For gardeners with a space problem who long to grow vegetables, there is an easy solution. Many types of vegetable do well in containers. Besides growing new potatoes in tubs, try putting leeks, carrots and even the luxurious asparagus in builders’ big black buckets with several drainage holes pierced at intervals around the base.
There is no need to confine yourself to ground-level containers. Raised or hanging ones will give some rewarding results – and at a convenient height.
- Mix zucchinis and nasturtiums in a hanging box for display as well as a crop.
- Suspend miniature tomatoes and bush basil in deep hanging baskets.
- Raise herbs in a handy window box outside the kitchen to provide instantly accessible flavorings when cooking.
A cheap and easy container for bringing vegetables, fruit and flowers into growth in unpromising spots is the growing bag. Anywhere you can reach with water becomes a potential growing site. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, zucchinis, lettuces and beans all thrive in growing bags – in fact the only limit to your success is the amount of water and feed you supply. Brighten up a bag by putting a few extra plants along its edges as decoration. Lobelia and petunias will quickly smother the bag, as well as attracting pollinators for crops. In the sheltered areas that suit tomatoes, the perfect bagshare is basil.
The Reader’s Digest Association Inc./GID
If your garden is lacking space, grow beets in a metal tub.
