Hello! My name is Bethany and I grow things in my rooftop container garden in Chicago, zone 6a.
I realized I didn’t include the back deck in the garden tour for this month, so wanted to give you an update on the plants back here and some thoughts on what I want to do with this space next year.
For daily updates, follow me on Instagram @chicagogardener
18 Comments
Gran paisaje
Superb video
Thats amazing thing to do
Hi, I always mix my used soil together and use it as needed. Sometimes I refresh it with new soil but not always. The new plants never complain and grow nicely. 😊
Oh I love your back garden, that seating area is very inviting. You can put your nasturtium blossoms and salad, try cream cheese spread on a leaf and then rolled up. It's a little spicy but the cream cheese cools it down. I think your idea of one long raised bed is perfect! You could even put some of your herbs in there.
I think, Bacteria can be added to the soil to make compost, and there will be an excellent result👌😊
A long raised bed is a good idea. I'm also in the same situation here. My space is really small and I'm having hard time deciding on what to put in my small garden and where, cause I want both veggies and flowers, but what I surely know is that one has to be more than the other and I think flowers will.
I have a small yard and have a container like that to reuse soil!! I think having a couple of evergreens would like nice on that deck.
Im new to chicago and I have a garden on my deck. My neighbor told me that the rats love to eat the sunflowers once they go to seed. She kind of freaked me out… hahah do you have any issues with that?
I’m growing 2 Italian Trumpet zucchini on my deck; training one to trail along the top rail & the other along the bottom rail. So far they are impressive. Will see if it’s a successful experiment.
it’s a successful experiment
Funny about your soil storage tote idea. I've been thinking about this for a while and was considering your exact same plan. But I'd need about 10 of those. What I may do is look for a hidden spot on my property and hill it up. I kind of want the soil exposed to the elements. I could just keep the lid off the totes an put holes in the bottoms. It will be a lot of work. Especially because I have several 10-15 gallon pots on my upper level deck too.
Still undecided.
Please keep us updated on your composting.
i refresh potting soil.
I do as you say — keep it, mix it with compost, and sometimes other amendments (depends upon the plants I'm growing in it).
I also use it in compost — just to help add to the biome.
U can get worms to make compost
I amend with worm castings and compost. I love the idea of a flowering vine. Also a tall flower like a hollyhock would be cool….if you can grow them in a container
We wanted an evergreen for the winter months but it has to be the flowering type so we went with a rhododendron. We got a PJM and he’s supposed to be hardy to zone 4 but we’ll see if he will overwinter fine in a container. 🤞
Hi! Could you please share where you got your blue and white rug?
Bethany, I found your channel this evening and I subscribed. As far as reusing the potting mix from last year's planters, the answer is yes. I definitely reuse the soil from containers from year to year after amending it with 1/3 fresh compost, 1/3 worm castings mixed with organic fertilizer and leaf mold, and the last 1/3 is the used potting mix from previous years' planters. The only time I don't reuse my old potting soil is when I've had a fungal issue or an infestation of bugs. If that happens, I pitch it into the trash, because fungal issues can appear again the next growing season, and insect eggs or larva can overwinter in the soil mix. I hope this is helpful. ~Margie