"Visions of Garden Plots and Container Gardens Dancing in my Head"

by Laura
(Lubbock TX)

Hello again, Charlotte!

You know that poem from the night before Christmas?...the line that says 'and visions of sugar-plums danced in their head"? Well,"visions of garden plots and containers flourishing with flowers and vegetables" are dancing in my head.

I know I have said it before, but I will say it again (and again) I am so excited for spring to come and to see the 'fruits of our labor' blooming and growing and producing!

I definitely would love to be part of a garden club...how wonderful would that be to grow something was was grown in another country or another state here in the USA. Something that was special to someone else, even though it may be something you had already grown. Climate, soil, everything can change a plant (as you know) and make it grow differently from area to area. It would be neat to see the differences in them.

I will get out there and take pictures so you can see the 'work in progress' where we are digging and preparing the beds...and the stages throughout winter/spring/summer.

This is my 'learning' year...and I am gonna have such fun! I want to try to grow some upside down tomatoes - have you grown any yet with success? I heard cherry tomatoes grow best that way since the other varieties are so 'heavy' for the plant.

Just remember - right now it looks like a wasteland out there - my husband says it looks like Prairie Dogs (which are everywhere here in West Texas) have set up housekeeping--a dug area here, a dug area there.

I have so many projects going at the same time. I water down an area and wait a couple of days to dig it for the soil to dry out a bit. In the meantime, I am digging on a different area that is ready to be dug. Right now, I am in the process of digging out the dirt around a wisteria bush so we can put an arbor/trellis above it...and readying the bed it is in for winter/spring.

When I finish there (probably Sunday) I will begin working on an area by our back gate in the backyard that I had wet down a couple of days ago. I'm waiting for it to dry out enough to dig to plant a couple of rose bushes and add a trellis over the gate--and will add other plants in the Spring.

My husband says an alien has taken over my body. I just cannot get enough of digging and yard work (thank goodness for a good heating pad at the end of a day)!

We are also having problems with our grass...we have a huge maple tree in the front/southern side of the house...and roots are growing on top of the soil.

I will not cut down my maple tree - no matter what - unless the roots head for the house. But...our grass has died underneath it.

We did an experiment using Fescue there in place of the Bermuda, in a small area...and so far that has done very well.

We also thought about creating an area with pebble rocks and stepping stones and making a sitting area with a bench...that is probably our biggest challenge so far...wish us luck on that one.

We are going to lay down topsoil and compost and hope that will encourage grass growth and enrich the soil.

I will take picture of all of it and share with you at a later date. :)

Until then...happy gardening...and have a wonderful weekend!

Laura
Lubbock, Texas



ANSWER:



Hi Laura,

Regarding growing tomatoes upside down in containers:

I have not tried that yet. I grew two tomatoes in pots, and one tomato in my raised bed garden last summer.

My potted tomatoes produced some tomatoes, but I think I should have given them a few doses of liquid fish fertilizer to help them along a bit. They didn't really flourish. Their leaves were a bit lighter-colored than they should have been, and they didn't produce as many tomatoes as they could have if they would have been really healthy.

My raised bed tomato plant was VERY healthy and produced hundreds of beautiful tomatoes. It actually went out of control.

I look forward to seeing pictures of all your projects. The trellis over the gate, and pebble bench area sound lovely.

Your husband is right; you need to watch out for those gardening aliens that can take over your body and turn you into a Gardening Fiend.

Have a great weekend too. We are having stormy weather here, so will be indoors with a fire in the woodstove, and a good book to read!

Sincerely,
Charlotte