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small garden advice
I moved into my first house 3 years and always had ambitions of having a good little vegetable patch. Unfortunately, the garden was a state and we only got round to doing something about it last summer. It took me and my dad (mostly my dad, many thanks!) a good week of work to get it up to scratch. It was complete mess, concrete and brick everywhere, weeds that have probably been there for 10 years. I found out later from next door neighbour that they actually employed a builder to do the garden! for example, there was a trellis supported by 3 x 7' tall wooden stakes that were fixed into the ground with about 20kg of concrete. There was also a small wall (3 layers of bricks visible) that had a foundation made out of old curbstones.
Anyway, we eventually got it sorted. I've now got a small lawn, a raised herb bed (a quarter circle about a meter in radius) and a small patch of raised earth against a wall I can use to grow some veg (about 50-60 cm in width and 3 m in length, although only about 2.5 m that gets plenty of sun as it's in a corner, I have a small bay tree in the corner that gets the least light, which does well). Also got a compost bin (free from the council :cool: ) in a corner of the lawn. A lot of the garden is still covered in paving bricks, but we want to use the garden for recreation as well as growing, and as it took so much work to get it as it is, I think we'll leave any major work on the garden for a year or two, so I've basically got the herb bed, the patch by the wall and a few areas I can put some potted plants. I'm looking for some advice on how to best utilise the space I have with a good variety of crops.
I have still managed to grow a few things from when I moved in. As well as various potted herbs, I had tomatoes in a grow bag the first year (too much hassle as they needed watering twice most days - not easy when you don't have an outside tap and hose!) and some spring onions and baby carrots the year we re-did the garden. At the moment, I've got spuds growing in sacks, some of the spring onions from last year I left to grow on and are now quite huge and some broad beans that I grew against the wall. The beans have done really well, although I should have read the packet properly, as I planned to have them growing all the way up the wall. I didn't' realise I had bought a dwarf variety that will only ever reach about 2.5-3" in height. Still got a good crop and I hear the roots will do the soil a world of good for whatever I plant there next.
Most of what I have grown has been a little hap-hazard, with no real plan as I'm quite new to all this. I'd like to have a decent variety of plants that will crop at different times of year, but of course, with a small space this may not be possible. Would like to grow beans or peas again, but is this a good idea to plant the same/similar thing for a second year? I think growing the spuds in sacks is a good idea to use the space, as they can be placed on the paved area and I can easily move them out of the way when I'm having people round for a barbie
but what other crops will be good in pots? I've tried some more spring onions and baby carrots in pots, but these haven't done too well, probably needing deeper earth. I have a strawberry plant in a pot too, but was thinking of moving that to the "veg patch" and letting the runners spread.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Anyway, we eventually got it sorted. I've now got a small lawn, a raised herb bed (a quarter circle about a meter in radius) and a small patch of raised earth against a wall I can use to grow some veg (about 50-60 cm in width and 3 m in length, although only about 2.5 m that gets plenty of sun as it's in a corner, I have a small bay tree in the corner that gets the least light, which does well). Also got a compost bin (free from the council :cool: ) in a corner of the lawn. A lot of the garden is still covered in paving bricks, but we want to use the garden for recreation as well as growing, and as it took so much work to get it as it is, I think we'll leave any major work on the garden for a year or two, so I've basically got the herb bed, the patch by the wall and a few areas I can put some potted plants. I'm looking for some advice on how to best utilise the space I have with a good variety of crops.
I have still managed to grow a few things from when I moved in. As well as various potted herbs, I had tomatoes in a grow bag the first year (too much hassle as they needed watering twice most days - not easy when you don't have an outside tap and hose!) and some spring onions and baby carrots the year we re-did the garden. At the moment, I've got spuds growing in sacks, some of the spring onions from last year I left to grow on and are now quite huge and some broad beans that I grew against the wall. The beans have done really well, although I should have read the packet properly, as I planned to have them growing all the way up the wall. I didn't' realise I had bought a dwarf variety that will only ever reach about 2.5-3" in height. Still got a good crop and I hear the roots will do the soil a world of good for whatever I plant there next.
Most of what I have grown has been a little hap-hazard, with no real plan as I'm quite new to all this. I'd like to have a decent variety of plants that will crop at different times of year, but of course, with a small space this may not be possible. Would like to grow beans or peas again, but is this a good idea to plant the same/similar thing for a second year? I think growing the spuds in sacks is a good idea to use the space, as they can be placed on the paved area and I can easily move them out of the way when I'm having people round for a barbie
but what other crops will be good in pots? I've tried some more spring onions and baby carrots in pots, but these haven't done too well, probably needing deeper earth. I have a strawberry plant in a pot too, but was thinking of moving that to the "veg patch" and letting the runners spread. Any help would be much appreciated!
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Comments
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Hi
How high is your wall? That affects what you can do.If you've have not made a mistake, you've made nothing0 -
The wall is about 5 foot tall from the soil line. The garden is sort of south-west facing, so that patch gets a good amount of sun, from about 8-9 am to 6-7 pm at this time of year.0
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The beans have done really well, although I should have read the packet properly, as I planned to have them growing all the way up the wall. I didn't' realise I had bought a dwarf variety that will only ever reach about 2.5-3" in height.
This made me laugh because I've been worrying that my beans are not really tall like my mum's ones, and it's only just occurred to me after reading your post that mine are dwarf like yours, so won't grow tall!
I think I thought that the word 'dwarf' was going to mean I'd get little beans, not little plants - doh! How stupid am I?!?
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This made me laugh because I've been worrying that my beans are not really tall like my mum's ones, and it's only just occurred to me after reading your post that mine are dwarf like yours, so won't grow tall!
I think I thought that the word 'dwarf' was going to mean I'd get little beans, not little plants - doh! How stupid am I?!?
lol. I just didnt' read the packet. Picked them up for less than a pound in Wilkinsons clearence last year.0 -
any suggestions anyone?0
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What's the question? Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.0
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