Urban gardeners, unite!
I need to enlarge a tiny back yard in the middle of a city.
I close on the house Oct 7 and will post details then. in the meantime, it's teeny, mostly concrete (currently) and very sunny NO landscaping whatsoever, so it's a blank slate, which i'm looking at as a good thing.
What are some plants, tricks and features you've used to make a cramped yard feel calmer, greener, more spacious?
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(post #15393, reply #1 of 14)
Congrats on the house and soon to be garden! If you can find Matt James (the urban gardener) on HGTV check out his plans. He did amazing things w/ small urban gardens. Are you planning to keep the concrete? Do you want to plant in the ground or in planter boxes/ containers? What zone are you?
(post #15393, reply #3 of 14)
I don't have cable, but will look up what materials i can. thanks for the link.
About half the concrete has to stay. I can't figure out how to plant the little that's left. I don't need grass, really. Part of me wants lush, tall and shady (the front yard is full sun), but part of me wants 'maters and veggies and the beanpole teepee DS and I enjoyed this past summer in our old, spacious back yard.
(post #15393, reply #4 of 14)
Put the veggies in the front yard. They want the full sun. You can find lots of onamentals that will like the shady bits.
BJ
(post #15393, reply #5 of 14)
I know that's most practical, but the street is in an urban neighborhood and has lots of foot traffic, not the least of which heads to and from weekly soup kitchen at a church (I just can't seem to get away from these big-hearted churches!). Also, lots of kids.
I didn't want to lure folks who may not understand boundaries into the yard. I want the front attractive but not to literally attract, LOL. I could put a fence up, but no one on the block has front fences and it seems awfully unfriendly looking.
(post #15393, reply #6 of 14)
I could send you some poncarus trifoliata seeds. My tree is full of the bright yellow oranges. The contortas, with their fish hook like thorns, would be even more menacing but mine haven't gotten big enough to flower yet. I've always thought that they would be good on corner lots where people take shortcuts through the neighbors yard.
BJ
Edited 10/5/2008 10:55 pm ET by BeeJay
(post #15393, reply #7 of 14)
Yeah, mixed with roses, thorny pyrocanthus and poison ivy!
(post #15393, reply #2 of 14)
http://www.hgtv.com/gl-design-plans-strategy/city-garden-hideaway/pictures/index.html
Here's a link to 'Urban Outsiders'.
(post #15393, reply #8 of 14)
The Urban Gardening guy is a great resource. I love watching his show to see how he creates optical illusions of more space and screens tiny city yards for privacy.
Lots of veggies will grow in containers, just look for varieties that specify that. You'll need to be vigilant about watering and fertilizing as the plants use up their limited nutrients and water quickly.
Grow hot peppers in your front yard. Anyone who picks them will soon learn to leave them alone. I have the same problem with people helping themselves and this really worked for me. You can also grow herbs in front.
(post #15393, reply #9 of 14)
We used to have a tiny tiny urban garden, I loved the big concrete planter my husband made for me. It was big enough to sit on (bench height) and we had two old industrial woven metal window grilles fastened (on their edges, stacked up) to our neighbours concrete block garage, it helped block the view of our super high metal fence (for safety, it was a sketchy area) and was the support for kiwi vines. Plus it broke up the expanse of concrete block wall. We also had a big rock collection in a shady hard to garden area under the deck stairs. Just a few blocks from here (I live central, downtown), someone has an amazing front veggie patch it is really attractive, in some of the small gardens here people plant densely and go up with supports and trellising.
(post #15393, reply #10 of 14)
This is the sort of thing i'd like to do, but I'm clueless about how deep a planter needs to be and what kind of layering of materials needs to be used to grow a healthy crop of, say, pole beans?
(post #15393, reply #11 of 14)
The title on this post reminds me of a MAD Magazine cover from when I was a kid:
"Bad Spellers of the World, UNTIE!"
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
If it can die, I can kill it.
Certified Brown Thumb, 4th degree
(post #15393, reply #12 of 14)
I've heard of this concept for veggie gardening in small spaces, not sure if this will help:
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/
(post #15393, reply #13 of 14)
Also see http://www.vegetablegardener.com/watch-it/tag/square-foot-gardening
www.vegetablegardener.com
(post #15393, reply #14 of 14)
I used to be in a similar situation in Houston. The tiny back yard was shady, but walled round with chain link and paved with cement. We busted out the cement. A great work-out program! I hauled it to a concrete recycling facility I found in the yellow pages and got rid of it for free. I hated the fence, but had no budget to replace it. I wove ivy (evergreen in the south) through the chain-link fence. It took a couple of years, but in the end the fence, gate included, was completely covered. Green and nice, let the breeze through, and at the same time, saved a lot of square footage over a hedge or bamboo or something like that. We planted St Augustine in a circle in the center and then thin green things around the edge: pyrocantha, yaupon holly, some kind of jasmine, some box. The only thing that took up space was a couple of azeleas. We moved before it was really finished, but what a difference.
Good luck!
zone 6 gardening in the woods with 30,000 deer
zone 6 gardening in the woods with 30,000 deer