Urban Gardening and Landscaping

[heatherkay]

Herbs-get a large (20-24 inches) In that large size pot you can grow several and they are much easier to tend. Put it by the back door-they are ornamental as well as tasty. Mine last year had 2 kinds of rosemary, 3 kinds of basil, thyme, 2 sages, chives, and Mexican oregano. They will need lots of water and lots of sun as they grow. By the kitchen, you will find that you just step outside and pick a fresh herb for whatever you are cooking.
Here's a link of a guy that is a one man business or seems so. 

I have oregano and thyme planted in the ground by my west-facing full sun front door, and both are still alive and kicking.  I've had varieties of sage that overwintered as well.  As far as I can tell, I would have to take round-up to them to kill them, and I'm not sure that would even do it.  All the "evergreen" herbs, the ones with the oily tough leaves, are basically desert plants.  I don't ever water them, and they don't mind crappy soil.

[ChandraNH]

If you are just getting started, don't make the mistake of planting too much. You wont' be able to keep up with it and the yield will be too great. Grape or cherry tomatoes, we planted 2 grape tomatoes last year-will only plant 1 this year and we will still give buckets away.

This is very true.  My first year of gardening in containers, I went into some sort of vegetable-seed catalog induced state of rapture and wound up with more herbs and tomatoes than the two of us could eat.  And that was after paring down my wish list. 

Last year, we did grape tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, zebra stripe tomatoes (they stay green/greenish-gold with stripes, very good and tart - picked up the seedling at the City Market), cilantro and basil.  Those damn grape tomatoes were still coming in late in October after I'd stopped watering them.

This year I have grander plans!  Our new next door neighbor has set up a raised bed behind their house and we are going to do the same while camouflaging my container boxes and I'm going for the zebra stripe tomatoes again, Thai basil, sweet basil, cilantro, jalapenos, some other peppers, fennel, maybe another tomato variety, dill and pickling cucumbers.

Be careful with the tomatoes, you may need to add some lime to the soil to prevent root rot (it looks like the tomato is being sucked dry by something) and be careful of tomato horn worms (they love tomato plants and are ugly as sin and huge!)

Fennel and apple salad:

1 fennel bulb (with stalk for freshness), the smaller the bulb, the more tender
1 granny smith apple
1 lemon
salt

Trim the fennel bulb and get rid of the fronds or save for soup
cut the bottom base of the fennel off thinly
Slice the bulb thinly
Cut the apple into chunks (cored)
Mix apples and fennel in bowl
Squeeze juice of half to whole lemon into bowl
Salt to taste

Enjoy!  Fennel is crisp with a slight taste of licorice.  Combined with the granny smith apple, it is excellent.

[mlind]

Rosemary is often used as a landscaping plant in California. Fennel grows wild.  Use those circular metal tomato supports when you first plant.  Impossible to add them afterward.

[nota]

I have oregano and thyme planted in the ground by my west-facing full sun front door, and both are still alive and kicking.  I've had varieties of sage that overwintered as well.  As far as I can tell, I would have to take round-up to them to kill them, and I'm not sure that would even do it.  All the "evergreen" herbs, the ones with the oily tough leaves, are basically desert plants.  I don't ever water them, and they don't mind crappy soil.

I always have sage and rosemary and thyme for Thanksgiving and sometimes for Christmas. I've had rosemary once that came back after winter like a perennial, but most often all of it freezes.

On another note, I have hibiscus blooming in my 55 degree garage with hardly any light. I was amazed.

[mlind]

Interesting article on vegetable gardening.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 1BICQA.DTL

[heatherkay]

I've managed to keep a couple of my basil plants alive in pots in the window.  They're not happy about the situation, but they're doing better than the one I left in the pot on the deck. 

[ChandraNH]

Here's a great thread with container gardening pictures for our loft-dwellers.  This guy grew a fantastic garden on the rooftop of his loft in Chicago

http://forum.earthbox.com/index.php?topic=3472.0

[nota]

One of the things that we use is a drip irrigation system. Relatively inexpensive, easy to use and assures not using more water than needed plus you don't have to be a slave to the garden hose. You can get a beginner set for around $20 or so and add to it as needed.

Ours waters our whole garden, our whole landscape, all the flower pots and our shade garden as well. Several zones.

Now and then there is a leak to repair, but nothing is a problem. So easy I can do it.

[KCMax]

Re: Rabbits

Is a fence the only effective way to keep them out? Is that effective?

[shinatoo]

If you dig you plot and hit hard packed clay make sure you dig a few holes down to soil or rock so you have some drainage. Otherwise you are just making a big bathtub.

[nota]

Re: Rabbits

Is a fence the only effective way to keep them out? Is that effective?

You might try mothballs around the perimeter or one of the commercial repellents but the fence will work better than either of those.

I don't like the mothball trick if there are children or pets who can have access to them.

[Roanoker]

Have you ever smelled moth balls?

[splash]

Our soil is mostly clay, so when we first started planting, we'd add mulched leaves to the bottom of the holes we dug.  We've done this for a couple of years and our soil is much better.  We don't bag our leaves in the fall; we bag them up with the lawn mower and dump them in a fenced in part of the yard that is on the side of the house.

[shinatoo]

Have you ever smelled moth balls?

Yes but it was hard to get their little legs apart.

[PumpkinStalker]

Yes but it was hard to get their little legs apart.

KCRag comment of the century.   

[shinatoo]

KCRag comment of the century.   

That is an old old old joke. I think my great grand ma told me that one.

[Roanoker]

That is an old old old joke. I think my great grand ma told me that one.

Happy to be your old old old straight "man." 

[shinatoo]

Happy to be your old old old straight "man." 

Say goodnight, Roanoker.

[Roanoker]

Say goodnight, Roanoker.

Goodnight, Gracie. I mean, Roanoker.

[FangKC]

Re: Rabbits

Is a fence the only effective way to keep them out? Is that effective?

It doesn't have to be a tall fence. You can buy small, chicken-wire fencing that stands about 36 inches tall and just wrap it around the garden and stake it in the ground with sturdy stakes. Bury about six inches of it under the ground so the rabbits can't dig under it.

You can also plant lavendar and catnip around your garden. Rabbits don't like the smell.

The other option is to keep a beagle in your yard to protect your garden. But then, you still have to fence the garden or the dog will poop in it.