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Everyone’s desire to dig in started in March with our record high temperatures. After seeing what happened in April when the thermometer dropped, we were reminded not to put our tender plants out quite yet.
In about two weeks we should be prepped and ready to put our winter ideas to work. Various organizations’ plant sales around town will offer remarkable savings and new plants to try.
If you have not yet started growing vegetables due to your lack of desirable space, we have a couple of great tips. Last year our staff and Master Gardener volunteers added demonstration gardens to our property at 5526 W. Bancroft St., where we experimented with different types of alternate gardens.
Our first new garden was a vertical hydroponic system in which planting containers were attached to vertical poles. When I first saw this system installed, I was skeptical due to the small amount of growing space. Three containers were stacked onto each other at an angle, leaving only the corners as the growing space, except for the top container.
I am now a true believer, given the yield from this vertical system and recommend any of you to visit our property later in the month to see the garden when it’s planted.
We planted another alternative garden system which was basically a tube of landscape fabric, closed at each end, filled with compost, with holes cut into the top for planting. These were designed to be used on decks, patios, driveways, or wherever poor soils were present. These unfortunately did not perform nearly as well as we had hoped.
This year we will be planting a raised bed demonstration garden. Raised beds were created to allow a dense yield in a smaller space. Rather than have rows of vegetables, and rows of paths, raised beds are usually made so that we may harvest from every side, and even be able to reach across, rather than walking the rows and compacting the soil.
Raised bed designs allow you to add soil and amendments in one specific area, instead of in your entire vegetable garden.
Options for apartment balconies, patios, or decks include container gardens, using any container with proper drainage, straw bales, and the newly popular wall-pallet gardens.
With straw bale gardening, no soil is required because when the bale breaks down, it produces its own composted growing medium. Straw bales need to be conditioned before adding plants which takes a few weeks. It’s important not to plant when the bales are decomposing, since they will be “hot” and will damage tender plants. You can grow almost anything in a bale that you can grow in your garden.
Pallet wall gardens are a great reuse, recycle, refurbish project. Basically, it’s an ordinary wood pallet, covered on three sides with landscaping fabric. Once the covering is in place, potting soil is added, and the pallet is set up vertically. Plant your plants between the wooden rows, and place the pallet upright against a wall, anchoring may be required if a wall is not available.
In all of the instances above it is required to keep all of these alternative type gardens watered, as they will dry out much quicker than plants in a standard garden bed.
On May 15 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. OSU Extension Lucas County will offer a workshop covering raised beds and vertical systems. Information: Northrup.10@cfaes.osu.edu, or call 419-578-6783.
Barbara Northrup is an information associate with OSU Extension Lucas County. If you have questions, call the OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Horticultural Hotline at 419-578-6783. Volunteers are on hand Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Questions also may be e-mailed to mghotline@ag.osu.edu and possibly answered in a future Plant to Plate column.
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