Zone 6b, small garden questions (flowers, growing, Hydrangea, strawberries)
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Hi all. I could use some advice. This is a garden area that my Dad put in over 2 decades ago. It laid abandoned for about 5 or 6 years until last year when my sister-in-law helped us clean it out and put in some plants.
I’d like to put some veggies in between the perennials instead of annual flowers. I figure that if I’m going to do all that weeding, I’d like to get a tomato or two out of it, LOL!
OK. So the ‘P’s are the perennials that I need to work around. They are fairly small now and I would keep them reasonably pruned back so they don’t get too big. The area to the left of the planting area is about 3-4 feet wide, then a lilac tree. I thought I could put about 4 tomato plants there. There is also a lilac tree to the right, but I don’t think there is enough space to put anything big.
I’ve never tried to grow anything other than tomatoes, and I don’t know how big some plants will get. Veggies I love to eat are; carrots, potatoes, spinach, strawberries, beets, a few herbs, maybe a few vine plants along the side of the house, like cucumber or string beans.
It’s also possible that I won’t get enough sun for them, but I’d like to try. I’d appreciate any advice you have and also where I can buy heirloom seeds or seedlings. I’m in the NYC area, Zone 6b.
Nice little space there. I'd love to have a garden of my own, but alas...apartment.
OK, so the easier veggies that to grow are beets and carrots. Their roots and "fruit" grow further down then up. They don't get very big in the leaf department, nor get very bushy.
Strawberries can pretty much grow anywhere. They can be viney as well. However, they will take a year to produce anything eatable, if grown from the plant. From seed, they may take a few years to produce anything. They can also be grown inside. Also watch for fake strawberries, which look exactly like a strawberry plant, produce similar flowers (white or yellow) but no fruit. If they cross pollinate with your home grown or store bought plants, they will not produce any fruit.
Herbs, pretty much any type of herb, even in half or indirect light. Just watch for deer, if any in your area. This is basically a treat for them.
Potatoes take a huge amount of space. Usually you would want something like 4 used tires-tall and round, half-filled with peat moss and rich soil. The idea is to start them half way down and start adding more soil/peat mixture as the plant grows.
Oh and as for seeds, if there are no hardware stores like Home Depot, then look up Burpee.com or just search Google. Burpee won't send plants, and maybe seeds, until the weather warms up.
Try some cabbage and lettuce in the spring. They are easy to grow, won't take a lot of room, and harvested by May, you will still have time/ room for summer veggies. For the first time, you don't have to grow from seed neither. Most nurseries/ big box stores sell little plants that you can transplant. Also plant some marigolds & basils in between your plants, they repel bugs.
Not going to pull up the perrenials as my sister-in-law just put them in and spent a small fortune reviving the space. I'll just plant around them. Besides, I love flowering plants and they help bring in the bees and butterflies.
I also just realized that there is some space by our fence that used to have hostas but they mostly died out. I think I'll put tomatoes or string beans there. They can just climb right up the fence!
Think I'll start out with the herbs, carrots and beets in the square and see what else I can put in there. I'll order some seeds tomorrow. I just have to figure out where I'm going to start them. I may have to start from plants. (small house, etc.)
Wish me luck! I'll be back with lots of questions, LOL!
Not going to pull up the perrenials as my sister-in-law just put them in and spent a small fortune reviving the space. I'll just plant around them.
I don't know if any of the perennials you have planted already would make a difference, but there are some plants that should not be grown alongside other plants. Just a heads up.
Quote:
I also just realized that there is some space by our fence that used to have hostas but they mostly died out. I think I'll put tomatoes or string beans there. They can just climb right up the fence
The tomatoes will need additional support, unless you tie them to the fence. Peas are good to grow against a fence as well.
I love to mix vegetables and herbs in with perennial plantings for a variety of scents, textures, and the ability to harvest food. You've gotten some great advice so far, but I have a couple things to add.
I noticed some of the perennials and annuals in your plot were partial shade plants and you mentioned a large Lilac nearby. Most vegetables need a good amount of sun to produce good yields and to be less susceptible to mildew and fungal issues. Observe the bed at different times off the day over the course of a few days to make sure that area gets at least 6 to 8 hours a day of sunlight, or just wing it as you're only putting a few things in, if you you have issues, you won't be out a lot of money.
Another thing you might think about is having a soil analysis done or possibly growing edibles in containers because of heavy metal contamination. I mention this because you're near NYC, I'm in Chicago, and I rarely plant much (that I would eat) in the ground because of all the heavy metals in our soil. Due to the hundred some odd years of heavy industry and the output of smokestacks, lots of toxic chemicals have collected in soil in many Chicago neighborhoods (and most urban areas). So often when soils are analyzed, very high levels of zinc oxide, mercury, lead, and arsenic (among other things) are found as well as found in the vegetables grown in those soils. A organic grower located in my city, who grows a lot of produce for local restaurants, went so far as to have 18" of soil clay trucked in to put a cap over their lot before putting soil and compst on top.
Good Luck with your garden, however you set it up!
My Dad had top soil put in the 'square' when it was put in, so I think the soil would be ok. But I think you're right - I may pot the edibles, especially if I use the fence area. I think paying for analysis will kill my small budget.
There are actually two large lilacs, one on each side (see pics). They will stay, but I will probably prune them back this year (will look up when I should do that). They are getting a bit unruly and are about a story high now. The garden does get a lot of direct sun for probably at least 5 hours, from what I remember from weeding last year. I've grown tomatoes with that amount or less in containers in the past in a nearby neighborhood. I expect that some of the edibles may fail, but I'd like to give it a try. Even smaller veggies will be better that most of what I can get in stores. Gardening takes practice!
The perennials are azaleas, snowball bushes/hydrangea and these yellow, daisy-like things.
The perennials are azaleas, snowball bushes/hydrangea and these yellow, daisy-like things.
The yellow flower is Ligularia Dentata, can't tell which variety from the lighting in the photo. One looks like 'Desdemona' and another looks like "Othello" or "Dark Beauty'.
My Dad had top soil put in the 'square' when it was put in, so I think the soil would be ok. But I think you're right - I may pot the edibles, especially if I use the fence area. I think paying for analysis will kill my small budget.
There are actually two large lilacs, one on each side (see pics). They will stay, but I will probably prune them back this year (will look up when I should do that). They are getting a bit unruly and are about a story high now. The garden does get a lot of direct sun for probably at least 5 hours, from what I remember from weeding last year. I've grown tomatoes with that amount or less in containers in the past in a nearby neighborhood. I expect that some of the edibles may fail, but I'd like to give it a try. Even smaller veggies will be better that most of what I can get in stores. Gardening takes practice!
The perennials are azaleas, snowball bushes/hydrangea and these yellow, daisy-like things.
Oooohhh!!! Those yellow-daisly like things!! Those are ligularias. The purple one, 'Britt Marie Crawford' is one of my favorite plants and is grown mostly for it's gorgeous foliage. It's good in shade/part shade and gets really large, about 3-ft across with really spectacular purple foliage. It only blooms once a year, but when I had shade and could grow it, I never even cared about the blooms. I interplanted it with hostas and it was a real show stopper.
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