Most urban dwellers are familiar with residing in small quarters that leave little or no room for growing plants.
Space problem is even more prevalent in apartment blocks with units stacked upon each other for several floors. Living in the suburbs does not guarantee you ample space either; to some homeowners, having a back or front yard is a pipe dream.
If either of these scenarios is familiar to you, help is just around the corner. You can still raise your hot peppers and eggplant in the limited space available. Here are great ideas for micro gardening that may help you achieve this dream.
Get Creative
The desire to own a garden even with limited space will get you thinking of creative ways of making your dream a reality. Inspect your front and backyard and identify items or areas that you can convert to a potting container. Tabletops, behind benches, atop the dog kennel, or even on the roof are all suitable places where plants can thrive.
If you have old clay pots in the yard, put sand and create a mini-beach. If you opt to pot the plants, hang them on the patio or along the boundary wall in the backyard. This setting will transform your space from drab to elegant.
Companion Planting
Companion planting or soil real estate helps you utilize the available space to grow as many crops as possible. For instance, plant carrots underneath tomatoes or herbs under lemon trees. Growing plants together can mutually benefit the crops by providing shade or a stem for extra support.
If you wish to have beans in the garden, add a few spots of corn so that beans can climb around the stem as they grow. This method of planting can also stave off weeds as the taller plants block sunlight from reaching the soil. Invest in a good pole saw to help you prune branches of the trees.
Take caution not to combine plants that compete for the same nutrients as the weaker plant will suffer from stunted growth or just wither and die.
Vertical Gardening
This practice is also called cube foot gardening. The first step is to establish the potential heights of the crop you have. Grow the tallest plants like sunflowers on the furthest end of the patch and shorter crops in the lower parts of the land.
This way, no crop is obscuring access to direct sunlight. Tomatoes and pole beans are typically short plants, but you can encourage vertical growth by using trellises.
Use Fertilizer
Regardless of the container or space in use, crops require a steady supply of nutrients to aid their growth. Healthy plants can resist diseases and ward off an attack by pests like wild rabbits and deer.
You can apply a layer of organic compost on the topsoil and follow this up with a round of spraying with compost tea. When using fertilizer, always follow the manufacturer’s guidelines to avoid harming your crop.
Conclusion
Micro-gardening is the next big thing for city dwellers who grapple with tiny spaces that leave no room for outdoor activities. Keep your mind open and establish a maintenance regimen to keep your space tidy. A good pole saw will do the trick. If you need more than tools to do the job, call expert tree service evansville for your garden projects and maintenance.
This guest post was written by Shary Saunders
