Gardening by Celine Walker

Author:Celine Walker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gardening, Hydroponics, For Beginners, Garden, Vegetable, Organic, Herbs
Publisher: Celine Walker
Published: 2019-07-01T16:00:00+00:00

Containers, Beds or Boxes?

Once you've decided what you're growing you have to realistically evaluate the space you're working with. Don't forget that you can also grow upwards as well as outwards. If you're looking at container gardening, choosing vertical containers for crops that don't need to spread means you'll get far more crops in that small space. Take lettuce, for example, if you grow lettuce in an upright pallet you'll have five rows where otherwise you would only have one. Strawberries and tomatoes can both be found in trailing varieties that will do well when grown from suspended baskets.

Raised beds are expensive. If you're budgeting, then it's best you forgo the pretty beds and opt for functional in-ground ones. If you've already got flowerbeds laid out, you can easily plant organic produce in between plants and flowers that are established there. Since you're not using any chemicals there isn't a risk of killing anything accidentally, but you will have to be careful with nutrition as plants will be competing.

Small space gardening can also mean containers or pots. Not all plants are suitable for pots, so it's important to read your seed packages or ask first before planting too much. While you need to avoid monoculture and be able to plant other varieties between your choices you'll also need enough room to separate them adequately and to allow all plants to get enough water and sunlight. Take good stock of your garden before you get started so you know where you'll have full sun, part sun, and shade so you can plan accordingly.

If you're going to go ahead and dig in-ground beds you need to start by taking up the grass. Ideally, water it well a few days before to make the earth soft, then mow it first on the lowest setting so you can start removing the sod layer. A shovel is the cheapest way but it's also quite tiring. Using an electric tiller is quicker but it can also churn up a lot of unwanted seeds. You'll want to do a process called double digging to make the soil soft and workable.

Double digging means first digging a small trench the length of the bed and retaining 20% of the soil. Aerate the trench using a fork to loosen up the soil underneath. Dig a second trench alongside and transfer 20cm of soil from the top layer of trench 1 to trench 2. Repeat this process and in the final trench return the original topsoil. Rake the top of the bed to break up any large clumps of soil. Your bed is now ready for planting!

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.