Small Garden-Part 2-Growing UP

Gardening in a small garden can be a challenge...there's not a lot of space to use and in the city where we are, containing things helps with the neighbor's perspective of our gardens. So what to do?  We grow things UP as much as possible.


If you missed part 1, you can see it here:
Small Garden-Part 1- Crop Rotation

Many plants can do very well growing up on a trellis. It doesn't even have to be an "official" trellis... you don't have to spend a lot of money.... and maybe not any at all.

The picture above shows more than one kind of trellis... there is a piece of lattice held in place with stakes, there are 2 chair backs tied together to form a trellis.... and there is an old wooden patio umbrella frame in the corner of the picture.

 This picture shows just some metal in a U shape for the cucumbers.

 I always stake my tomatoes. I know that some people like to let them sprawl and if they have a lot of room, that works, but I think even if we get to the country and have more land, I will still stake mine. :)  I have learned to love the neatness of staked tomatoes... and I think it actually helps them.

Behind the tomatoes, see the pretty trellis? It is a metal bed headboard! :)  When you start looking, there are lots of possibilities.

This is the old patio umbrella frame. One of the posts on it is broken, but it is tied together and works great. We used this for cantaloupe and it worked well.  When the cantaloupe get big enough, I create a sling out of pantyhose tied to the wood and the melon rests on that. 

Here are a few other trellis... some of them are "official" trellis... and they are pretty and useful, but I need many more than this.

Below you can see the chair backs trellis... those were for squash this time. Over to the right is another metal bed headboard... I tied the two together... one is tall, one is short... worked well for the first crop of cucumbers.... and of course, there are all of the tomatoes with their pole stakes.

By the way... no need to buy pole stakes if you have something that will work... old pvc pipe...or metal pipe... or bamboo... etc will work also.  I like sturdy stakes... and have used 2"x 2" wood stakes cut to a point on one end... those were wonderful. In this picture, you see that I have "real" tomato stakes... I acquired a large amount of new ones, so decided to use them for the first time ever. They would be fine for smaller lightweight things... like passionflower or even cucumbers, but I hated them for my tomatoes... they weren't strong enough to hold them when the tomatoes were bigger and heavy... especially with storms.

 This is a metal trellis with the clematis growing on it. It is actually an old metal king size headboard and footboard that I hooked together...  We also had other plants growing up this trellis.












Having things grow UP sure helps to save space in the garden... it also allows room for other foods that cannot grow up.... like carrots, onions, radishes and more.

 Over toward the right in this picture... you can see some metal baby gates that have been secured in the stretched out position.


In the picture below, you can see 3 smaller poles tied together.... that was for one of the melons this year. Next to it there are a couple of single trellis tied together... for the second cucumber crop.

In the far right corner of the picture, toward the top, there are old supports from an outdoor canopy... with a board across between two of them (you can only see one of them here). This is for our blackberry vines and it works well.  You can also see the side entrance to the back garden (I like those arched entrances. :)  It is a couple of old porch posts with a couple of metal trim pieces from something... We have since painted it and it looks nicer.  There is another entrance to this back garden with other metal items....  These work well for morning glories and passionflowers to climb and also add charm to the garden.   :) 

There are many possibilities and it is surprising how much we can fit in our little city lot... and I try hard to keep it looking attractive and still be workable.  Growing UP is a big help to gardens... big or small, but especially small. Thank you for visiting today....  I hope you enjoy a great garden season this year. :)

Small Garden Series:
Small Garden-Part 1-Crop Rotation

Small Garden-Part 2-Growing UP

Small Garden-Part 3-More Beds





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