Today we are going to talk about mulching and moisture.

I was having a problem with retaining moisture in my beds. All the plants were drying and having slow growth. I think the main problem is no shade and all plants get direct sun. The other problem is if you remember in an earlier post, I had buried stone and broken concrete about two feet under the soil. The drainage is very good.

I was trying to figure out the best mulch to use on the beds where I would get the best value to help with productivity. I decided on a peat moss and compost mix. The peat acts as a great barrier to protect against dryness from the hot sun and the compost adds nitrogen to the soil for the plants. It is also appealing to the eye. I love the dark brown color against the terra cotta block, and with the white wishing well and white patio furniture, it’s a win, win situation.

I am so glad with the results of all of this that I had to take more pictures just so you can see how well everything is growing. We had a heavy rain that lasted about 24 hours and I think, really kick started the plants in super fast mode.

As I send you to the pictures I just wanted to tell you about the two square terra cotta pots that are on their second year of sweet William and are finally starting to bloom. Enjoy the pictures and let me know what you think.

Until next time.

Finishing Up But Just Getting Started

Hello Fellow Gardeners and Friends,

I realize that it has been a few weeks since I posted to this blog and I apologize for that. However I have been working very hard on this urban setting and I am happy to say that my project is complete.

I would like now to take you on a small tour of my small urban setting. I am glad that things turned out better than originally planned. If you remember when I started this area was nothing but a mess of soil and patches of grass.

As you know I started out with laying out planks of wood where the garden beds were going to take shape. I then built the boxes with only a 4” height. I made my beds so shallow because of the broken up concrete that is buried 2’ under ground. This has given me ample drainage.

I then decided to raise the walkways to the height of the top of the beds. The beds have now become inset beds. I have to admit that this idea came after I had everything setup and was deciding on the pavers.

I used red pavers and brick for the patio and walkways to the garden. I did this because I just like the colors of the green with the Tara cotta. It just makes for a very tranquil setting. The only thing I am not to happy with is the fact that I had to fence in the garden area as to keep the cats out. Living in the city there are a lot of cats that run free.

Here are a series of pictures of the finished product. I hope you can envision it as a whole as I didn’t have enough room to take a picture of the whole area.



This is the entranceway into the garden area. Notice the now inset beds. You are looking at the right half of the garden.



Here is the left half of the garden. Notice the three tomato plants. Each one is a different variety, Plumb, Big boy and yellow. The white box in front has some cherry tomatoes planted and they will be in the box they are sitting in. To the left and are peas, two varieties.



This is the finished patio. Notice I have a grade up to level on the right side. You can see the old block.



This is from inside the garden. I like the unique shapes I formed out of the wood. I just started laying planks and ran with it.



This is a better view of the tomato beds.



The snow peas are really starting to take off.



This is another view of the Lettuce and spinach beds.



The beans are starting to pop up from the long bed.



Mmmmm fresh salad!




Can’t wait to pick this spinach for dinner!



I built this door frame for an easier entrance to the garden area. I didn’t really need the frame over the top as the fence is 6’ and the chicken wire stretched out nicely. We want to put a small fountain at the end of the frame. I guess that will happen sometime.

Thanks for reading. I hope whatever gardening plans you made over the winter are working out for you. Until then, Happy Gardening!