Gabions are mesh baskets filled with stones. When selecting the stones, you should orientate yourself on the material that has already been used for walls or for fixing surfaces. Granite and sandstone are often the first choice, but broken concrete or self-collected field stones are also conceivable.
Many different things can be done with gabions
Build herb spirals out of gabions
You can buy ready-made gabions for herbal spirals at the hardware store and only have to assemble and fill them. For this you need spiral wires and tensioning anchors (usually supplied) as well as galvanized wire. The stone material should not be so small that it falls through the grates, but not too big either. When it comes to tools, it is advisable to have pliers and bolt cutters ready.
Assemble gabions
First of all, you need to assemble the gabions by firmly connecting the grids together on the outer edges. To do this, cut 10 to 15 centimeters long pieces from the wire, which are laid around the edges and twisted tightly with pliers. The solid wire is more suitable than the spiral wire that is usually supplied, because there is less play and the baskets stand more securely. Once the baskets are assembled, prepare the subsoil at the selected location:
- Unpack the measured area about 10 centimeters deep.
- Fill in grit (46.95€) and sand.
- Compact the area well.
The lower baskets are then set up first and densely coated with stones. The material should be stacked as densely and tightly as possible to ensure stability. Stressing anchors are used to strengthen the grids. Now you can put on more baskets, connect them with wires and then fill them with stones.
Fill and plant the herb spiral
Gravel or rubble always goes at the bottom of the finished gabion spiral, in different quantities depending on the height of the later surface - at the end the typical, spiral cone shape should have emerged. Then fill in sand and gravel and as the last layer the actual substrate, which differs depending on the placement within the spiral. Poor, sandy substrate comes right at the top, in the descending fields it should become more and more nutritious. Then you can plant the spiral with the selected herbs.
tips
A herbal spiral should always be placed as close to the house as possible and in a sunny and wind-protected location.