Garden in a Box
Posted on June 30, 2014 by bob in Yard 'N Garden
I have tried several types of gardening; tilling in the back yard, raised bed, and now container gardening. Each attempt has brought its own frustrations and victories.
After tilling a section of the back yard, tomatoes, corn and beans were planted. The tilling created a nice turned area with good looking rows to plant. The first issue was getting water to the area from the back of the house by hose, and then putting in a watering system so Mr. Lazy would not have to go out and water every day. The watering system used overhead sprinklers with the water directly hitting the leaves. I could have sworn I heard singing come from the leaves, but maybe not.
When the tomatoes began showing and ripening, they suddenly disappeared. It was as if someone took out an ad inviting every bird, insect and squirrel for a free lunch. The corn was next, except this time I knew exactly what was happening – my Golden Retriever was having himself a good time knocking down the plants and eating the corn. It was time to move on to something else. This time it was raised beds. 
We liked the way we could get to the plants without walking through the planted area. We used a soaker watering system. The problem was, we still had the birds, insects, squirrels and, of course, Man’s Best Friend to deal with. We have now made the change to containers, in this case, Earth boxes.
The keys to the Earth boxes is to get a good quality growing media for the plants, and follow the instructions to mound the soil and place the required band of fertilizer. After that , just plant, cover the soil with the included mulch cover, water and enjoy. There are many advantages to Earth boxes.
You can put them near the house with the containers on a porch, table or outdoor structure. With the plants closer to the house, you can watch for growth and insect issues. It’s also easy to support the plants with stakes, cages and other innovative ideas. If there are issues with sunlight, just move the containers.
Watering is done through a water-filled tube which eliminates water on the leaves that can cause disease. You cannot overfill the container because the drain hole will let you know you have enough water for the container. Automatic watering systems are also available.
With the mulch cover you are also protecting against diseases when it rains. You can protect the plants from birds, squirrels and other critters with a simple screen mesh around the supporting structure. Pruning is easy since the plants are within reach at eye level.
Picking and enjoying your harvest is the reward of some pretty easy work. Do some experimenting with the number of plants to each container, adding additional low growing flowers or vegetables. You will have a convenient and easy-to-care-for garden with a salad ready for the picking.
Dave Toellner is a Master Gardener with the Capital City Master Gardener Association. For information on becoming a master gardener, visit the website, www.capcitymga.org or e-mail capcitymga@gmail.com.
