Ghetto Gardening 2015
"Gardeners, I think, dream bigger than emperors."
– Mary Cantwell
10/26/15:
Since starting to detail my gardening adventures in this series of photo essays in May, I've been evaluating how to best use the space I have. Now that it's late October and many summer plants have expired or gone dormant, I've got empty small seedling pots, medium-sized ones with bare dirt or scant greenery, and bare areas in the planter boxes. I want to be frugal instead of buying lots of plants to fill the empty areas, so it's time to assess what could still grow, then start thinning out crowded plantings, while storing any extra pots somewhere. Overall I want to give more space to the flowers and herbs I'll continue to cultivate (or re-seed) for the rest of the year and de-clutter the rest.
Clicking on the small images below will bring up a full-size version.
Chrysanthemum in a pot previously
occupied by a tomato plant.
Fuchsia's blooming again.
Sorting the pots.
The majority of my containers live alongside the lawn and an asphalt pathway leading from our gate to the front house and back studio. I try to keep these pots out of the way of foot traffic as much as possible, so lately I've been considering new vertical stacking solutions. Pinterest has been a good source of inspiration for ghetto gardening project ideas. Some "pins" are of repurposed old wooden pallets, and while I don't have any of those handy, it occurred to me that I do have unused trellises.
Cutting down soda bottles.
Attaching the pot-holders.
My new plant stand!
I've been using the cut-off bottoms of 2-liter bottles under pots to catch extra water that drains out. So I decided to attach some of these as pot-holding bases to a trellis. I started with the idea of stapling the pot-holders to the wood, but couldn't find the staple gun. I needed the plant stand to be stable enough to support the weight of small plastic pots filled with dirt, so my next idea was to try wiring the holders on. I punched holes in the plastic with a large needle, then twisted 8-inch lengths of picture hanging wire through the holes and around the wooden slats.
For now I'm keeping some of the young morning glory and cilantro seedlings here. It might be fun to make another trellis-stand and paint it in bright colors for spring, then use it to hold flowering bulbs such as tulips and crocuses.
