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Sunday, May 25, 2008

How To Grow Vegetables In A Limited Space

For anyone accustomed to the notion that a vegetable garden must be a fairly large affair - its rows stretching fifteen or twenty feet at a minimum, the concept of crops pushing up from a accident at work container or appearing to burst the bonds of a tiny patch of ground home owner loans a few feet square - it is almost unsettling.

however injury at work vegetables in cramped spaces is not only possible but highly rewarding. One can grow tomatoes in tubs at the buy life insurance of a patio, strawberries in empty milk cartons on a windowsill, lettuce in a modest window box, watermelons along a strip beside a driveway or beans on a trellis on a small apartment balcony.

A space no larger than a card table can supply you with vegetables year-round. The trick is to create a garden that has the right growing conditions and to purchase seeds that are well suited to smaller areas.

Many seed companies have started offering miniature, compact plants to meet the needs of persons with limited space. You'll often find them in their catalogs or on their internets under categories like space miser, midgets or space savers.

Producing vegetables on a reduced scale, however, is basically a different proposition from other kinds of gardening. Small gardens devoted to woody ornamentals like dwarf conifers, rhododendrons or heathers or to miniature bulbs or alpines are arranged and managed largely for appearance: they exist to be decorative, to please the eye.

Vegetables are most often grown to reward not the eye but the palate. So while corn stalks and bean bushes can make the mouth water they rarely make the eye pop, and they are not likely to be found gracing a well designed border, although creative horticulturists have combined a few of the handsomest vegetables with flowering plants to good effect.

The largest challenge with a small vegetable garden is practicality. Some vegetables such as lettuce will grow fine with only 4 hours of sunlight a day, but anything that asp net webhosting a fruit (tomatoes, corn, beans, etc.) needs a solid 8 hours of direct sunlight or they aren't going to be very productive. That sunlight isn't necessary for dwarf azaleas, however.

A proper soil mix is also important, along with the right fertilizer. It can be as well much for some dwarf plants, however and can make them grow beyond the space they're given. Plus, you need to turn the soil in your vegetable garden annually. that kind of tilling can't be done in some small spaces.

In spite of the challenges, growing vegetables in a small space is worth the effort. You'll need to decide if you want miniature fruit or just miniature plants. Small vegetables are cute, but often not so practical. There are some that are widely consolidation student loan though - cherry tomatoes and radishes are two perfect examples.

Are you planting vegetables that year? Plan your www.vegetablegardeners.com/garden-plans.htmvegetable garden layout before you start planting. Learn more about planning your garden and get my free reports on mulching, composting and pest control at www.vegetablegardeners.comwww.vegetablegardeners.com