Having a small backyard means facing some challenges when planning a garden. Throw in tall trees bordering the property taking away sunny patches, and it adds to headache. That is why I tried my hand at fabric bag / pot gardening.
My backyard is small and narrow. The picture I’ve added is one I took before I closed on my house. The slider was taped off so one would try to go out where there were no steps. Who would? Anyway… those are the old, wooden steps sitting out back at the edge of my small backyard. Although I have an acre of land, the usable part of my backyard stops right there. So the space I can use now (with a small deck that I added) is long and narrow with spotty areas of good sun.
Last summer I had planned to dig up a couple of new areas back there that tend to get pretty good sunshine, but that is so much work. I really didn’t want to have to dig and then add amendments and all that. Plus I didn’t have the time. I needed an alternative to the traditional way of gardening. So I decided to try container gardening. But instead of regular pots I used fabric bags, in various sizes, filled with good dirt.
This large fabric bag held tomatoes, basil, radishes and some herbs. There was no digging involved, but I did buy a truckload of good loam and had to wheelbarrow it over to fill the bag. I planted my small seedlings and they took off.
I also used smaller fabric bags to plant potatoes, green beans, and carrots. I learned a few things from using these bags, and some things I will do differently this season, but all in all I was happy with them.
I wondered if I could save the bags and re-use them, so we’ll see how well they hold up when I try that this spring.
Hydrangeas Blue 