosta in. Keeps voles and other creatures from digging in and eating the roots.

I couldn't grow lilies, the gophers, voles and whatever kept eating them.
I started planting the wild version of euphorbia through the area I put the new lilies. They have been there for 5 years now. You can see where the gopher opens new mounds in the direction of the lilies, then does a big detour.

What's the wild version of euphorbia, Lynn?

Here you go. Gopher Spurge (Euphorbia lathyris)
But I am finding that some of the ornamental euphorbia work also. I planted E. 'Rudolph' by a new planting of lilies 3 years ago. Nothing has bothered the lilies.
Wood Spurge (Euphorbia x martini 'Rudolph')

The specie one reseeds readily, but the seedlings are very shallow rooted and are easy to remove if you don't want them. Easy to move the to another spot that needs protection from rodents.

Thanks Lynn!

Just wanted to let you all know that we have a new Garden Deals Forum. If you have any coupon or special deals you know about, you can post a new thread announcing it.
Take a look at how they are putting main info in the Subject box when creating the new thread.
http://garden.org/forums/view/...

Have just stacked these containers in this corner of our very much shaded patio..upper containers has succulents, lower ones spider plant, and the lowest container..well..hoping my remaining Hosta can try to peek from there. I have these photos in the Houseplants forum too..hoping to get suggestions, what else I can plant in a very shaded corner.









Entire set-up for now:

Just posting a photo update of my succulent ball planter which I have started last Oct 2012:

So for comparison..here is how it was in 2012:
Oct 2012


Dec 2012


Jan 2013


May 2013


April 2014



So the effect I wanted did not go as planned..instead of spreading, the succulents grew taller..I think part of it is due to the ball being placed on the north side of our garden, so the succulents are reaching for the sun. And slow growing is really the speed of growth for some of them, like the sempervivums at the back of the ball. Good thing is the tall succulents are all on the top side, so I can continue adding maybe more semps and echeverias on the lower half of the ball. Interesting to see how some of the succulents have grown like mini trees on the top side.

So will continue on with this ball planter and start getting some semps form the arach colony

"The best laid plans of mice and gardeners oft go ......." Or whatever, it makes for an interesting project.
Thanks for sharing.

tarev, that ball planter is a neat idea. I've never seen anything like that before. I'm hoping the succulents will settle down and not get leggy as the ball fills out.

Hi there ckatNM! Welcome to ATP! Yeah, I hope so too..I may have to reposition this ball planter in an area with more sun, maybe that will stem the leggy growth.

Yes, Tarev, giving the ball a little more sun may stem the leggy growth and choosing plants with less long and rigid stems (just look at the more mature sizes of succulents and that will tell you what they will look after awhile). As you mentioned, semps would be a good choice and look at some sedums that have softer stems that will grow longer and be pinned back into the ball to promote more root growth from their stem joints. This will help in spreading green covering over the ball. There's lots of sedum ground cover with little stem and some with just a little more stem that would work well with your ball. Think florist pins to anchor stems and foliage in place.

Yes, Semps and most Sedums thrive on a broader sun exposure. Here's a frame I just tweaked with adding small bits of sedum brevifolia held into frame with florist pins to help anchor as they root. This planting is combination of minimal stemmed plants, Echeveria and sempervivum.Hopefully in time it will fill in. Of course there's a lot more colors and textures out there to choose from that your huge ball can accommodate.

For 2014, I replanted this container because the scale of plant-to-pot went off balance when all the plants grew up and out, faster than I expected. So I decided to pull the old greenery out and replant the container. FYI, the container is one of polymer clay made by Goldfinch4 (Chris R.)

First photo is last year's Jul 2013 planting and next two is the 2014 planting, finished today:

My alpines came from Wild Ginger Farms.My Alpine garden is planted in the larger ,overpriced hypertufas.
I am new to alpines and semps and cant believe they can grow and make roots in the "rockgarden mix" I bought for tufa planters.

The containers are off to a good start, JoAnn. Enjoy !

Thanks Bev.I need all the help I can get. Lynn is a great resource too.

ge1836 said: .... Lynn is a great resource too.

Love the last planter pic's Bev.

Bev, I love my polymer container I got last year from Chris. I still have to plant it. I think I am zeroing in on what I want to use in it.
I love the way you planted yours Bev.

Jo Ann, I see you are well on your way to filling your alpine plant containers. How exciting. It will be so much fun watching them mature. Keep us posted on their progress.