City Gardeners?

http://davesgarden.com/s/338724.html

My city gardener thread- anyone out there?

I'm not sure if I qualify to be a TRUE city gardener. I do have a house with a small front and back yard. I'm not in Downtown Cleveland,Ohio, but my house is in the city. This is my first year at this house and have had to start from scratch. There was only grass - not nice grass either. So I took out ALL the grass in the backyard and have been slowly turning it into a perennial garden. Some of which was given to me from DG members in Spring.
So, I'll keep my eye on this thread to see if I fit in.
WELCOME TO DG!!!!

Thanks Celia- I'm sure we'll have tons to chat about- I too had no garden to move into. The place was rubble and a these invasive weed plants that seem to be in any yard that people don't take care of.

I'm still modifying my grass. The part of NYC that I live in was originally landfill for other construction, so it's a never ending battle with rocks, flagstone, pebbles and bricks. But this is the first summer the grass actually stuck. I have some brown patches, but at least it mostly looks like grass now, instead of rubble.

I'd be interested in seeing what you've done- any pix online?

i'm a city gardener as well. we have a patio gardener in a small apartment.

City in AZ????? Wow, that's hard to imagine. I always think of Arizona as all wide open spaces.
What are you growing on your patio garden? All containers then? That's very challenging. I applaude you!

Quite a bit actually, strawberries, hot peppers, corn, luffas, birdhouse gourds, some other gourd i can't remember, mung beans, avocados and a dwarf grapefruit. Now understand that I attempt to grow them, it doesn't mean they will always cooperate. Mostly everything is in containers but i managed to build a raised garden bed in the smidgen of bare ground i had. I think it's 1 ft x 8 ft.

I'm a serious novice so I made a lot of mistakes, but I have learned quite a bit.

AND.....she makes GREAT Carrot Cakes!!( I have one of her red pepper pods) Jo

I am a city gardener. SF Bay Area... most of us have small overpriced houses and tiny yards. I'm interested in growing mainly tomatoes and peppers in containers (in addition to the non-edible things we have - mainly drought tolerant perennials). I also recently got ahold of a plot of land in a community garden near where I work. They are great, when you can get in...

i don't know if some of you have seen this or not for growing tomatoes. i have never tried it but if you take a bucket and put a hole in the bottom i an guessing about an ince or two you put lpant threw the bottom so it sticks out upside down fill it with soil compost/manure mix for maters. then just hang it somewhere. it may also work for other plants as well. this would save you alot of floor space

Hi, I'm new here. I have a container garden inside my apartment in a 5'x5' corner of my livingroom. I've got a number of herbs and flowers set up on a shelving rack with a 400Watt MH lighting system to give them light. I've been doing this since May this year and I've really been enjoying myself. Just wanted to introduce myself and say I'm happy to be here among you.

Welocme to the most wonderful Garden ...how about going over to Welcome Mat and saying hello from there. Jo

Welcome! Great to meet you. Your indoor garden sounds great!
No worries about inclement weather and accessible year round.

Ohh..., there are people talking here...

Nice to meet you.

I am growing both in soil and hydroponically under HID lights in our apartment (well supplemented by excellent East AND West exposures).

Also, I have recently taken over management of a community garden after a rather long and complex negotiation and bowing and scraping with the powers that be (NYC attitude and egos leave the ironies of Stalinist Russia in the dust).

The first flower ever to come up while this garden has been in my care bloomed today: a lovely white galanthus snow drop. I'm feeling pretty good about that.

Adam.

This message was edited Wednesday, Apr 9th 6:16 PM

I'm a NYC gardener smack-dab in the middle of midtown, Murray Hill to be exact.

I've got a container garden on one of the roofs of our building. Part-shade and shade plants work best for me, since I'm in a canyon of shadow-throwing buildings.

My bleeding hearts were doing well before Monday's snow storm!

I live in a Condo so there's not much room here to garden either but I do have a grape this year in a huge pot, a red raspberry, a blueberry........waiting for the strawberries to be mailed. I also have snap peas growing in a bag, the strawberries will grow in bags too. I just started some zucchini plants, watermelon, birdhouse gourd and tomato. All of those things are in pots and then I have a 5'x8' area for flowers and other things............LOL. I'm packing it in there.....LOL

Monday's snowstorm here was certainly a blow to anything tender that we had outdoors, no doubt.

It's so strange how the weather refuses to acknowledge that Summer officially begins when the first pitch is thrown out in the Bronx.

A rooftop oasis sounds like a lovely idea. How many containers do you have going? Have you been doing this long? How do you move the water?

And since I haven't seen you here before, welcome to DG, MsGoblin ;~)

FlowOx ~~~ sounds to me like you have some imaginative solutions to very limited space. Good job!

Adam.

Thanks, I wish the weather would hurry up and stay warm though..........had to bring allot into the house. I also have 2 brugs and a passionflower vine that have been in the house for the winter and can't wait to get inside. They are starting to grow some really big leaves.......LOL
I am determined to not let limited space stop me from growing what I want............LOL

May I come in on this group?,I live in the city,have a small front and backyard,I do have to use containers for quite a few plants,I was looking today,I have some peanuts started,they are getting very large,very fast.I think I will grow them in a container.
Let me know what the lawn requirement is to join this group,I'll start the tiller and get rid of the last little bit I have,LOL!

Root ~~~

Lawn requirement to join this Exclusive City Gardeners Group is BLACKTOP..., or tar beach (betcha don know what dat is).

I've seen your lawn. You don't qualify!

;~)

Adam.
PS: My weather stinks. I bet I don't get to see my pups 'til June. Sigh.

LOL Adam,Thought I could sneak in and nobody would notice,guess I gotta fire up the tiller and lay down some pavers!

Root ~~~

You want me to ship out some actual NYC concrete to go with the trees? You could do an authentic NYC garden environment.

You want Redimix in bags, or should I get out the air hammer and send chunks?

Actually, now that I think of it, I can dig up shards~a~plenty of authentic NYC concrete in my garden patch (great way to lay down some lime, by the way).

What's yer FedEx account number?

Adam.

LOL,Adam,as I see it, you have it easy,all you gotta do is run out front and fill in the potholes with GroMix,just dodge a few cars while you do it.

Thanks for the welcome.

I have maybe 40-50 pots ranging from 4" across to 2.5' across. We've created a bit of suburban life on our roof top...complete with picnic table and Weber grill!

We've got a spigot, hose and watering wand for watering our little garden.

Union Square Farmers' Market had LOTS of offerings this past Saturday. I took home a bunch of new friends, repotted them and brought them in when I heard the temperature was going down to 29 degrees that night.

I've got half of our glass dining table covered with a beach towel and about 8 fully planted pots displayed.

Now if I could only keep the cat out of the middle of it all....

LOVE Union Square Market! It's a long trip south for us since we live up in Riverdale, but OH can it be worth it.., a nice change from Fairway, Citarella and Zabars. (Let's not delve too deeply into the details of the various culinary delights, or we'll make our fellow gardeners jealous.)

It sounds like you've set yourself up very well there on the tar beach. And a spigot? Terrific. I had imagined you lugging jugs up the fire stairs to an alarmed exit door (not a pretty image).

Our cats don't seem too concerned about the little forest we have growing indoors, save for the occasional rubbing up against a branch to scratch an itchy ear or head. No problems with digging or biting (maybe ours are just dumb).

Glad to see another New Yorker creating a green oasis.

(Just ignore this non~urban~dweller Root, and maybe he'll go away) ;~)

Adam.
PS: Root, glad you like the cherry trees! The temp ought to be stabilizing here, let's see how it is on Monday for shipping.

Coming at you Adam.

Is it too late to join this thread?I know I'm a little late Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one in NewYorker with a jungle in the kitchen.....and bedroom....and.....

Howyadoin?

Wachyagot in your jungle?

I've got clivia, begonia, grapefruit trees from seed, canna, amarylis in bloom year round, the usual jade plants, etc.

Welcome.

Adam.

wow grapefruit trees! You must get a lot more light than I do. I have croton,clivia,peace lily.My absolute favorite is my schefflera tree.How do you get your amarylis to bloom all year?

Plant them in cycles..., (we've got about 20 bulbs).

They come back year after year if you treat them right.

http://davesgarden.com/t/378500/

Adam.

7i'm not in a per say CITY, but i do dwell in a apartmentw/ balcony facing south and windows facing south. I am on the shores of lake mi. I have been doing some container gardening for the last 2 yrs. This yr i am growing a 'patio' tomato, 'tal' jalapeno, bell pepper, sage, thyme, rosemary,sweet basil,tarragon,also have a flower box w/ annuals & have put my 4 yr old jade all on my 10 ft by 4 ft balcony. the one problem i run into out there is i am upstairs and i need to raise my plants up sometimes , to be able to get the sun they need. so i will be looking to invest in something to solve that problem this yr. But my plants are doing rather well.

Inside i have lots of stuff going/ i bought a grow light at walmart but not sure if it is sufficent to supplement my lighting. any suggestions?
because i am upstairs only my 2 bedroom windows get any substaintial light and they are filled with succulents.
just wanting suggestions for the best kind of artificial lighting to use

Hi, I'm new here and after many years when I had 'large' gardens in different places I have a terrace and a balcony in - wait for it - West Village in Manhattan. I figure I'm 6A but the guy who started this thread - sorry I've forgotten the name - says NYC is 7a. What great news! True?? Last winter should be a heck of a benchmark.


This message was edited Sunday, Jul 20th 11:02 AM