With signs of spring popping up all around us–crocus blooming, robins returning, buds coming out on the cotoneasters–I am thinking it is time to get my spring and summer garden plans finalized! This year will be different from other years as we live in a rental property now. I don’t have a reason to invest large amounts of money into garden soil amendments, rearranging the landscaping, or constructing large garden beds, even if I felt like I was “allowed” to do those things. Really, all we are required and encouraged to do with our yard is keep the grass growing where it is by watering well throughout summer (which is tricky here in arid Colorado!) But I can’t go through a summer without getting my hands dirty and trying to grow a few things. Even last year, when we had just barely moved in, we planted a cherry tomato in a pot on our porch and threw a few seeds in the ground in a bare plot that is separate from the “lawn” (such as it is). Nothing grew very well, but we had the fun of trying and seeing what happened anyway.
This year, I have a better idea of what areas get good sun (hint: it’s not the places that were already marked off for gardening, ironically) and what kind of soil we are dealing with (POOR!), so I have a plan going forward. That plan is to begin container gardening!
As I mentioned, one area of the yard appeared to have been set apart for some sort of garden beds, whether flowers or vegetables, who knows! But it is underneath three sizable trees, two of which are old apple trees (which do bear, yay!), as well as next to a tall privacy fence. As such, it gets very little sun even in the summer months. And the soil there is extremely depleted. It will, at the very least, need some compost and mulch to help anything grow there. I will probably let the kids play around with that area and see what kinds of flowers and ornamental grasses they can have success with. Some of the ideas we have are the following, although I am sure we won’t get to all of them this year:
- Calendula
- Chamomile
- Yarrow
- Purple Cone Flower (Echinacea)
- Butterfly Flower/Milkweed
- Bunny Tails Grass (or other ornamental grass)
- Rocky Mountain Columbine
- Zinnias
- Marigolds
- Bachelor’s Buttons
- Cosmos
- Bulbs (tulips, daffodils, gladiolus, etc.)
For all the vegetables and herbs I want to grow, however, the container garden will be a must so that I can move things around to get the best sunlight and for ease of watering. We have a nice bare spot on the south side of our garage that I think will work really well for this purpose. My task right now is to acquire seeds/starts and prep any that need started indoors ahead of time. Then I need to round up all the pots and containers I can, as well as several bags of potting soil and compost to prepare for planting outdoors in May. We have a relatively short growing season here, but at least with my ability to move or cover pots I should be able to extend it a little bit on either end. For things that need to climb or need support, I do have a couple of small trellises that were here already, and tomato cages and/or wire to build supports with are cheap. Oh, and I might have to get one of those stackable planters so we can have strawberries here. We love growing strawberries, and that has been one plant we have had success with everywhere we have tried growing them! Here are the veg and herbs I know I want to plant, as well as some optional(*) veg that I might try if we have enough room and time:
- Lettuce
- Kale
- Radishes
- Zucchini
- Tomatoes (Roma and Cherry)
- Snap Peas
- Pole Beans
- Snacking Cucumbers
- Small Watermelon*
- Winter Squash*
- Brussels Sprouts*
- Carrots*
- Basil
- Parsley
- Sage
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Lemon Balm
- Mint
- Dill
- Lavender
- Borage (this may come up voluntarily in our garden bed since that DID grow well last summer!)
I guess that about sums it up for now! I will try and share updates throughout the next several months, documenting what our set-up ends up looking like, how different things are growing, what did and didn’t work out, etc. I hope you will follow along with our container gardening journey and enjoy seeing our progress!
Until next time, happy planting!
Kiel
