Archive for September, 2006
Wednesday, September 27th, 2006
Tips for Planning a Small Garden
I’ve recently been planning my own small garden, and have been developing a list of things to keep in mind as I go about my planning. Some of these items are common sense, and some of them didn’t occur to me until I started really thinking about my design. I’m finding the trick […]
No Comments » - Posted in General Tips by jamie
Friday, September 22nd, 2006
Fertilizer Explained
Often when I’m picking out plants the instructions will say to prepare the soil with a 5-10-10 fertilizer or some other combination of numbers X-Y-Z. These are easy enough to find in the stores, but what does it mean?
These types of fertilizers are sometimes referred to as N-P-K fertilizers, where the N-P-K stands for Nitrogen, […]
No Comments » - Posted in General Tips by jamie
Friday, September 22nd, 2006
Saving Space with Climbing Plants
In a small garden it really helps to get the most out of your limited space by taking advantage of all the verticle space that is available. Lots of great flowers and vegetables can be trained to grow vertically, as long as they are provided with the proper type of support. Here is some information […]
No Comments » - Posted in General Tips, Vegetables, Flowers by jamie
Friday, September 22nd, 2006
Endless Summer Hydrangea
Because my garden is so small, I try to pick plants that will look nice for as long a season as possible in the limited space that is available. Given that, I’ve decided to try out the “Endless Summer Hydrangea”, which is relatively new…or newly available at least.
The endless summer is a breed of Hydrangea […]
No Comments » - Posted in Flowers, Perennials by jamie
Tuesday, September 19th, 2006
Growing Peonies
Here’s a great article about growing peonies by Leonard Perry that I found on the University of Vermont Website. I think it provides a great summary of the information needed to grow peonies, so I’ve quoted the whole thing here:
One of the most outstanding perennial flowers that is grown in the garden is the peony. […]
No Comments » - Posted in Flowers, Perennials by jamie
Tuesday, September 19th, 2006
Growing Asparagus
I’m finally settled down in a house where I plan to stay for several years, so this coming spring I will be attempting to grow some asparagus for the first time. A few quick facts about asparagus:
Asparagus can be grown in most parts of the United States
They take about 3 years to begin yielding a […]
No Comments » - Posted in Vegetables, Perennials by jamie
Tuesday, September 19th, 2006
No Land Needed!
Although I’m lucky enough to have at least a small patch of land at my current house, I spent the last couple years with a 100-square foot balcony as my only outdoor space. Don’t be discouraged by a lack of land though, just about anything that you can grow in a traditional garden will work […]
No Comments » - Posted in General Tips by jamie
Tuesday, September 19th, 2006
USDA Plant Hardiness Zones
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has developed a system of zones that help us to determine which plants are best-suited to which areas of the country (sorry, I only have a map for the US here). As this system of zones is pretty central to my plant selection process I’ve provided a link at […]
No Comments » - Posted in General Tips by jamie
Tuesday, September 19th, 2006
Welcome!
Welcome to Urban Gardens! This page is brand new, so please excuse the mess. I’ll soon be gathering useful information for people with small gardens in this space!