How to create a Mini Garden P2.

"The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living 
from a small piece of land."
Abraham Lincoln

Let's start with the Veggie patch. For this purpose I am going to cheat!

Here is the Veggie patch ready
to go. I have dug it over and
removed old roots and stones
from it. We are ready to plant
it up now. I have one marrow
and one courgette as small
plants.




I will plant them in this nice mixed compost and soil I have
used to grow veggies in before. I need to protect them by
covering with a cloche against slugs. They would devour
them otherwise.

Some bought cloches have little air vents on the top so
ensure that they are closed in the evening and overnight.
 
They can be opened in the day time to allow ventilation but make
sure you don't forget to close them. I prefer to keep them closed
incase I forget.


I also need to make sure they are watered regularly and 
I will feed them too. (will talk about that a bit later on).

So I want you to watch them growing and spreading
out in this space. I have put down some potting grit
around them to protect them against slugs.

Please keep reading as I update this blog.

Plant No 1 (Day 1)

Plant No 2

Growth in a couple of days under cloche

Next I am going to plant up another
vegetable in a hanging basket. As
I do this I will explain why.
Please keep reading!

Some of the first leaves of
Plant No1 have got a bit eaten. 
I will see how it goes over the next
few days. Then I will let you know
what I plan to do.
Please see P3 How to create a Mini Garden


 The concrete space - Balcony

I hope you have managed to gather a selection of Planters
by now. I am going to talk you through your planting.

It is important to make it as simple as possible.
You will need a few tools to help you along.

 1. Planters 2. Compost                                               
3. Gardening gloves 4. A trowel/ small fork

Good compost is full of nutrients so buy reasonable
quality stuff. Make sure your trowel is sturdy enough
and preferably a nice
metal one.




Planter 1
Rosemary (blue flowers)
Purple sage (purple and green leaves)
Apple Mint (below)

Planter 2
Heucheras

Planter 3
Miniature Bay
Lavender

            Lavender

I have bought three different small herbs.
I will plant them up soon and show you
how easy it is.

Purple sage, lavender, thyme

Having scrubbed and washed 

my terracotta planter (below) I lined it with

thick plastic sheeting. Terracotta dries out so

fast so it helps to retain some moisture. I also

placed some red terracotta stones in the base

to help with better drainage. 

I have planted up the Purple Sage and the Thyme in this.

Pictures to follow as it is in my potting shed and need to get up my steep and wet,

slippery garden to do so. So as soon as the sun comes out I will post up the photos.

Purple Sage and Thyme 

This is now ready to go outside but in case of frost it is still in my potting shed.

We can still get frosts in May which seems crazy.

This planter is doing well. These herbs are growing well in the potting shed.
I need to keep watering them daily as they are drying out a lot. 

See the growth on the Purple Sage 
As it grows more it seems to loose a lot of its purple leaves and grow green ones