Follow Us!
† Requires Javascript
Copyright © 1997-2009 Demand Media. All rights reserved.
|
Gardening in small spaces| Member | Message |
|---|---|
 |
Posted: May/03/2007 11:17 AM PST
Hi all, I am new to successful gardening. Oh, I am no stranger to gardening, I just used to be a really good serial plant killer. I told you I was new to "Successful" gardening.  Anyway, I would love to expand my gardening horizons. Some of you probably have closets that are bigger than my grdening space so I have to use containers. Does anyone have any suggestions at all for gardening in extremely small spaces? Any suggestions at all would help??? Thanks, Jeanne |
 |
Posted: May/03/2007 1:02 PM PST
You like Herbs? Do you want it to be evergreen plantings? You can combine herbs to make some beautiful small space plantings, such as taking an upright Rosemary (mother of) and putting it centered in a pot, then putting creeping (greek) oregano in front of it, these will be evergreen and the oregano will trail over the edge. You could put basils in the back of it as they get tall (purple, green or thai) and they will not be evergreen but loof great in the summer as well as taste great! Another spot you coud center a sage, put any thyme (I love silver) in the foreground and put fennel or dill in the background, the sage and thyme will be evergreen and the dill and/or fennel won't, same deal as the other potted garden. Make sure sage and rosemary are AWAY from each other, the sage will die. If you pot like this, just make sure that you water and feed them regularly! |
 |
Posted: May/03/2007 1:49 PM PST
Hi Jeanne! Until a few years ago all of my gardening was confined to a very small third floor balcony so I am very familiar with gardening in small spaces. I had a lot of luck with my containers, much more than I have had since moving to a house with an actual in the ground garden… I agree with the previous poster that herbs can be very rewarding, especially in a container garden. They look nice, smell nice, and it’s very handy to just run outside and clip some rosemary or thyme when you are cooking. As far as other plants go, you can successfully grow almost any plant as an annual in a container so the possibilities are endless. As for specific suggestions, it really depends on the conditions and your personal preferences. Do you have full sun, filtered sun, full shade? Do you like flowers, vegetables, or simple greenery? I used to grow roses in large containers on my balcony. Just the cheap five dollar plants you can get at any discount garden center. They did very well with no maintenance other than water, sun and fertilizer. Good Luck! Patricia |
 |
Posted: May/03/2007 2:05 PM PST
I use plant stands (or shelves) so that I can have several "layers" of plants too. Also, when planting flowers, you can fit more into a pot than the planting recomendations on the tags suggest. You will just need to feed them once in a while. Also have a good moisture retentive soil. Now, your pots NEED to DRAIN. You don't want water sitting in them. But you don't want your soil drying out so fast you have to water three times a day. Also, when watering in pots, a weekly submersion hepls. If your pots are small enough, I fill a 5 gallon bucket about half full of water and sit one pot into it at a time and allow them to sit in there for about 15 minutes each. Often when watering pots we water until water runs out the bottom. This is fine to an extent but we are really only watering the outer edges of the soil and not getting to the rootball. Also, the self watering pots are a great idea. This provides bottom watering and will minimize soil disturbance and the risk of breaking delicate plant stems. |
|
|
Posted: May/03/2007 2:06 PM PST
Oh, I just thought, is your space on a balcony where weight might be an issue? |
|
|
Posted: May/03/2007 6:04 PM PST
I have a back yard that like I said, is smaller than some of your closets. With my boys using the back yard for play, I have to keep my pots on the devider walls between my neighbors yards and mine. I have all my plants on the walls so that the boys can't get to anything. I have full sun during the day, I just love to see the daily growth. I have posted some photos of my plants and in a couple of the pics (I think) you can see how I have my plants on walls. You can get a better look at what I have to work with. Thanks for the information. Jeanne
|
|
|
Posted: May/03/2007 6:41 PM PST
I was just thinking of tips to lighten up your pots. If you have to worry about weight (as on a balcony) or moving them from one location to another this could help but it sounds like this doesn't apply to you. 
|
|
|
Posted: May/03/2007 6:45 PM PST
Oh, you can grow things UP too. Plant things that vine up and stake them up. Green beans, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes can all be done this way. Then you can plant herbs or flowers around the base of the vining plants. Like putting marigolds around the base of your vegie plants helps keep out some pests. You can grow peppers with onions in one pot and tomatoes with parsely in another and now you have all the fixings for home made salsa. Or cucmbers and dill for pickles. |
|
|
Posted: May/04/2007 10:50 PM PST
I am using more pots this year, with my bad back it just seems to work and not make more new gardens, hubby is helping me with gardens, some are starting to become almost low maintenance. One of the things I did was to plant a clematis in a large pot and then by sticking a broken shovel handle down in the back I positioned (set the wreath down on the top of the soil and tied it to the shovel) a large grapevine wreath on the back of the pot and then planted the clematis in front of it as it grows I intend to wind the clematis around the wreath. As much as I wanted to I did not plant anything else in the pot due to this is a clematis I dug up and it has huge roots so I figure it will fill the pot before long. If the clematis had been smaller I would have probably put a few annuals in front for some color until the clematis bloomed. The other interesting things I did was sit one smaller pot on top of the soil of a larger pot filled with dirt and planted around the pot and then filled the second one with another type of plant, sort of a wedding cake tier effect, one could layer several pots like this, just make sure all the plants have the same light and soil and water requirements. I also have two pots just alike, I put one in front of the other and then put bricks underneath the one in back to build it up, creating a stairstep effect and also making it easier to see the plants in the back pot and also to water it. |
|
|
Posted: May/05/2007 9:26 PM PST
This may or may not be useful to you. We square foot garden and the soil is very light and retains moisture wonderfully( It has hit 90 three times this week and our soil is still moist 2 inches in). I am actually growing mini roses in it and they are gorgeous. I am not sure how you would do this for your confined spaces maybe you can get smaller bags to mix but we use it all over our yard and so we buy big bags of everything and keep the leftovers in a tote. This is kind of a rough estimate of mel's mix. 1 part vermiculite or perlite, 1 part peat moss and 1 part organic fertilizer. For the fertilizer mix it up with different varieties, we used mushroom fertilizer, composted cow manure, organic soil builder and hummus. A lot of these things you can get at Lowes or the Depot except vermiculite. The large stores do not carry it because someone a few years ago said it had asbestos in it. It don't, only the industrial does and it is used for insulation. Sorry to be so long and winded, good luck and happy gardening. |
† Requires Javascript
Copyright © 1997-2009 Demand Media. All rights reserved.
