Stepables

I found a great line of groundcover plants that are marketed under the name Stepables. Click on their name to link to their website, which is very well done.

The picture on the top left is 'County Park' Pratia pedunculata. Ht: 3" Care: Part sun to sun, plenty of water, fast growth rate, tolerates heavy foot traffic, hardy above 0 degrees. This plant forms a tight root system, so I planted it on a slope to help hold the soil in place by my fire pit. You can see the two starter plants I put in a few weeks ago. It is a zone 7 and above plant (we are zone 5), but I'm hoping it will survive our winters since we don't often get below 0. I may cover it in the fall to protect it. The purple flowers bloom spring to fall, so it's a very pretty, little groundcover.


The picture on the top right is Creeping Wire Vine Muehlenbeckia axillaris. Ht: 2" Care: part shade to sun, will tolerate drought, wind, and poor soil and grows better under drier conditions, moderate growth rate, tolerates heavy foot traffic, hardy above -10 degrees F. This plant has dark green leaves on wiry stems and grows tiny transparent berries that have a black seed in the center. The foliage turns bronze in heat or cold. I planted this one in between a big blue spruce and a lilac bush in a corner of my garden that I often forget to water. I hope it thrives there because it's really an interesting plant.

Container Garden 2

McCoard's Nursery near our home holds classes on Saturdays to teach various gardening topics. I attended one about container gardening two weekends ago. The basic principle to follow for a container is to include something thrilling, something filling, and something spilling. Typically these would be a tall spike or ornamental grass in the center surrounded by flowers that grow vertically, and then trailing petunias or greenery to drape over the side.

I took a different approach following those principles with this container. The thriller is a small fountain that plugs into the only outlet I have outside. The filler is violets that are planted in a section of the fountain bowl. The spiller is Bacopa Sopia Gulliver White Sutera cordata, which I think will also fill in around the fountain. Ht: 2-5: Care: Sun to part shade, prefers good soil; keep evenly moist; trim back as needed. I like how the small, simple flowers keep attention on the water.

My friend, Kelli, did a similar thing with one of her containers. In a large container she placed a small glazed pot on top and filled it all with contrasting colors of pansies. Very pretty.

Keep Out Those Vegetarian Predators

During the summers of 2007 and 2008 I had one test raised bed vegetable garden, which taught me a lot of lessons including the need to keep animals out of the beds. At first I couldn't figure out why so few of my seeds sprouted. Then one day I looked out my window to see one dozen quail plucking their way through the garden box and feasting on my seeds! I found some chicken wire under my deck and contrived a way to pull it over the box and loop it over nails so it was easy to remove. It mostly worked, but it also tore holes in my pant legs more than once as I was working around the box.

Last fall in my Wal-Mart clearance shopping spree, I picked up four packages of bird netting for $1.50 each. Each net is something like 14'x14' and is made of plastic that (I hope) will last for several years. This netting has been so much nicer to work with. I've tried a couple techniques for covering the boxes and am learning which I prefer. For one box I drilled and zip-tied a frame made from 3/4" PVC pipe. I used ten-foot lengths to bend into arches, which are pushed into the soil in the corners of the box. Then I attached an eight-foot pipe (the length of my box) across the top midpoint and draped the net over. I secured it to the ground with garden staple every four feet. I didn't push them all the way in so I can pull them out easily when I need to lift the net out of the way. The net wasn't quite long enough to cover the open sides well, but if I fold it just right it still deters birds. I've seen the birds perched on top of the frame and pecking for food around the boxes...but they are not in my garden boxes! Victory. I like this frame and net because it allows plenty of height for the plants. However, it is a little awkward to pull an entire side back. I've found it's easier to just work my arms under the net to pull weeds or transplant seedlings--but still awkward.

The second system I tried was to drive wooden stakes on the outside of the box at the corners and midpoints of the long sides of my 4'x8' box. The stakes stand about 10" higher than the box sides. Then I just draped the net over the top and again held it down with garden staples. The shorter height of the "frame" lets me cover the entire box with no gaps. I also have enough extra netting on the sides to cover potted herbs that are working on sprouting. I like that I can easily lift a corner or one end of the net to work in the garden. The only disadvantage I've seen so far is the more mature plants are pressing against the net, but I want to still leave it in place to protect the seeds and seedlings that are in there.

The nets have been a great defense against the birds. I haven't had a problem with gophers, but my mom did something smart to protect her garden boxes against rodents. She attached chicken wire to cover the bottom of her boxes before putting them on the ground and filling them. She's also had a problem with neighborhood cats, so she wraps a long piece of chicken wire around the perimeter of the box and loops it over nails. The top is left open, but the birds aren't a problem in her yard.

The other pest in my garden are the ants. They are everywhere. They moved into my garden box the same day I filled it. Twice I've seen them carrying away seeds. So now whenever I fill a box with soil, I sprinkle insect poison granules around the perimeter. I've had to repeat that for one box, but it seems to be doing the trick as most of my seeds are sprouting.

Do you have any other tricks for keeping pests out of your vegetables? I'd love to hear them!

Container Garden 1

Last fall I picked up four large pots at Wal-Mart when they put all their outdoor things on sale. I got most of them for $3, regulary $20+. In May, my friend Kelli showed me what elements go into a potted container and helped me pick out plants for my first attempt. I am very happy with the result. Here are the plants in this container:

The center "spike" is False Draceana 'Red Sensation' Cordyline australis. Ht: 18-48" Care: Moist, organic soil and sun; best with a monthly balanced fertilizer; will tolerate part shade.

The bright green leaves in the back are Sweet Potato Vine 'Terrace Lime' Ipomoea batatas. Love their color! Ht: 6" Care: Organic soil; allow soil to dry between waterings; fertilize regularly; full sun.

The small, deep pink flowers are Tukana Raspberry Verbena. It is a trailing plant. Ht: "4-8" Care: Normal amount of water, fertilize regularly, full sun; heat tolerant and requires no deadheading.

The pale pink flowers are Ruffle Light Lavender Imp. Trailing Double Petunia. The double petals make this flower very frilly and feminine, and they are quite large. No height is given on the tag, but I expect they will fill in rather high. Care: Partial sun, fertilize every two weeks, high water needs.

The white-edged trailing leaves in front are Mezoo Trailing Red Dorotheanthus. I loved this plant the moment I saw it. The leaves are thick and I love their coloring. I was pleasantly surprised when some small, raspberry-colored flowers peeked out--they kind of look like tiny daisies. (You can see them if you enlarge the picture.) Ht: 6-8" Care: Full sun to full shade; drought and heat tolerant; use slow-release fertilizer in the soil or feed regularly with a liquid fertilizer. This plant will make another appearance in my front shade bed next year!

These plants seem to like the spot by the brick chimney. They get part shade during the day, but the heat of the bricks keeps them warm into the evening. I can't wait to see how it all fills in. This picture shows the container two weeks after planting.


This picture taken at sunset in August shows the container at almost its fullest. It is beautiful! I love the pale pink double petunias and the Mezoo. It's dark pink flowers closed and opened sporadically all summer. I plan to repeat this container arrangement in the future.

Viney Vegetable Support

In my vegetable garden I am following the Square Foot Gardening method. SFG calls this structure a tomato tower. You can buy a tomato tower on their website, but let me tell you how I made it. (Click on the photo to see the details more easily.)

When we moved into our home 5 1/2 years ago, we discovered all sorts of leftover building materials had been thrown under the deck, including a set of tent poles. I used these 3/4" aluminum poles for this vegetable support. I cut them to about seven feet tall using a sawz-all. I also cut 4-ft long pieces to go across the top, making the whole thing 12 feet long. You could use 3/4" electrical conduit, which is not too expensive at hardware stores. I connected the end legs to the top with 3/4" electrical conduit couplers and rounded elbows. The interior legs were tricky. SFG uses two elbows at each intersection, but I wanted mine to look cleaner. I bought brass plumbing T's and pounded the poles in. The T's are threaded, so the poles don't fit super well, but the rest of the structure keeps it tight enough. You may be able to find threaded pipe that would work great with these T's.

To secure the legs in the ground, I drove 3-ft long rebar 18" into the ground right behind the grow box. I slipped the poles over the rebar and drove them into the ground about one foot, so the structure stands six feet high.

I ordered nylon netting with a seven-inch grid from the SFG store. It's $0.50 per linear foot, 4 feet wide. I've had this netting on an old structure outside for two years and it shows little sign of wear. It is very strong but soft enough to not cut into plants. I tied three pieces of the netting to the top and sides of the structure. As the vegetables grow, I can train them up the netting and easily reach through the holes to harvest. SFG claims that each 4-ft section of tomato tower will support over 100 lbs. of plant. I hope so!

I've planted eight climbing vegetables along this support: three types of vine tomatoes, a butternut squash, a melon, two cucumber plants, and a pumpkin plant. In the past I've grown tomatoes on a similar structure. Growing vegetables vertically saves space on the ground and keeps the fruit off the ground where it can get rotted. It is much easier to tend and harvest vertical plants than bending and reaching across the ground. I've left a two-foot-wide walkway behind this structure so I can harvest the plants from in front and behind. The first time I built one of these was kind of an experimental model. I put it right up against my fence and found it was very difficult to reach from the sides of the box to harvest in the middle of the net, not to mention pulling the vine out of the net at the end of the season.

I'll keep you posted on how the vegetables grow and if I run into problems with the structure. My biggest concern is that a strong wind will come when it is full of plants and knock the whole thing down. We'll see!