Category — urban garden

Southern California weather and sunshine are great for gardeners, but many people have to deal with small yards, patios or balconies as they try to create a green oasis in the city. Here are some ideas for transforming a small space into the patio of your dreams.

• Small-Scale Style from Garden Ideas
• Landscaping a Small Patio, A Balcony Garden and Stretching Small Gardens from HGTV
• Balcony / Small Patio = Outdoor Room from Suzy Renovator
• Small Urban Garden Design Tips from Urban Gardening Help
• Apartment Gardening on the Balcony from Rental Decorating Digest

I have been re-thinking the outdoor fireplace idea. It has been cool for the past few days, but last weekend was scorching, so now I am thinking I’d get a lot more enjoyment from something that at least reminds me of coolness, like fountains.

I tried to build one myself a few years ago, but the project didn’t go so well. I found several already constructed fountains that I really like, though, so now it’s just a matter of making a choice between them. If anybody has input or experience with any of these, please let me know!

• Water Bell Fountain
  

I like the idea of “peaceful chiming sounds”, but I wonder if that will get annoying. Otherwise I really like this fountain.

• Solar Fish Water Fountain

Normally I am not into animal themed decor, but I really like everything about this fish fountain, from the blue glazed terra cotta to the solar powered pump.

• Tri-Basin Fountain

I have been thinking that one corner of our yard would be the perfect fountain location, and this fountain seems like it would be great in a corner.

I was delighted to return from our recent road trip to find our orchids coming out of a long hibernation and our chamomile in bloom! I am most surprised about the chamomile; of all the plants I have potted recently, it seemed like it wasn’t really taking off. But I guess Miracle Gro really does live up to its name–it’s been just over a month since I planted the chamomile, and it’s already blooming! The feverfew and lemon balm are also growing by leaps and bounds as well (and yes, I KNOW i still need to do a lemon balm post!) My tropical oasis is within reach; now I just need furniture so I can enjoy it!

It was great to be on the road because it gave me a lot of great ideas for patio furniture. I can’t decide if I’d prefer a clay chimenea or a fire pit, because I can see pros and cons to having both. I LOVE the design and the Southwestern feel, but it doesn’t seem as versatile or as easy to clean as a fire pit. Then again, since we live in Southern California, there might not be that many fires, and a chimenea definitely has more stand alone appeal as outdoor decor. Maybe I should wait until the weather warms up before I make any decisions.

Ugh, it’s that time of the year again…snail time! I don’t really mind snails as much as some people do, it’s just that I HATE that I never notice them until AFTER I have already stepped on them. It is so gross, and I always feel terrible for killing the snails, even accidentally. I avoided a virtual mine field of snails on the sidewalk in front of my office this morning, and I hope to avoid stepping on any in the near future. I will be very happy when the snails go back to wherever they live, though, and I hope it is soon.

I am lucky that I have a container garden, so the snails leave my plants in peace, but many gardeners have a lot of trouble due to snails eating their plants. I have found a couple of sites that list natural solutions to controlling snail populations, but “natural” apparently does not mean “humane”–one of the solutions involves setting out a beer trap so the snails will get drunk, pass out and get eaten by birds! Commercial products like Sluggo or Garden Safe Slug & Snail Bait seem like the fastest, safest, most effective and least painful way (well, for everything other than snails) to keep snails out of the garden. Or, you could always gather them up and eat them.

PIC and I collect rocks from different places we’ve climbed or visited as mementos, and while most of the rocks are small, there are a couple in our place that are around 15 lbs. each and are placed decoratively near the fireplace. At least, they are usually near the fireplace. Recently, Partner-in-Climb has gotten into the habit of using the larger rocks as weights, which I guess makes sense for training for climbing, since the rocks force different grips than free weights do. They seem to be a decent substitute for the Metolius hang board that we had at our last place, and I don’t have a problem with him using them, except for the other evening, when they did not make it back to their home next to the fireplace. Unfortunately I didn’t realize that the rocks weren’t back by the fireplace until I was walking through the living room the next morning–before I put my contacts in–and so I walked at full speed into the more jagged of the two rocks. I will not get into a graphic description of my injury, because it is REALLY gross, but I believe from the persistent pain I have been experiencing since that moment that I will be losing this toenail very soon. I am not quite sure if it is a really bad bruise at this point or a fracture, but in either case, it means a few days of reduced activity until the swelling and pain subside. I cringe at the thought of even trying to put on my climbing shoes or biking shoes at this point.

However, the weekend is coming and I know I will get stir-crazy if I am stuck in front of the TV without a plan for some activity, so I think I am going to do some gardening and figure out how I want to set up our patio and porch for spring and summer. We have tons of plants already for ambiance and scenery, now we just need furniture! I was looking for some design ideas online and saw that Design On A Dime is re-airing an episode on outdoor patio design on March 26th, so I will definitely tune into that to get some ideas. I think I want to get a set of steamer chairs for the porch, and then have a grill and small table set up on the patio, but who knows, maybe I’ll get more inspiration from the show.

In related garden news, the feverfew, chamomile and lemon balm I planted a few weeks ago are really taking off! I still have to get around to writing a post about lemon balm. It’s a really beautiful and fascinating plant. I started a few of the babies on our spider plant in their own pots last weekend and re-potted some of our older plants, who love the weather at their new home and have been growing like weeds since we moved in. The next mission is to get some sunflowers started.

n55 is a Danish design group that is known for socially engaged projects documented in a number of manuals meant to inspire environmentally aware conversation and innovation. I am really excited about their manual for city farming plant modules, like the ones shown in the image above. It’s a great solution for people whose needs fall somewhere between a “real” in-ground garden and a container garden, like plant-loving renters who have a little bit of yard to play it, or people who have balconies or patios. It gives a lot of freedom for design and layout, and the component sections seem like they’d be easy to move around for quick outdoor redecorating when the mood hits. Throw in some tiki torches and a good grill, and you’ll be ready for tropical party fun even in the city.

The City Farming Plant Module seems like it would work really well with n55’s indoor soil factory, which lets green city dwellers compost trash at home. If you want a little less mess and potential funky composting smell, n55’s website also has hydroponic garden instructions.

I recently bought a few new plants in celebration of spring, and so far, they are doing fantastic. I am really optimistic about their progress. They are all technically “herbs“, which is slightly new territory for me. I tried to start some lavender when we first moved in, and it failed miserably, so that shook my confidence for a while. The problem with city living is that all the plants need to be in containers rather than in the ground, and some plants just don’t take well to container life. Here’s hoping that won’t happen again. I have been reading up on all my new plants and gathering lots of useful information that maybe will avert a plant catastrophe.

The first plant is feverfew, which I have only become aware of in the past few years. It currently looks like a mass of parsley, but hopefully it will grow the plant’s characteristic daisy-like flowers in a few months. Feverfew is a pretty interesting plant. It’s been used by herbalists for ages to treat problems from headache to stomach ache to fever (hence the name.) I won’t take any remedy, herbal or otherwise, without my doctor’s OK, but I am curious enough to ask about feverfew during my next checkup, especially if it does work for headaches. I hate taking aspirin or acetaminophen.

It seems to be a very hearty plant, as well. It’s been just over a week since I transplanted it, and it looks like it’s grown at least 25%. I am not sure if credit belongs to all the rain we’ve been having, or the past few days or sunshine, or the Miracle Gro potting soil, or a combination of all those things, but I am really happy with the results.

I am slightly concerned that the pots I used for transplanting aren’t quite big enough to accommodate all this rapid growth. Then again, I only have a limited amount of space available for plants, so maybe I should keep them in the smaller containers to keep them from growing out of control.

Ok, so the next post will be about the next plant: chamomile.