by Fern on March 31, 2009
I was walking from our car to a restaurant with my husband when I spotted this charming courtyard. It was in a very cute part of Long Beach called Belmont Shores. Especially when you know you’re going to be in a well-manicured part of town, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for great ideas you can borrow on your own balcony or patio!
I love how they’ve used the pavers and baby’s tears to create a “been here for a long time” look. It also directs traffic to the front door nicely, but still manages to incorporate several planters and a nice seating area (you can just make it out behind the bush on the left side). This entire space is probably about 20 feet wide by 8 feet deep.
by Fern on March 30, 2009
If my site logs are on to anything, gardeners are REALLY interested in growing edibles in containers. So here goes nothing. Bear with me on the graphics, I’m having some technical issues behind the scenes. But hopefully they’ll get my ideas across.
Rosemary, Meet My Friend Strawberry
A super easy combo is to plant up a strawberry pot with strawberries in the lower half and rosemary in the top. Start by filling the pot with enough dirt to reach the lowest hole in the pot. Insert the first strawberry transplant and then fill the pot with enough dirt to reach the next hole, and repeat. When you’ve planted the last strawberry, add enough dirt so that the rosemary’s roots will be about 2 inches below the lip of the pot. Place the rosemary in the pot, fill around it with dirt, and voila! You’re done.
When the strawberries are ready to be picked, consider this strawberry and rosemary jam recipe (scroll down to the bottom to see how she tweaked the recipe to include rosemary). If you want extra credit, train your rosemary into a topiary.
Eat Your Beets and Carrots
A really attractive combo of root vegetables is carrots and beets. The finely cut foliage of the carrots contrasts nicely with the bold, dark foliage of beets. I like planting beets in the back of the pot, and then a short variety of carrots in front. As the beet leaves are also edible, you’d be hard pressed to plant a more efficient pot.
More Good Veggie Combos
- Tomatoes and marigolds – Probably the classic vegetable companion combination. Marigolds fight off some of the pests that attack tomato roots.
- Lettuce and Radishes – Ring a pot of lettuce with radishes and you’ll have an attractive salad in the pot and on the plate.
- Mint and Broccoli – Broccoli is actually a pretty attractive plant. Mint will spread around the base of the broccoli, covering the dirt.
- Swiss Chard and Cabbage – The striking white and green of the chard contrasts nicely in both shape and color with the cabbage.
