Verdethumb
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2015 1:18 pm
Location: Savannah, Georgia

Raised gardening

My husband and I have rented a home until we decide were we want to retire.. I have always had a garden and would like to have one now. Problem is we are not allowed to dig up the ground. Can some one give me advice on how to go about making a raised garden? We would like to plant the usual; tomatoes, snap bean bushes,cucumbers, leaf lettuce, spinach your regular"salad garden. Also an herb garden. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks, Suzanne~VerdeThumb.we live in Savannah, Georgia zone 8 or 9.

Susan W
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1858
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:46 pm
Location: Memphis, TN

Verde, this can be frustrating! Going into, well IN summer, and trying to start a garden is pushing the limits!
Are you familiar with the area/climate etc? If moved from elsewhere could be a bit of a shock, good and not so good. Are you looking at 6 months? 6 years?

I suggest starting with a few containers for herbs. Starts are hard to find now, but you can still put together a few. Most of my herbs don't have full sun, and seem to better with some break.
You can add some annual flowers in containers for pretty and sanity.

Bush beans can be grown in large containers, as well as tomatoes. This late and warm aka hot, perhaps late on the tomatoes, spare perhaps a patio/cherry type. Later you can start spinach and have through the winter.

Also shop your local garden centers and farmers markets and see what is available.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13962
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I agree with Susan, since you are renting, putting in the time and money for a raised bed might not be that worth while unless you build a box on wheels, so you can take it with you.

Get the largest containers you can find. 20 inch pots
You could plant one tomato, one eggplant, a couple of cucumbers, or several peas and beans and if you use CRW cage it will fit around the outside of the pot

Herbs can go in smaller pots.

You can use recycled stuff for pots. Get 55 gallon drums, wine barrels, and plastic buckets from (restaurants, bakeries. wineries ) food grade barrels cut them in half either way. They make excellent planters and are deep enough and wide enough for carrots, beets and lettuce. 5 gallon buckets good for one pepper, one eggplant (barely), and ginger.

I buy rubbermaid 18 gallon totes and make them into self watering containers.

Zone 8 or 9 you have an extended season so while pretty much noboby grows much in July or August because of the heat, you might be able to get some fall crops going a little later on like broccoli, kale for the cooler months of the year.

I actually am in zone 12a and I will plant broccoli and brussels sprouts in late July and August so they mature in cooler weather. I can grow kale year round although they taste less bitter in the cooler months (it helps to have an icemaker in summer to dump the ice on the kale at night)



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