“Raised beds of steel? Call Superman - Baltimore Sun (blog)” plus 3 more

I'm not the only one at Epicurious with gardening on my mind (see Joanne's post about window gardening). During this dormant season, I've been contemplating how to better manage my plot at the local community garden. And now I can, thanks to the Kitchen Garden Planner at Gardener's Supply Company. This online tool is free and easy to use. All you have to do is provide the dimensions of your garden and pick the plants you want to grow. Then tool tells you how many plants of each will fit into one square foot, whether it be one tomato, 16 arugula, or two parsley. It's not the perfect tool (tarragon was not an option and it won't tell you how much sunlight each plant needs) but it still gave me some much-needed guidance. Potatoes, here I come!

I imagine graph paper was once very popular for plotting a garden. What tools are you now using to plan your outdoor garden?

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Maintaining your plants using self-watering window boxes, drip systems - Washington Post

Posted: 03 Feb 2010 06:57 AM PST

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A: Keeping a window box going at a second home on the Eastern Shore will be difficult given the heat and winds. To solve the watering issue, you might use so-called self-watering boxes, which have a reservoir that needs filling only periodically. Gardener's Supply Co. (http://www.gardeners.com) sells one about two feet long that stores five quarts of water. Customers have commented on the company's Web site that they've been able to go a week or more without irrigating.

If you expect to be at the house less frequently, you can install a drip watering system with electronic controls, including a sensor so the system shuts off in the rain. Home centers and garden-supply companies sell drip-irrigation kits sized for specific numbers of pots, which work well when planters are clustered. To irrigate window boxes, you'd probably need to rig your own system using tubing that you buy by the reel or foot.

A third alternative is to use plants that can go long periods without watering, such as succulents. Plants suitable for non-irrigated green roofs, especially low-growing sedums, work especially well. Taller sedums suitable for perennial beds, such as Autumn Joy, are probably too floppy. Emory Knoll Farms, a nursery in Street, Md., that specializes in plants for green roofs, has a list of especially good choices on its Web site (http://www.greenroofplants.com). "Green Roof Plants," a 2006 Timber Press book written by the nursery's owners, Ed and Lucie Snodgrass, shows an even wider array.

Cliff Lowe at Lowe's Bayshore Nursery & Garden Center (http://www.lowesbayshore.com) in Stevensville, Md., suggests incorporating ice plants, which have almost neon-red or pink flowers.

All of these plants need fast-draining soil, so add some gravel into the potting mix. Even though the plants can go for long periods without watering once established, they still need care at first. You should consider starting them at home in relatively large pots and move them into the window boxes once they are established. (Just make sure the initial soil depth isn't more than what the window boxes offer.) Or plan an extended stay at the cottage early in the season. What a great excuse.

Have a problem in your home? Send questions to localliving@washpost.com. Please put "How To" in the subject line and tell us where you live.

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Home and Garden Tips

Saturday, February 27, 2010

“Raised beds of steel? Call Superman - Baltimore Sun (blog)” plus 3 more

“Raised beds of steel? Call Superman - Baltimore Sun (blog)” plus 3 more

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