Comments on: How To Make The Most Of A Small Garden Or Yard http://www.stillwatergardens.com/51/how-to-make-the-most-of-a-small-garden-or-yard/ The Pleasure of Gardening Sat, 01 Aug 2009 11:40:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: mindshift http://www.stillwatergardens.com/51/how-to-make-the-most-of-a-small-garden-or-yard/comment-page-1/#comment-113 mindshift Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:36:59 +0000 http://www.stillwatergardens.com/garden/how-to-make-the-most-of-a-small-garden-or-yard#comment-113 The best time to plan a garden is the previous fall. That's because it takes a lot of work to create a flower or garden bed. You start by removing any grass from the area, usually by digging it out. You have to be careful to get any deep roots out, or they will come up in your garden. After you've done this you add manure and other compost and turn it in, then you cover the tilled area with leaves, and wait out the winter. In the spring you set out your young plants, pulling the leaves away from spot you want to place each plant. The leaves can stay over the rest of the bed as mulch. You can do all this in the spring; it's just easier in the fall. Since you only want a small garden you might consider container gardening. Each tomato needs a 14" or 16" pot. You can use large plastic storage containers with drainage holes punched through the bottom instead. They are usually cheaper than plastic pots. Fill them with a topsoil/potting soil mixture, and they will be weed free. Cucumbers need a trellis to twine in, and tomatoes are best tied to some support to prevent them falling over. Both of these need full sun and regular watering. Both are warm weather plants, but the tomato will stop flowering if the air temperature gets too high. Reflected heat can help tomatoes get an early start, or cause a short season if the weather turns hot. Having plants in a container makes it easy to move them if the initial site you placed them doesn't work out. The first link below gives planting dates for seed for particular crops based on your USDA growing zone (see link 2). As long as the chance of frost has passed you can set out plants. If a late frost is forecast you can cover your small plants with pots, cans, or baskets to prevent frost burn. Remove the covers when the sun hits the garden. Of course, it will be easy to intersperse containers of flowers with your containerized vegetables. The third link is a list of companion plants that help protect your vegetables from insects.<br><b>References : </b><br>http://www.2bseeds.com/plantingschedule.shtml http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants The best time to plan a garden is the previous fall. That’s because it takes a lot of work to create a flower or garden bed. You start by removing any grass from the area, usually by digging it out. You have to be careful to get any deep roots out, or they will come up in your garden. After you’ve done this you add manure and other compost and turn it in, then you cover the tilled area with leaves, and wait out the winter. In the spring you set out your young plants, pulling the leaves away from spot you want to place each plant. The leaves can stay over the rest of the bed as mulch. You can do all this in the spring; it’s just easier in the fall.

Since you only want a small garden you might consider container gardening. Each tomato needs a 14" or 16" pot. You can use large plastic storage containers with drainage holes punched through the bottom instead. They are usually cheaper than plastic pots. Fill them with a topsoil/potting soil mixture, and they will be weed free.

Cucumbers need a trellis to twine in, and tomatoes are best tied to some support to prevent them falling over. Both of these need full sun and regular watering. Both are warm weather plants, but the tomato will stop flowering if the air temperature gets too high. Reflected heat can help tomatoes get an early start, or cause a short season if the weather turns hot. Having plants in a container makes it easy to move them if the initial site you placed them doesn’t work out.

The first link below gives planting dates for seed for particular crops based on your USDA growing zone (see link 2). As long as the chance of frost has passed you can set out plants. If a late frost is forecast you can cover your small plants with pots, cans, or baskets to prevent frost burn. Remove the covers when the sun hits the garden.

Of course, it will be easy to intersperse containers of flowers with your containerized vegetables. The third link is a list of companion plants that help protect your vegetables from insects.
References :
http://www.2bseeds.com/plantingschedule.shtml
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants

]]> By: do you know me? http://www.stillwatergardens.com/51/how-to-make-the-most-of-a-small-garden-or-yard/comment-page-1/#comment-112 do you know me? Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:34:59 +0000 http://www.stillwatergardens.com/garden/how-to-make-the-most-of-a-small-garden-or-yard#comment-112 This is pretty much the same question I just asked, my dad is a farmer and I called him and he told me to till when the ground is moist and not wet otherwise it will crust over. To tend to it on a regular basis and be careful not to overwater it<br><b>References : </b><br> This is pretty much the same question I just asked, my dad is a farmer and I called him and he told me to till when the ground is moist and not wet otherwise it will crust over. To tend to it on a regular basis and be careful not to overwater it
References :

]]> By: Veronica W http://www.stillwatergardens.com/51/how-to-make-the-most-of-a-small-garden-or-yard/comment-page-1/#comment-111 Veronica W Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:32:19 +0000 http://www.stillwatergardens.com/garden/how-to-make-the-most-of-a-small-garden-or-yard#comment-111 <b>I want to make a small garden in my back yard?</b><br>I'm thinking about growing tomatoes and cucumbers. And white daisies are my absolute favorite flower, so those too. Any tips for getting started? I want to make a small garden in my back yard?
I’m thinking about growing tomatoes and cucumbers.
And white daisies are my absolute favorite flower, so those too.

Any tips for getting started?

]]>