How Do I Support Thee, Let Me Count The Ways

Last year I got to trellising the tomatoes too late. This year, the same. But because of all the cloudy weather, the tomatoes have not grown fast, allowing me to rig up my trellis easily.

I went with last year's system. It worked, cheap, simple. Attach bamboo pole to the exterior of the wood planter with copper-plated pipe brackets (15 cents each at corner hardware).

I added "X" cross-members to the vertical poles. The junction of these "X"s will hold up the main stem. Everything simply tied with jute twine. New bamboo poles are painted green, the old are gray. The green rubs off on your hands rather easily; wishing they'd just leave 'em the color they are. You can see in the photo, below on left, my other method using netting.

Below are a couple of views of my trellis system that I prefer to use when I am planting in the ground, in longer rows. I line up the wooden stakes, in this case 1 x 2 pine, spacing evenly. Then slide the 2 or 3 inch square netting over the wooden stakes. The netting may be taught or loose depending on the regularity of the stake spacing. Then I use a staple gun to secure any loose anchor points. I add three or four layers, making sure they are level and evenly spaced. I only use this method when the tomatoes are young, so that they can grow through the netting, as it can be tricky to weave a tall plant through. However, you must teach new growth where to go for this method to work. If you do, it works great.

Terrible photo, but here is the one young tomato I'm growing with this method. I haven't anchored the netting to the stakes yet.

Below are two photos of a similar method used by my friends. They surrounded each tomato with four stakes and attached a more flexible netting. I would eliminate the extra two stakes in the middle and simply run the net the length of the row. Having converted to this method after years of gawd-awful cone-shaped metal tomato cages (you know the kind), they report that its doing quite well.

And that concludes this year's love apple support report.

The Order of Things

I finally got the side vegetable garden organized.

I put two layers of "landscape fabric" underneath a layer of wood mulch. You can see it here where I brushed away the mulch. The roots of the tomatoes reach through the wooden planters and tap into the soil beneath, which has a higher concentration of some heavy metals. So I placed this barrier to assist in my effort to contain the tomatoes.

I finally got the path cleared. Also, quite late, but finally got the gleaming white bush bean seeds in underneath the soil, underneath the squirrel-protection-screen.

The basil and other herbs are doing quite well. This year we have thyme, oregano, sage, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, and chives. In a lot of ways, the garden is all about the herbs -they're used every day.

And the side yard broccoli 'Calabrese'. C'mon little guy, you can do it.

To Pea or Not to Pea

That is the question and I have my answer.

The answer is no. I will not grow snap peas, or probably any peas again in my side garden.

First, growing them was easy. Sprouted no problem, seedling support no problem, transplant no problem, growing in pots no problem.

So what is the problem?

Beyond the minor cover, don't cover when cold nights threatened -its that I just don't get my effort's worth out of the few plants I could grow. I need a row of snap peas, not four planters!

That said, they were tasty. Nutty, sweet, green -definitely better than grocery-bought. The photo above -the latest harvest.

The plants are still producing, but by God -its time they moved on so the tomatoes can go in, the tomatoes for chrisake! What kind a world is it where tomatoes are waiting on peas, peas in a tomato's world!!

Broccoli Report

There broccoli are slowly growing in the side yard -a little cooler and shadier there.


These brocs are growing in the front yard, full sun, and putting on the leaf. Hoping the hot weather this past weekend doesn't send them to bolt.


This guy, or girl, has been around the broccoli for a couple of days now. Get those caterpillars! When I put the camera real close for the shot, the spider turned around for it. Work it.

Supporting My Corner Nursery

I went over to J & L today to let them know how root-bound that weeping cherry was that we bought there on Saturday. The owner was there and we got to chatting about business, local nurseries and growers. In a lot of ways, to a guy who's been around the Brooklyn landscaping block, it comes down to the numbers. Business is slow. Its a good time to get city contracts, private 10K type jobs are little to none. Nursery business is swift, people buying lots of little things. I have noticed a pickup of customers at J & L and I can attest that this weekend was quite busy at Gowanus too.  J & L sells quart-sized perennials for 3 and 4 dollars, gallons for $8+.

I worry that he's getting older and hard times might move him toward retirement. I really like living a half-block from my garden needs. So I'm going to give them all the business I can afford. Including bags of compost to fill these tubs I got from the boxwood shrubs I planted the other day.

Pure As The Driven Snow

I was watching Jon Stewart on David Letterman the other night and they got to talking about the quality of a New York City snow. How its good for the first 15 minutes, thereafter your kids are licking gray icicles hanging off the bumper of a cab, yellow snow is a prized for its freshness.

Yesterday I went out to look at the side yard where I plant the vegetables in boxes and I took a look at the gray snow still about. I thought, well this is just catching a fraction of all that soot, debris, exhaust, whatever it is that is out there. We breathe it in, daily. Maybe it has little consequence, but who wouldn't choose purity over this?

Today is the day, the first official day of warm spring. The sun is out, the temps about 60 right now. If I weren't going to the Philly Flower Show to enjoy spring indoors this weekend, I'd be out in the garden pruning roses and cleaning pots, and probably planting my snap peas on Sunday.
Enjoy it!

Winter Sown and Other Sowings

These are the broccoli and snap peas in the cold-frame. Man, those snap peas grow fast. Broccoli a little slower, but they have their first set of true leaves. In the back you can see my "winter-sown" experiment, also known as starting seeds in the cold-frame.

A closer look shows a sprout just pushing out of the mix. It took two weeks longer out here. The question? Will it be a better broccoli plant or will it be too late to resist bolting later in the season? Who knows, but I will identify it with a tag so that I know which one is which and take note of any differences.

On the other end of the broccoli experiment stick are these seedlings I planted last fall and covered with a plastic tent. My biggest problem here has been keeping them watered. The soil dries out much faster than I anticipated. This taxed the seedlings and killed off most of them while I was away for a couple of stints out of town. Two plants remain in fair health and another two or three are weak looking, but alive. If I had kept them watered I think I would be looking at good-sized starts. It seems that the new seedlings will catch up to the fall-planted broccoli pretty fast once March weather arrives.

The winter protection afforded by the apartment building makes a good case for foundation vegetable plantings. South facing, wind blocking, heat holding and radiating add up to an ideal location for some winter vegetables.

SEARCH QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Can you build a vegetable planter on concrete?

Why not? Build your box as you ordinarily would. Then place it on the concrete. If your question is more about putting a wood-framed raised bed on concrete, then I would say yes -but make sure the soil is deep enough for the vegetables you are planting.

Drainage is key. If you are building a box, make sure to put in drainage holes.

Either way, make sure that you keep the plants watered. The heat-holding and radiating power of concrete will dry out the soil quickly if it is in full sun all day.

A Season's Knowledge

I think it is late enough in the growing season to make some sound judgements regarding my vegetable planting boxes. First -they worked. They held together, held the soil, supported the plants, even did not dry out too fast.

• For green beans, the box worked out excellent. Ten to twelve inches wide and the same in depth, I was able to get an amazing amount of bush beans in a small planter. The longer the box, the more plants. I planted mine with two parallel rows down the length of the planter. A great success.

• My 12 x 12 x 12 parsley box has worked quite well too. Similar sizes work great for basil.

I have a varying sizes for the tomatoes and this is where my critical judgement comes in.

• Twelve by twelve by fourteen inches deep is not enough soil space for a rapidly growing large tomato plant like the San Marzano, Brandywine, or German Stripe I planted. These plants have meaty stems and grew 5 feet tall in one month's time. The plant's roots went through the planter bottom and tapped the ground. If you are growing on a rooftop, or concrete pad, or wherever, the roots may not be able to do this and the large plants will suffer during hot, droughty periods. They may also succumb to disease due to stress or become stunted.So my judgement is that large tomatoes, like those indeterminate heirloom types, require larger, deeper boxes. What depth? I can only guess at this point to say at least 20 inches, maybe 24 inches deep. The depth seems to be more crucial than the width.

• Smaller tomatoes, like cherries, grapes, and anything labeled "Patio" should do fine with 14-16 inches of depth. But stay on top of the watering. These boxes dry out sooner than the earth and the bushy plants shed water around them, not into the planting box.

My planting was very dense, 7 tomatoes in less than 40 square feet. The more room you can give them, the better for air circulation and light penetration.

I had some questions about whether or not to line the box with plastic. I do not do this anymore because I do not want to grow in plastic. I prefer to have the soil hold the moisture, then let it drain out. The plastic may prolong the life of the wood planter on the interior. But I don't think it is a significant increase in life of the planter to warrant it. However, the plastic may increase resistance to blossom-end rot and cracking of tomatoes by maintaining a steadier moisture level. So this is a matter of personal choice, although you do want to be sure there is some drainage in your planter. Over wet soil is as bad for plants as drought.

For a reason that has remained a mystery all season, my cilantro has been sickly. I think this is because the soil has remained wet no matter what the weather conditions. I do not understand this, there is drainage in the planter (is it clogged?). Not until I empty the planter will I find out.

Building Better Boxes

Now that I have been living with my easy wooden planters for two weeks I can say that some are better and some are simply functioning. All will survive the season, but the warping induced by the wet soil on one side of the wood, and sunny dryness on the opposite side of the wood is causing problems. Some woods handle this environment better.

I made boxes with four types of wood planking: Poplar, Pine, Redwood, and Cedar.

Here the Poplar planking is pulling away from the structural framing on the bottom of the box. Additional screws may solve this problem.

The Poplar is most prone to warping. In this photo, the top planks are pulling away because I planked 2 inches above the framing.

The Pine is hanging in there, showing a little, but expected, warping stress.

The Redwood and Cedar are both performing admirably as expected.

So if you want to make boxes that do not warp so readily, pick Redwood or Cedar. There are also some tropical hardwoods, like Ipe and Teak, that will hold up just as well.

As for structural improvements, heavier structural framing (2 X 3 instead of 2 x 2) and sinking more decking-type screws per plank may shore up these easy boxes without too much extra effort.

To get a better planter, you will need to spend much more time and/or money. Professionals would likely use exterior-grade plywood for the interior box and tongue and groove planking for the exterior fascia. Often, they will build in a ledge around the top rim of the planter to keep water from easily working its way between the plywood and fascia. Other decorative touches are often added. The wood will then be stained, painted, or sealed to protect their workmanship from environmental stresses.

Enough to make those 5-gallon pails seem all the rage.

Easy Wooden Planters

This is a very simple planter box. It consists of two "U" shaped framing units and horizontal planks to tie the whole structure together. Wood plank and planter sizes can vary, so take my measurements as a rough guide.

It all starts with some wood: scrap wood on the right, some bought pine on the left. In addition to the planks, you'll need some 2x2 pine or cedar (better) for the interior framing.

Of course, you'll need some tools. Tape Measure, pencil, drill, drill bits, chop saw or handsaw, and some 1-1/2 inch and 3 inch screws. A carpenter's square is useful too, but not necessary unless you're using a handsaw. If you have an air compressor and nail gun, you can forgo the drill and screws altogether.

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Four 2 x 2 x 14 inch posts for the interior framing. Measure and cut each at 14 inches long. It is important that your cuts are square (90 degrees to the edge of the wood) so that the posts sit squarely in your box.

Now take another piece of 2 x 2, measuring and marking it at 12 inches long. Cut. Repeat once.

These two twelve-inch 2 x 2 pieces will become the bottom framing. Drill two pilot holes, about 3/4-inch from each end and centered. Then sink one 3 inch screw halfway into each of those holes.

Afterward, line up two 14 inch posts in the fashion you see above. Lay this "U" on its side and drive two 3-inch screws through the bottom 2 x 2 and into the posts, making sure to keep the posts and bottom lined-up. One screw for each post.


You will do this twice, one "U" shaped frame for each side of the planter box. Now you are ready for the plank sides.


Take a plank, measure, mark, and cut it at 12-inches. The planks should fit exactly on the "U" shaped frame. My planks were about 3.5 inches wide, so that I needed four planks, laid side by side, to rise to the top of the 14 inch tall posts.


Here I have four planks fitting nicely on the frame and an additional four planks for the opposite frame.


Here you can see the edge of one of my planks. It has some holes, but none too big to interfere with its purpose. Drill a pilot hole (the small one near the edge) so that you don't split the plank when you drive a screw through it.


Here you can see all four planks lined up with all pilot holes drilled.


This image shows all the 1-1/2 inch screws driven through the planks and into the "U" shaped frame. Do this for the opposite side as well.

Both "U" shaped frames have been "planked." It is up to you to determine the ultimate size of your planter box. I decided that this box would have a rectilinear shape, 12 x 16 inches. Take the overlap of edges into consideration when determining your planter's dimensions.


I measure another 8 planks at 16 inches long and cut each. The interior dimension of this box will be 12 x 14-1/2 x 14 (L x W x H) inches.


After drilling pilot holes in each plank, you line up the edges of each and sink a 1-1/2 inch screw into each pilot hole. Do this for each of the eight planks and you should have a fairly substantial box.


Now you need a bottom to your planter box. This is the most complicated part of the entire planter box building project.


First, take a measurement of the bottom interior of the box. Make sure you are measuring across the bottom 2 x 2 framing as the bottom planks will rest on the ledge made by the 2 x 2's. I had different widths of scrap wood for the bottom, cutting all of them to length (14-1/2 inches). I put the bottom planks side by side, on the ledge, in the box. I then measured to make sure the needed remaining planks would fit. They did, so I cut the 2 x 2 post dimension (about 1-1/2 x 1-1/2 inches) out of the corners with my hand saw. I fit the cut planks in (you may have to tap it in) and then drilled drainage holes.


Here's how it looks from the top with the bottom planks in, but before I drilled drainage holes.


And here is the finished planter box. This is easiest, but scrappiest, box I could make. There are many ways to do it better in terms of fit and finish, but the basic building can be the same. An improvement on the box you see here would be to bring the posts all the way up to the top of the planks. You can see how my posts are a little short, disabling me from sinking a second screw in the upper row of planks. A second screw would help keep the wood from curling back when it gets wet. But I can accept this flaw. I was looking for functional, scrappy boxes made on the cheap (or mostly cheap). You can use cedar posts and planking for a longer-lasting planter, although avoid treated lumber (the greenish stuff) and ordinary plywood. You can also plank your boxes vertically, although you will need to change the "U" shaped frame on each side to a square 2 x 2 frame, positioned on the bottom and top.

Three finished planter boxes in poplar, redwood, and pine.

A few things to note if you are planting vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and others:

• Make the interior dimension wide (say 12 x 12 or so), but more importantly -make it deep so that the roots have room to spread out. The deeper the better for tomatoes.

• I filled my box with pure compost. But I also added some moisture-absorbing potting mix to the soil so that the planter box retains moisture (soil separated from the ground can dry out rapidly).

• My mixture was roughly 60% compost, 40% potting mix.

• Check often so that your vegetables aren't stressed by drying out.

Planter Box Garden

Well I just had enough of building on the sidewalk, so on Tuesday I went over to a friend's house and built another four planters in his basement. Less headache for sure and it really rained that day. I planted them up with tomato starts, carrots, basil, and green beans. Unfortunately, those green beans are pole beans and I planted the starts as if they were bush. Now I'm either gonna have crowding, shade, and trellis trouble, or I gotta pull those out and replant. Its so hard to yank out seedlings after a certain point and these guys are past that point.

I'm not so sure we're even going to get enough sun in that side garden for vegetables like tomatoes. When I put perennials in that area, its seemed so shady as it was November. But by last summer the shade lovers were wilting for too much sun. They get heavy morning sun, but by June 21st, I think the 6 hour sun will max out and then they will see less and less. So an interesting experiment it will be.

My box design is less than perfect and rudimentary in design and construction. But it was easy and thats what I was looking for. Remember my alternative, my original idea was to use those 5 gallon pails so readily available. That would have been a cheaper proposition. These boxes, had I found more scrap wood, would have cost me the price of the screws. Instead I bought $100 dollars worth of pine planks and 2 x 2s. I made 5 planters from new wood and I expect 5 years out of these boxes, giving each planter a $5/year cost. Every year longer reduces that cost. Of course, if I spent more on cedar, I would have longer-lived boxes. One of our scrap boxes is made out of redwood and that should last 10 years at least.

Its raining today, happy to not have to water the vegetables in. Unlike my perennial garden, these vegetables will require watering. I'm not happy about that -but the nature of our food plants is tender in so many respects.