Saturday 1 June 2013

Making the best use of space

When you have limited space in your garden, I think you need to make best use of it. One way to do this is to sow or plant a "catch crop" - in other words a quick-growing crop that will mature well in advance of the main crop you are growing. This is also sometimes called "inter-planting" or "under-cropping".

Here I have planted some lettuces in the space between my rows of Runner Beans. It will be a few weeks before the foliage on the bean plants gets very dense, and I hope the lettuces will be ready before then.


I have applied the same approach in the next-door bed where I have two circular teepees for growing Climbing French Beans (aka Pole beans).


In this case there is only one lettuce in the central area (though it is a Green Oak Leaf one which can get pretty big), but I have put Parsley plants at the base of each cane too. The French Beans are my old favourite "Cobra", by the way. The teepee nearest the camera in the photo above has yet to get its beans. I plan to populate it with heritage beans sent to me by a friend, but I'm having problems with germination rates and have had to re-sow.


Rather than waste the empty space between the two teepees, I have filled it with six Endive plants.


These ones are "Pancalieri", a variety appropriate for Spring sowing. They will probably mature some time during July.

I've shown you these before, but they fit today's theme. They are rows of Radishes in between rows of Broad Beans.


Of course, when you really have run out of space in your vegetable beds, then you can resort to growing stuff in pots and containers:


I am a great advocate of container growing, mainly because containers give your garden plans (especially layout) such flexibility. You can move stuff around at will, exploiting or responding to the weather conditions - for instance bringing pots under cover if frost is threatened, or putting them out in the full sun when justified. And of course, your growing space can grow in little increments (barely noticeable by the OH maybe...?).

Any of you who are similarly interested in the potential of containers might like to visit a new blog I have found that is devoted to this subject - Daniel Bourhill's  "Bagriculture"

12 comments:

  1. I tend to block plant so it is harder to undercrop I think. However I do it for my Michihili Chinese cabbage. I've grown Japanese turnips under them every year and they work out great.

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  2. What a wonderful way of using up every space in your garden! I have only tried inter-planting with tomatoes and coriander. Has worked well.

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  3. Unless we went to the plot every day, the only problem with containers on the plot would be keeping them watered if the weather ever was hot and sunny.

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  4. Most definitely a creative way to enjoy a garden with limited space. I really like this idea. Thanks for sharing.

    Velva

    P.S. I am your newest follower. I am an avid gardener ( a novice) but I have passion for getting my hands in the dirt.

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    1. Hi Velva; Welcome aboard! Nice to make your acquaintance. I'm sure we will find lots in common.

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  5. I have the same problem as Sue has, once it gets hot, I have to water container plants every day--sometimes twice a day. I just was outside watering the container flower just now. After all that rain we had, we are good and dry now. I did get down to my garden and am amazed at how big the tomatoes and pepper plants are this year. It is too late in the season here for lettuce--maybe on the windowsill though :)

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    1. Becky; Yes I know the problem. One of the advantages of having a small plot just outside my door is that I am "on-site" more often and am able to water it more frequently if necessary.

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  6. Hi Mark - I've clicked on the Bagriculture link but it says that blog is no longer available on wordpress. Am I doing something wrong? xxx

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    1. Hi Laura; The blog called "Bagriculture" that I mentioned yesterday has now moved to a Wordpress blog called "Containable".

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  7. Even though I have my allotment, I still grow some things in containers in the garden. It's convenient to have some things close at hand instead of having to make a visit to the plot to harvest them, and I find some things grow better in containers rather than the open ground. You're really making the most of all the space you have available.

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  8. I grow lots of things in containers as I have a large paved area in the garden which predates us living here. It is too nice to pull up but too wasteful space wise not to fill with edibles. Containers are the perfect solution although I do find them a little messy.

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  9. It's always a challenge to squeeze as much productivity out of a small plot. You do a great job! Glad to see someone reported the dead link.

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