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…
It’s that time of year again: I’m heading off to Italy for a month and scheming about ways to keep my plants alive while I’m gone. Last year I semi-succeeded with a combination of DIY self-watering methods and the help of my neighbor, Vera. This year, Vera’s having some health issues, and I wanted a…
There are so many gardening tools on the market, and the quality ones aren’t cheap. Worry not, balcony gardeners: you only need a few affordable tools to maintain a small space. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to de-clutter your gardening stuff, save dollars and space by sticking to this streamlined list of essentials….
Very few plants can live in the same pot forever. Eventually, they must either go in the ground or into a bigger pot. Since my garden is on a concrete balcony, a bigger pot it is. As a container gardener, I feel like I’m constantly moving a plant from one pot into another. Although every…
Before throwing away any container-like object I always ask myself, “could this be a planter?” At our last house, we inherited a rusty old firepit left behind by previous tenants. It was destined for the trash, but I recognized its potential. In this post, I’ll share some general tips for repurposing any receptacle into a…