The entire deck is southwest facing and during the summer it gets direct sun from 7 am - 8 pm, i.e., lettuce would not do well here. It also faces the road, so it would need to be somewhat not ugly.
So, any ideas?
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Input needed
The deck of our rental house has a little planting box all the way around it.
It's about 3 inches wide, and 3 inches deep.
My dad used to use to plant flowers in the box during the spring and summer, but I'm trying to wrack (rack?) my brain for a type of edible that I could plant here instead. I thought about herbs, but I could never use THAT many herbs. Plus, the herbs I truly love (basil, parsley, and dill) grow freakishly tall.
The entire deck is southwest facing and during the summer it gets direct sun from 7 am - 8 pm, i.e., lettuce would not do well here. It also faces the road, so it would need to be somewhat not ugly.
So, any ideas?
The entire deck is southwest facing and during the summer it gets direct sun from 7 am - 8 pm, i.e., lettuce would not do well here. It also faces the road, so it would need to be somewhat not ugly.
So, any ideas?
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this is awesome! i would love to have something like this. you could stagger plantings, like baby spinach or mesclun in the spring, then radishes which grow fast and don't need a lot of space. there are some summer lettuces but i haven't had much success with them. you could separate different plantings with low growing herbs like thyme or a slow grower like rosemary. even if you put some taller herbs, you can keep them to the corners. i made a dried herb blend with all my leftover herbs at the end of summer that was awesome. for summer plantings, there's not much space in there. but you could try the round carrots. or even strawberries. if you keep it watered and nourished you should be able to grow quite a bit. pretty cool. i want one. :]
ReplyDeleteI second the herbs idea. It looks like a very narrow space so I can't think of any veggies that would work there (although I'm definitely no expert) Things like oregano and thyme don't grow up, they get bushy, so they wouldn't get in the way. Plus you'll use herbs all of the time, I use some type of fresh herb every day. Even though you don't want something tall, if you planted basil you could use it to make pesto and you need a large quantity to do that, so you don't have to worry about having too much.
ReplyDeleteI'd do a basil hedge and put of a ton of pesto. But it will be work to keep that sucker watered. You can get dwarf and small leaf basil varieties that look a bit like boxwood, too.
ReplyDeleteStrawberries. It is the perfect size and they do not get too big. Watering would be key with something that shallow in the hot summer sun.
ReplyDeleteDuh, Peas, they could hang over the edge and once grown you could pull them up and pick peas.
ReplyDeleteLater
Hmmm, loving all these suggestions! My memory is fuzzy, but I think at one point there was a tiny little drip watering system for this set up. I'll have to look in to that again and see if I can find it. Cause I freaking hate watering!
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking a nice combo of all of these ideas would be a lovely little garden.
Thanks!
Thyme would be a nice low herb, as would mint. I also love succulents, and they would thrive in a low-water, high-sun location like that.
ReplyDeletepandora665 at yahoo dot com
Don't forget edible flowers - violets, nasturtiums (buds can be pickled and used like capers) but may be too hot. Chives get tall but they are not bushy so they would add accents; flowers are edible and there are several kinds of chives.
ReplyDelete