Raised Bed Gardening
A fun little project for the first day out in the garden is to make a set of pretty plant markers. Sure, you can just write on Popsicle sticks with a Sharpie, but if you want to get fancy, try painting plain garden stakes with whatever leftover paint you have at hand, and then use alphabet stamps to label them.
4. Chives Snipped chives taste delicious on eggs, pasta — just about everything. In grocery stores, they can be difficult to find and expensive, but in gardens, they’re incredibly easy to grow. This perennial herb has a long harvest season and will come back year after year if you plant it in nice rich soil. Try growing them in a large pot right outside your kitchen window. Harvest chives by simply giving them a “haircut” with kitchen scissors as needed. When to plant: Purchase seedlings from a garden supply store, or start seeds indoors eight to ten weeks before the average last frost date. Plant seedlings in the early spring. Chives are perennials and take several years to reach their full size, so harvest lightly until your plants are well-established. Light requirement: Full sun
Nurseries and big-box stores carry landscape burlap and shade cloth, which can be placed on top of plants to screen them from the sun. Other temporary shade methods include using a portable shade canopy to shield an area of the garden from the sun. Even a single patio chair can protect a low-growing plant.
A built-in raised bed installed to the side of the deck grows edible plants for the family. “It was really important for my husband to have a space to grow veggies,” Smith says. Hallman Mailloux lined the bed with plastic to create a barrier from the pressure-treated wood and insulated it with foam in order to regulate the soil against temperature swings.
Keep in mind that it’s worth it to invest in rot-resistant wood, such as construction heart-grade redwood or cedar, which comes at a higher price point but will last for decades. Beds with dimensions of 8 feet by 4 feet make efficient use of standard 8- or 12-foot-long boards and make for easy use — you can reach across 2 feet from all sides of the bed to access the center.
Salad greens are another easy choice for a container. Most have very shallow roots, and putting them in a raised container, such as this old wagon, allows them to become garden highlights rather than often-overlooked low-lying plants. Mass a single type of green in one container or plant a mix. You’ll need a pot only 6 inches deep for most lettuces, lettuce blends, mesclun and microgreens; 8 inches for chicory, radicchio and spinach
The trick to planting herbs in containers is to match the pot size to the adult size of the plant. Smaller herbs — like chervil, chives, cilantro, marjoram, oregano, parsley, sage, savory, tarragon and thyme — can be grown in containers that are 6 to 12 inches deep and preferably up to 12 inches wide. Basil, lavender and lemongrass prefer 16- to 18-inch containers at a minimum, and rosemary and dill do best in even larger pots.
Sun and water needs. While some catalogs spell these out, many have sun and raindrop symbols to indicate the amount of sun and water you’ll need to provide. Most edibles do best in full sun, six to eight hours a day, with moderate water at least once a week and more during hot or dry spells. But that’s not true of all of them, so you’ll want to check to be sure you can meet a plant’s needs.
As avid gardeners, the homeowners wanted four 42-by-84-inch custom-made, steel-edged raised vegetable beds so they could grow edibles, including blueberries, tomatoes, basil, chives and other herbs. “The homeowner was really worried about the squirrels and bunnies eating her plants, and she wanted us to cover the boxes,” Stevens says. Encircling the top part of the beds, the crew installed a fine mesh that not only keeps out the critters but also makes a commanding focal point.
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