Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on May 8, 2011 at 6:35am

Congrats on getting a community garden spot!  I hope it works out well for you.

 

Some hosta varieties can handle a moderate amount of sun. The variegated hostas shown in this picture (about 12" high, 18" wide, with flower stems about 24" tall and lavender flowers) are planted in several locations around our house.  Various locations get 3-6 hours of direct sun.  The only places I haven't seen this variety do well is against a red brick wall with 6 hrs of sun (they roast!) or in shade without enough water.  The more sun they get, the more water they need.

There are a number of small to medium size varieties that are good for partial shade.  They're very tough once they're established, and extremely low maintenance.  They will spread from the roots over time, but aren't overly aggressive.

 

Another candidate could be bee balm.  It's a medium sized plant.  Some varieties are 2' or under, while others are a little taller.  Positives: attracts LOTS of pollinators, especially bees -> nice for your veggies, nice flowers and foliage, nice scent, extremely hardy, tolerant of a wide range of conditions, moderately dense plant -> chokes out weeds, flowers can be harvested for medicinal tea, per the link above.  Negative: can spread quickly unless you cut off seed heads before they scatter.  This can be a negative or a positive, depending on your perspective.  If you harvest the flowers, this is a non-issue.  I have bee balm in my front yard.  One little plant turned into this 3x5' swath after 4 seasons of growth and self seeding.  I wanted it to fill in the center of this bed.  If I didn't, I would have culled this a bit.  In another 6 weeks or so, it will be covered with magenta flowers and buzzing with bees.  This spot is full sun (8-9 hrs).  It might grow a little less aggressively in a partial sun location.

 

Another option could be a small daylily variety, like this one: Stella d'Oro.  It's less than 2' tall when it grows to full size and it has small golden yellow flowers.  It's extremely hardy, tolerates salt spray and other crap, has dense growth.  These are next to the curb on the street corner, so they get blasted with salt in winter, and they survive it just fine.  They like full sun to partial shade and don't need a lot of water once they're established.  This link will take you to an excellent northern IL nursery I've ordered from in the past.  They've got a nice selection of small daylily varieties, have really good quality plants, and some at fairly cheap prices ($6-8 per plant).  Daylilies will spread from the roots over time, but not at an aggressive rate.

Whatever you choose, please post pictures to share with us!

Permalink Reply by Duppie on May 8, 2011 at 2:21pm

Anne B.

Trash is a reality of living in the city. It occasionally ends up in your garden no matter what you do.

However, you can minimize it putting a little fine gauze fence (holes smaller than 1/2") around the lower edge of the metal fence. It should keep smaller stuff like cigarette butts out. That way you can also avoid "wasting" valuable space with non-productive plants.

If you are really concerned about garbage in your vegtables, make sure you grow veggies that stay of the ground : tomatoes, beans, peas, squash. They all bear fruit above the ground. I would stay away from lettuce and herbs like thyme that grow directly on the ground.

Good luck

 

Permalink Reply by Anne B. on May 8, 2011 at 4:24pm

Anne and Duppie, thanks! I'll keep an eye out for bee balm and the other suggestions. The hostas at Gethsemane today were all out of my price range ($20 each) so I'll keep looking. Duppie, I agree trash is a given- good idea on the gauze fence. Even though it will be super ugly I think I may affix plastic sheeting (maybe a shower curtain?) to the fence there because I realized today just how little light my spot is getting and I hate to block out any of it. 

 

The garden is right along Western Ave and made for some good people watching. Seems to be a very popular pigeon feeding spot: 3+ people came by today to dump seed and day old bread. I love pigeons (and pigeon feeders!) so found this pretty entertaining, even if it is bad in terms of pest/trash control. 

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 9, 2011 at 12:56am

Have you found suitable plants?  If not, I could spare some of my bee balm.  They've really exploded since I posted the picture, and I'd be happy to share a few.

 

Too bad about the pigeon feeders.  That could attract rats and other critters that might then be interested in your veggies.

 Anne B. said:

Anne and Duppie, thanks! I'll keep an eye out for bee balm and the other suggestions. The hostas at Gethsemane today were all out of my price range ($20 each) so I'll keep looking. Duppie, I agree trash is a given- good idea on the gauze fence. Even though it will be super ugly I think I may affix plastic sheeting (maybe a shower curtain?) to the fence there because I realized today just how little light my spot is getting and I hate to block out any of it. 

 

The garden is right along Western Ave and made for some good people watching. Seems to be a very popular pigeon feeding spot: 3+ people came by today to dump seed and day old bread. I love pigeons (and pigeon feeders!) so found this pretty entertaining, even if it is bad in terms of pest/trash control. 

Permalink Reply by Anne B. on June 11, 2011 at 5:35pm

Thanks Anne! Actually another gardener dropped out so I got their much better situated space in the garden, in full sun and away from the pigeon feeders. So I can enjoy pigeon/pigeon feeder watching from a little distance now :)  

I am curious about whether hostas and other perennials need any tending over the winter- I did buy a couple hostas and columbines which are now in a shady area on my deck and I'm not sure if I should just leave them out there all winter or if they need any attention during that time. 

Permalink Reply by Anne B. on June 12, 2011 at 6:52am

They're in pots because I'm not guaranteed to be given the same spot in the community garden next year. But based on your advice I think I'll ask the organizers if I can plant them somewhere along the perimeter of the garden. Thanks for the info!

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on July 19, 2011 at 4:41am

I'll second Howard's opinion.  It's a real challenge to keep perennials alive in pots over the winter.