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5 Garden Tips For Small Spaces
• Judi Gerber
• March 18, 2013
With spring’s arrival on March 20, you might be feeling the urge to start http://www.care2.com/greenliving/5-tips-for-starting-a-vegetable-garden.html a garden. But, if you live in a space with no yard, or in the middle of the city, you might be thinking you can’t satisfy this urge.
Even if you live in the heart of the city and all you have is a balcony, rooftop, or a patio, you can still grow http://www.care2.com/greenliving/seven-reasons-why-you-should-grow-your-own-food.html some fresh fruits and veggies. You just have to learn what you can grow, instead of focusing on what you can’t grow.
Here are some tips for small space gardening.
Use container planting. Almost any vegetable can be grown in a container, if the container is big enough. Anything can be used, use your imagination, old tubs, old window frames put together to make a box, a wheelbarrow, all make great containers. Think about the size of the plant, how wide will it get. How tall? What about the size and depth of the root system?
Research your favorite veggies, read seed http://www.care2.com/greenliving/sharing-seeds-to-sow.html packets, a good seed company puts this important info. on the package for you. Once you have the right container, then you just need to fill it with good potting soil, have a spot that provides full sun at least six hours a day, and water it consistently.
Grow up, vertically. Many crops can be easily trained up poles, trellises, or even lattices attached to walls. Any kind of support that is study enough to use string across it will work. You can use plant boxes in different sizes and stack them to make a vertical garden. When choosing what to plant, think about things that can be trained to grow up. Pole beans or peas are also easily trained to climb up.
Use compact or dwarf varieties. Choose varieties specifically bred for growing in a small area. Look for anything with the words patio, baby, or dwarf in the name. If you want a fruit tree, there are dwarf varieties of apple, peach, pear and citrus trees that can be grown in a container.
Use succession planting to create more space. Succession planting (sowing seeds of the same crop every few weeks), will allow you to have more of your favorites for a longer time. Leaf lettuces are especially good for this because they grow quickly. If you start seeds in a different planter every 2-3 weeks, you will have enough lettuce to last you all summer.
Use companion planting. Companion planting basically means planting things next to each other that benefit one another, by providing needed shade, acting as a natural pest control, or adding nutrients to the soil. For example, not only is lettuce a good crop for succession planting, it is also a great companion plant. Since lettuce is a bit more shade tolerant and actually prefers less direct sun, planting or putting those containers of lettuce beneath your taller plants or vertical planters will help them thrive during the hot summer afternoons. Aside from lettuce, think about other crops that can tolerate some shade, and plant them next to taller ones, especially leafy vegetables like cabbage, chard, endive, mustard greens, parsley and spinach, all cool season crops. Or, think about things that grow faster or earlier like radishes and peas, and plant them with your warm season crops that are slow growing like peppers or tomatoes.
With spring’s arrival on March 20, you might be feeling the urge to start
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/5-tips-for-starting-a-vegetable-garden.html a garden. But, if you live in a space with no yard, or in the middle of the city, you might be thinking you can’t satisfy this urge.
Even if you live in the heart of the city and all you have is a balcony, rooftop, or a patio, you can still grow http://www.care2.com/greenliving/seven-reasons-why-you-should-grow-your-own-food.html some fresh fruits and veggies. You just have to learn what you can grow, instead of focusing on what you can’t grow.
Here are some tips for small space gardening.
Use container planting. Almost any vegetable can be grown in a container, if the container is big enough. Anything can be used, use your imagination, old tubs, old window frames put together to make a box, a wheelbarrow, all make great containers. Think about the size of the plant, how wide will it get. How tall? What about the size and depth of the root system? Research your favorite veggies, read seed http://www.care2.com/greenliving/sharing-seeds-to-sow.html packets, a good seed company puts this important info. on the package for you. Once you have the right container, then you just need to fill it with good potting soil, have a spot that provides full sun at least six hours a day, and water it consistently.
Grow up, vertically. Many crops can be easily trained up poles, trellises, or even lattices attached to walls. Any kind of support that is study enough to use string across it will work. You can use plant boxes in different sizes and stack them to make a vertical garden. When choosing what to plant, think about things that can be trained to grow up. Pole beans or peas are also easily trained to climb up.
Use compact or dwarf varieties. Choose varieties specifically bred for growing in a small area. Look for anything with the words patio, baby, or dwarf in the name. If you want a fruit tree, there are dwarf varieties of apple, peach, pear and citrus trees that can be grown in a container.
Use succession planting to create more space. Succession planting (sowing seeds of the same crop every few weeks), will allow you to have more of your favorites for a longer time. Leaf lettuces are especially good for this because they grow quickly. If you start seeds in a different planter every 2-3 weeks, you will have enough lettuce to last you all summer.
Use companion planting. Companion planting basically means planting things next to each other that benefit one another, by providing needed shade, acting as a natural pest control, or adding nutrients to the soil. For example, not only is lettuce a good crop for succession planting, it is also a great companion plant. Since lettuce is a bit more shade tolerant and actually prefers less direct sun, planting or putting those containers of lettuce beneath your taller plants or vertical planters will help them thrive during the hot summer afternoons. Aside from lettuce, think about other crops that can tolerate some shade, and plant them next to taller ones, especially leafy vegetables like cabbage, chard, endive, mustard greens, parsley and spinach, all cool season crops. Or, think about things that grow faster or earlier like radishes and peas, and plant them with your warm season crops that are slow growing like peppers or tomatoes.
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/5-garden-tips-for-small-spaces.html
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