Building a bottle tower for container gardening

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Grow Up! How to Design Vertical Gardens for Tiny Spaces If you’re one of the many people in the northern hemisphere who are counting down the days ’til springtime, chances are you may have also been daydreaming about gardening as well. March isn’t just one of the coldest months of the year—it’s also the month in which seed catalogs are sent out to green-thumbed folks everywhere, so plans can be made and plots can be mapped out in preparation for the luscious growing season ahead. If you happen to be lacking in yard space, there’s no need to feel left out! There are some brilliant ways to take full advantage of small spaces, and the key is to plant vertically. Circle Planting I wanted to grow corn between two rows of tomato vines to provide partial shade for vines and tomatoes. A little shade on tomatoes during hottest summer will produce bigger, juicier, mild-flavored fruits and, at the same time, reduce the problem of sun-scald. I traced in the dirt a two-foot diameter circle. Nine young corn plants were placed about eight inches apart, were then set in the soil around the circumference.

Make Your Own Plastic Bottle Greenhouse Author: Lucy Debenham BA (hons) - Updated: 30 November 2012| Comment So why on earth would you want to make your own greenhouse out of plastic bottles? Well, we all know that the British weather can be less than reliable. Vegetable Gardening in Containers If you don't have space for a vegetable garden, consider raising fresh, nutritious, homegrown vegetables in containers. A windowsill, patio, balcony, or doorstep can provide sufficient space for a productive container garden. Problems with soil-borne diseases, nematodes, or poor soil can also be overcome by switching to container gardening. Grow vegetables that take up little space, such as carrots, radishes, and lettuce, or crops that bear fruits over a period of time, such as tomatoes and peppers, for best use of space and containers. Dwarf or miniature varieties often mature and bear fruit earlier, but most do not produce as well overall as standard varieties. With increasing interest in container gardening, plant breeders and seed companies are working on vegetables specifically bred for container culture.

40 Inspiring DIY Herb Gardens If you love to cook you most likely can’t live without fresh herbs. You can buy them when you need them but it would be much better if you will always have them in pots near by. This way it’s much easier to mix them in small doses and add in all meals you’re cooking. Of course to have them on your kitchen or right outside your kitchen door you need to organize a thoughtful herb garden that also looks great. We’ve gathered for you a bunch of cool ideas that might inspire you to do that.

Herb Walls Herb Wall Inspiration Herbs, lettuces and strawberries do not need as much soil as many other plants, so are good candidates for vertical gardens. Vertical herb garden in the edible garden at Atlanta Botanical Garden. The section to the right is a water wall. Photo copyright Tim Martin. achefinthegarden.blogspot.com Lasagna Gardening 101 There's no hard and fast rules about what to use for your layers, just so long as it's organic and doesn't contain any protein (fat, meat, or bone). Before I go any further, let me just say that the basics of making garden lasagnas are simple: Don't remove the sod or do any extra work, like removing weeds or rocks. Mark the area for your garden using a water hose or a long rope to get the desired shape.

8 Completely Awesome DIY Home Energy Projects Small-scale renewable energy is a must for a sustainable home – but converting your home to clean energy options can carry a huge initial price tag. We’ve scoured the web for some of the most innovative examples of homemade energy solutions to compile a collective list of DIY projects to make your home greener and more energy efficient without costing you a fortune. From solar water heaters and gadget chargers to homemade super-efficient refrigerators, you’ll find links (with instructions) to some of the best projects you can make at home… Homemade Energy-Save Fridge