Practical advice & moral support for the small-scale gardener
Growing plants in pots is sort of like raising fish in an aquarium. You’re trying to recreate the conditions that an organism enjoys in the wild. But if you plop a tropical fish into a tank of seawater, without the oxygen or nutrients or temperature that the natural ocean environment provides, that fish won’t live…
This November started off hot and ended up wet. The rainy season’s sudden, dramatic arrival extinguished the lingering heat, leaving clear, crisp skies in its wake. It was what I’ve come to recognize and appreciate as a classic Bay Area autumn. Wherever you are (in the Northern Hemisphere), the days are getting shorter, and you…
Shade can feel like a limiting factor when choosing plants, but let me tell you as someone with a hot, sunny balcony — a little shade is a good thing for the container gardener. Even plants that prefer full sun in the ground do better with some shade in pots. Since their roots can’t dig…
September is the month of harvest, though that is perhaps too strong a word for what I do on my balcony. Without much premeditation, my garden has become quite fruit-forward — I have figs, woodland strawberries, lemons, and olives (yes, also a fruit) — and their production is comically small, both in terms of size…
The first summer I visited my husband’s extended family in Puglia, I came away besotted with the charming container gardens that adorned the fairy tale-like historic centers of the region’s towns and cities. How moving, I thought, that the residents of these homes didn’t let a lack of soil or space hold them back from…