Would like to build urban garden on my car pad, possible?
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Question by : Would like to build urban garden on my car pad, possible?
We live on 1/10th of an acre in a downtown urban area, with very little space for a beautiful urban garden, but I would LOVE to be able to grow more than I currently can in containers. Most of our yard is taken up by a concrete car pad; we plan to remove it eventually, but until then, how can we build raised gardens that drain well? Should we fill the bottom of our boxes with gravel? I really want to grow pumpkins. The space I have is roughly 30 x 30 ft. I’d also like to raise chickens…the area is fenced, would they be okay on a paved area with raised garden boxes? I’ve checked and it IS legal to keep chickens on our property.
What do you think? Answer below!
3 Responses to Would like to build urban garden on my car pad, possible?
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Yes, put some gravel in your planter boxes then a layer of landscaping fabric. This will keep the soil from plugging up the gravel. Fill with good quality potting soil. I would suggest installing soaker hoses in the soil also. Raised beds dry out quickly, having the soakers will save you a lot of time from hand watering. As far as poultry goes, I’ve heard that Guinea Hens will keep a garden free of insects and caterpillars. I’ve wanted to try this in my garden, but it’s against the community regulations to keep poultry.
Denis Mitrowski
May 24, 2012 at 11:24 pm
Use 2X6 board (Never pressure treated for a garden) Just plain unfinished board.
Nail the edges together.
For drainage:
Line the bottom of the boxes you build with 1″ plastic pipe drilled with1/2 inch holes 1 foot apart Making sure the pipes exit through 1″ holes you’ll need to drill out of the bottom of the 2X6.
After you frame and lay the piping Fill it with sifted Organic Garden Soil,
unless you want to take a chance on pesticide or other contamination.
You could line it with gravel but you need at least 4-6 inches for the root systems of most plants.
Pumpkins you plant in a mound so pile the soil up in a 2’X2′ mound and plant 3 plants per mound spaced evenly apart in a triangle pattern.
Being that you’re working with a confined space on top of a concrete pad you may want to purchase a small hand held water gauge to make sure you’re watering sufficiently and not excessively.
One costs under 10 dollars.
Heck you can just dump a load of soil on top of the pad, level it out and plant if you don’t want to get too technical, but one good rainstorm could potentially wash away all your hard work.
It won’t be cheap, so you may consider just getting rid of the pad or being content with container gardening until you do.
the truth
May 25, 2012 at 12:12 am
=== you need to build a large box of garden timbers (( those are flat on two sides and rounded on two sides == drill holes thru the timbers to lock then together and use rebar to pin the timbers together )) or you could use bricks and mortar for the grow boxes….. the brick retainers will be better than you think as you can haul in the best of soils and gravel and have a good control of the garden …..
XTX
May 25, 2012 at 12:22 am