Good things can grow in small spaces

By Sandra Barrera, Los Angeles Daily News

July 10, 2010
It is possible to enjoy garden-fresh produce without a garden. A 1-gallon container in a sunny spot is all it takes to grow many of your favorite veggies, herbs and fruits.

(dailycomet.com)LOS ANGELES — As the late-morning sun beats down on the driveway outside her modest Eagle Rock apartment, Mary Tokita shows off the variety of edibles she’s got growing in containers.

Eggplant, loose-leaf lettuce, jalapenos and a variety of fragrant herbs are fresh for the picking.

“I try to always eat something from my garden,” says Tokita, a public relations consultant who also heads up the L.A. County Community Garden Council.

Stooping over a rectangular planter’s star attraction — a large beefsteak tomato plant overflowing with vine-ripened fruit — she observes, “A few of these are ready for dinner tonight.”

It is possible to enjoy garden-fresh produce without a garden. A 1-gallon container in a sunny spot is all it takes to grow many of your favorite veggies, herbs and fruits.

The key is providing edibles with a constant supply of water and fertilizer.

“Plants in the ground can send out their roots in search of water and nutrition, but they can’t do that in a container,” says Julie Strnad, a Mar Vista-based master gardener who suggests fertilizing container edibles with every watering. “If you give them a constant diet of fertilizer ... you get results.

“It’s stunning.”

According to Yvonne Savio, who heads up L.A. County’s master gardener program, regular feedings make up for the lack of nutrients in potting soil.

That said, you should never fill a container with dirt from the ground.

“You literally will create a concrete pot if you use your garden soil,” says Savio, manager of the University of California Cooperative Extension’s Common Ground Garden Program. “You don’t even want to thin it by mixing in potting soil. You just want to use potting mix alone.”

Savio recommends potting mix with small granules of dirt, which is superior to the more mulchy potting mixes in which the organic material — such as bark and peat moss — is still recognizable.

“If you get that kind you’re going to have to water it several times a day when we get our 90- and 100-degree heat,” she says. “Consequently, the whole effort of container gardening is going to be much more labor-intensive.”

Though growing food in containers requires more attention, it’s easy to do.

Evangeline Heath, an advertising copywriter, discovered just how easy it was last fall when she set up a container garden in the common courtyard of her Santa Monica apartment building.

She grew loose-leaf lettuce, radishes, broccoli, kale and various kinds of herbs in self-watering containers that she now plans on filling with tomatoes, basil and melons. “Just the whole process of putting a seed in the soil is at first a little nerve-wracking because you’re like, ‘Is this really how it’s done?’ And then you water it and ... all of a sudden it explodes,” Heath says. “It’s really exciting. “I’m so used to going to the store and just buying a head of lettuce,” she says. “You forget that it actually comes from the ground.” Or in her case, a container.

Container tips
Here are some tips for growing your own container vegetable garden: Pick of the crop. You can grow just about anything in a container. Summer squash, loose-leaf lettuces, radishes, cucumbers, eggplants and onions especially thrive. Yvonne Savio, head of L.A. County’s master gardener program, suggests first-time gardeners start with the tomato, which she calls “a classic.” While there are lots of patio varieties, she says any tomato can be grown in a whiskey barrel provided it has more than six hours of direct sun daily.

LEG ROOM
A large, deep container is practical when it comes to edibles because it provides the roots with ample space. An 8- to 12-inch pot can be used to grow just about anything, including eggplant, beans and spinach. Corn, melons and leeks do best in 3- to 5-gallon containers. For veggies such as cucumbers, peas and cherry tomatoes, consider a hanging basket. Go to http://celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/garden/articles/pdf/what-to-grow-in- containers.pdf for a list of more recommended containers.

KEEP PLANTS HEALTHY
Potting soil lacks the necessary nutrition to sustain plants. So Savio suggests fertilizing at each watering with only one-quarter of the manufacturer’s recommended amount. In addition to constant feedings, layering an inch or two of mulch on the surface will keep evaporation down. Containers tend to dry out quicker because being above ground, water evaporates from the additional surface area. Containers made out of plastic or glazed terra-cotta don’t experience the evaporation found in more breathable types, including whiskey barrels, peat containers and terra-cotta pots — a good choice for gardeners who water every day. For plants that require only a weekly watering, go with the plastic or glazed terra-cotta.

Pets or Pests In Your Garden?

By Tammy Barben

July 12, 2010
Do you cringe when letting your four-legged friends outside, knowing they are headed straight for your flower beds, landscape or vegetable garden? If you let your animals have free reign as I do, they can wreak havoc in no time. However, with some planning, patience and rework, my pets and I are learning to co-habitate in my gardens.

Pre-Plan - Watch Pets' Habits
Pre-planning is one of the most important steps to a successful relationship between you, your pets and your new flower bed. Before you start your next outside project, watch your pets at rest and play as they need to relieve themselves, places to run and play and a place for a nap in both the sun and shade.

Dogs - Creatures Of Habit
Plan your bed around the areas you notice your pets call their own. Dogs are creatures of habit so try to go with their flow.

Well-worn path can become garden pathway - If your pets have a path that is well worn, use that as an invitation to install a pathway of stepping stones. Both you and "Fido" will then have a path to follow without getting muddy.

Easy installation includes laying several inches of mulch a few feet wide where you want the path, placing stepping stones or large flat rocks amongst the mulch so that both of you can travel the path stepping on the newly laid stones.

Maintenance prevents rolling in dirt - Don't plan a new bed where your baby currently sun bathes, you will forever be saying, "What was I thinking?" Let them have their space and you, too, can have yours. Remember if there is dirt, dogs will dig and roll in it. It is best to keep areas well maintained and your grass groomed so as not to create a place they can make their mud hole.

Dogs Mark Their Territory
Male dogs are probably hardest on plants. Our brown and black Labrador boys are constantly marking and remarking their territory. Lately, that territory has become my once beautiful azalea bed. Urine is high in nitrogen and will burn almost any plant, eventually killing it. I have replaced my azaleas twice with no change in the dog's behavior. Just changing out your plants does nothing to change their habits, so I am trialing a couple of things to break them of this naughty behavior.

Maintain Deterrent That Works
Sprinklers and granules - I have one bed with sprinklers that spray when the animals approach the plant and another bed

with granules spread on the ground around the plants that are supposed to steer them clear of the area. Remember anything you find successful in changing behaviors must be maintained because the dogs will revert to their old habits.

Raised and bordered beds, citrus oils, mints or menthol - Raised beds, fencing and heavily bordered beds will also deter your four-legged friends from entering where you would rather they not, to play or to relieve themselves. You can also try placing citrus oils, mint or menthol around the beds as a deterrent because dogs find these offensive. Remember to replace these weekly or after rain to maintain efficacy. Since I have automatic sprinklers, I have not found these deterrents to be very helpful.

Shock and citronella collars, leash training - There are also shock and citronella collars, which work from a remote, from which you can give your pup a reminder to stay out and away from the precious plants. If you want to stay away from gadgets and save your pocketbook you can implement a one-month leash-training program. Take "Fido" to the same corner of the yard, and praise him lavishly when he toilets in this area.

Ornamental grasses vs. flowering plants - Another alternative is to plant ornamental grasses, which are known to stand up to this behavior better than flowering plants.

Like Dogs - Like Cats
Cats, like dogs, need a place to play. Scratching posts are good to have around for your cats. You can also plant a bed with catnip or catmint in it to lure in your cat, so they have a place to play and keep your other plants from becoming kitty food. I have read that catnip is like LSD for cats. To keep your precious rose bed from becoming the kitty litter box, you can spread citrus peels and coffee grounds around the bed. Many of the gadgets mentioned previously and used for dogs work for cats as well.

'Country' Pets
For those of you who live out in the country like me, you may also have the 500-plus pound four-legged pets - a donkey and cows for me - and they, too, can wreak havoc in the landscaping and vegetable garden. Last year, mine laughed at the rinky-dink fence I erected around my vegetable garden and let me know quickly that was just not going to keep them out. This year, I showed them! I installed a heavy gauged 6-foot-tall woven fence, which has kept out both the domestic and wild critters. I also learned to invest in a good cattle guard and fence around my landscaped yard.

Electric gates are nice but just not enough deterrent. My "country" pets learned quickly that leaning on the electric gate would allow them enough room to enter, "graze" my plants and then relieve themselves. I have lost more plants than I care to admit trying to make the gates "cow" proof. The cattle guards are being built as I write this article.

Be Pet Friendly
Remember to plant pet-friendly plants and to use mulch that won't make for a poisonous snack. The ASPCA has a list of poisonous plants and mulches at www.ASPCA.org, or you can call them at 888-426-4435.

I hope you and your four-legged friends can enjoy your outside time together without stress and replaced plants. Happy gardening with your pets - not pests!

The Gardeners' Dirt is written by members of the Victoria County Master Gardener Association, an educational outreach of Texas AgriLife Extension - Victoria County. Mail your questions in care of the Advocate, P.O. Box 1518, Victoria, TX 77901; or vcmga@vicad.com, or comment on this column at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.