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Re: planting "outside of the box" - was: Re: Planting Diagrams

Square Foot Gardening List - http://myweb.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

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From: <SSKNERR@aol.com>
> I also have a few veggies that I think would be easier to allow to sprawl,
> but wanted to know if you just let them go, with weeds coming up all
about,
> or do you use groundcover or some other slick way to let them have their
> space without having to tiptoe through through the vines to weed?  For
those
> that follow Mel's method, do you spend much time trimming and training
each
> plant?  And does having the veggies growing off of the ground
significantly
> improve the looks and health of them at harvest time??
>
>  Thanks,
>      Sandi                  startin' to sweat again in N. Texas!!   zone
7/8

It can take some effort to setup a raised bed and amend it etc.  You
could let some plants sprawl but it is a waste of some very nice
real estate.  One of the idea of the Sqr Foot method is trying to
maximize yield while minimizing space, effort, money.

Now if you have space which is otherwise unused, letting a plant sprawl
is just fine.  I have a couple of compost piles and occassionly find myself
with a pile ready to use but being saved (save for some new beds I
plan to put in) or a pile that has not quite cooked enough and just needs
to sit a little longer.  Letting the Pumpkins sprawl all over the compost
piles made them prettier and gave me extra "bed" space for free.

I have also done something similar with my wood pile.  I don't tend to
use a lot of wood in summer, so I might as well let a zucchinni sprawl
and crawl all over it.

I used to do the same thing with my old deck.  I just never got around
to putting niced raised beds in front of it, so I let pumkins or other
gourds grow there.

In the 3 example I gave above there were either no other growth
in the area.  Nothing else grew on the wood pile, except for the
occassional volunteer plant the compost pile did not grow.
Or the plant shaded out the competition.  The pumpkins sprawling
in front of my deck were not overgrown by the grass  around them,
they just seemed to shade the grass into submission.

So maybe I was just lucky, but with my "alternative" planting
areas I don't recall ever weeding.

In my raised beds I follow Mel's advise and trim the plants back to
keep side growth in check.  No it does not take long.  I find it
relaxing to spend a few minutes in the garden every morning,
trimming a tomato, helping a pea grab the trellis, or snitching
a fresh carrot to munch on.  Occassionly plants die or don't
perform well, then I either plant something in the dead area
or allow the plant "next door" to grow over into the space.
(vining tomatoes excellent example here).

Does growing vertically improve the looks and health?
When I allowed tomatoes to grow however they wanted
I seemed to have more problems with bugs and missing
harvest opportunities.  With the plant in the air I seem
to do better at noticing problems (when the plant is
2 dimensional (on a trellis) it is hard to miss problems)
and harvesting at the peak of perfection.
I have grown both ways, (trellis and otherwise) and
definitely prefer growing vertical.

As always my experience is mine alone, your may
differ considerably depending on circumstances,
local, personal disposition.

Ron Souliere  Lincoln Nebraska
(Planting lettuce, starting tomatoes etc)
(planning what to do with the space where
the deck used to be...)


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