“Flowers don’t worry about how they’re going to bloom.
They just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful.”
— Jim Carrey (1962 -), Canadian-American actor and comedian
BY BRENDA BEUST SMITH
THINKING OF A “SKY-HIGH HORTICULTURAL VOYAGE“?
In my past 50+ years as the Lazy Gardener, I searched almost in vain for successful balcony gardens. Main culprit: wind! Finally I was able to share the success of the late JOAN MURRAY, detailed by her son, STEVE MURRAY.
At last, another reader, MICHAEL RAIBICK, reported in on his successful 7th- floor, south-facing balcony garden. Now living in a home with a “real” garden, Michael is happy to share tips on his “sky-high horticultural voyage”!
Like Joan, Michael used his aerial space for vegetables: 3 fig trees, citrus tree, 2 blueberry bushes, a miracle berry bush, dragon fruit seedlings, 15 pepper plants, 8 tomato plants, 25 different types of herbs, a few other veggies (beets, carrots, peas, lettuce, radishes, etc.), and a handful of other non-edibles outside. Including some indoor plants, he was just shy of 100 individual plants, most on his apartment balcony pictured above!
CLOTH POTS were his choice for 90% of his plants, set into extra tall-sided plastic saucers to keep the balcony clean, no water dripping on folks below and soil moist between watering. Cloth pots require a little extra water (easier evaporation) but kept root zones cooler. Herbs were in 2-gal. cloth pots; peppers and tomatoes in 5-7 gal. cloth pots; trees in 10-12 gal. pots.
He admits cloth pots might look better in slightly bigger decorative holders and that watering was somewhat time consuming. His solution: a hose hooked up to his shower using a hose quick-connect and a diverter valve below the showerhead on his shower. He just turned the shower on to use. This worked so well he only deep watered once a week. It was, Michael fondly recalls, “a great place for morning tea or to watch the softball games across the street!“
Eventually, he admits, mockingbirds & fellow flyers pecked at tomatoes and devoured blueberries. Netting tomatoes and figs worked, although wasn’t as attractive. As a bonus, the south-facing balcony created a nice microclimate. Almost all herbs and peppers survived winter without issue.
When selecting veggie varieties he focused recommendations for small spaces: determinate tomatoes and small space lovers like beets, carrots, dwarf peas, peppers, greens, and herbs with other sun-lovers, like Mexican heather, zinnias, globe amaranth, sunflowers, dwarf lantanas, cacti, succulents, etc. His site did not pose much of a wind issue (as it does for many balcony gardens), but he did bamboo-stake or rail-attached peppers and tomatoes. Wind did help him share some edibles with neighbors!
IRONICALLY, SHORTLY AFTER Michael sent in his report, BILLIE MERCER wrote asking for advice for her balcony garden. I put the two in touch and Billie came up with points & questions I never thought to ask.
She loves the ideas of handles on cloth pots and that “roots will not circle cloth pots,” but questioned black’s heat-absorbing tendency in our summers.
Wouldn’t these freeze more quickly in winter? Winds kept blowing her pots over so she loved the idea of round cloth pots. Her building forbids hangings from railings.
Mike considers Billie’s east-facing balcony a “huge advantage” that should allow for success with full-sun plants. His dark fabrics never felt hot the way plastic does, probably they ‘breathe’ better and allow for cooling evaporation.
His peppers produced all winter with no issues, in part perhaps to the fact that his west-facing wall probably absorbed heat during the day. Frost cloth anchored with bricks is always a quick solution to cold. Tightly packing larger pots in with smaller ones helped with wind toppling. Or add stones/crushed granite to bottom of pots for stability. Makes them harder to move, of course.
Be glad to share any other balcony gardening tips you might have.
Good resource: Pros and cons on cloth pots vs plastic or clay
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TIP O’ THE TROWEL to CYNTHIA ALLEN — who created this wreath decorated with shells and succulents — ideal beach plants! — and to JESSY GROSE and TAYLOR TRAHAN who used a ladder in the surf to attach it to Bolivar Peninsula’s wonderful High Island Cross.
Don’t know this story? In 2008 Hurricane Ike ravaged Bolivar Peninsula, sweeping away businesses & homes (including our 20-year old beachhouse) with up to 17’ high wave surges. High Islanders BAXTER (BAT) & MARIE CORRELL created a cross from two telephone poles that Ike washed up. Bat embedded the cross on the beach at the High Island curve (where 87 turns into Hwy. 24). There it stands still with new symbols of Bolivar folks’ strength and endurance.
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insect-mutilated plants in the front yard. Only compromise I can see: plant your cannas in the backyard.
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Brenda Beust Smith’s column is based on her 40+ years
as Houston Chronicle’s Lazy Gardener Email: lazygardenerbrenda@gmail.com
— Note: This column’s gardening advice focuses ONLY on
the Greater Houston area. Personal reports MUST include your area.
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* BRENDA’S LAZY GARDENER GUIDE is no longer sold. However, free pdf copies available upon request at lazygardenerbrenda@gmail.com
NEWS FROM THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SOIL AND PLANTS # 246
A new investigative report has been released on glyphosate by investigative reporter Carey Gillam in the publication the New Lede. If you remember, Carey is the author of the excellent book exposing the dangers of glyphosate and the corruption in our government.
“WHITE WASH – The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer, and the Corruption of Science”, by Carey Gillam, Island Press, 2017, ISBN-13: 978-1610918329
Another example of this corruption is below, and shows how our government is run by large companies for their benefit.
The country of Mexico has passed legislation to eliminate the use of glyphosate herbicides like Round Up and prohibit planting genetically engineered corn (GMO) to protect the native sources of corn and its people.
As a result, our current government is protesting Mexico’s right to protect its citizens through our various governmental agencies. “Similar to what happened in Thailand in 2019 which saw its efforts to ban glyphosate thwarted by a USA trade threats that internal e-mails showed were largly scripted for US officials by Monsanto which is owned by Bayer. “
As gardeners we all know how critical good organic matter is for soil and plant health. Organic matter is composed of molecules built out with long chains of carbon atoms.
“The majority (about 80%) of the carbon in the soil has come from the remains of soil microbes, compounds produced by soil microbes, or living soil microbes themselves.
Of all the carbon in the soil, roughly five times as much comes from soil microbes fed sugars or other substances provided to them by living plant roots (exudates) compared to the carbon from decomposition of above-ground plant residues.
To build our soil organic matter we need to do four things: disturb the soil less, growing a diversity of plants, maintain living roots in the soil as much of the time as possible, and keeping the soil covered at all times. “ AGDAILY April 2023.
The above quote from a traditional toxic rescue agricultural publication indicates how important the modern biological methods are in gardening and farming.
The following book is Highly Recommended for all gardeners, landscapers or anyone taking care of a lawn or garden or anyone whom makes compost for use in a landscaping project. It is all about how the microbes and plants work together to build soil and reduce insect and disease problems.
Teaming with Microbes, A Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web, 2nd Edition, by Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis, Timber Press, 2006, ISBN-13:978- 0-88192-777-1
Most gardeners know that pollinators like bees and butterflies are in decline worldwide. A study by the University of Sussex found that moths are more efficient pollinators than the day time insects. The moths made fewer visits but were able to pollinate the flowers quicker with a higher success rate.
However, in Europe as well as the USA, moths are also in serious decline from lack of good pollen for food to light pollution from flood lamps, street lights, garage lights, etc. PLOS ONE (2023)
The lack of good quality pollen for food is often from hybrid flowers where plants have been bred for color, size, and a long blooming season. As a result, the nutrient density of the pollen and nectar has declined. This is another good reason for gardeners to plant more natives and heirloom species of plants.
A study on panthers (pumas) has found that they are gardeners and garden to attract their food source which is composed mainly of grazing animals like deer and elk.
Pumas only eat about 30% of the meat from their kill. These decomposing carcasses deposit elevated levels of nitrogen, carbon, and other elements into the soil which then grows nitrogen and nutrient dense foliage. Grazing animals like deer are attracted to this foliage which makes hunting by the pumas easier. Landscape Ecology (2023).
Another study last year found that, “pumas maintain a relationship with 485 living species and play a critical role in holding ecosystems together. They also found that pumas serve as ecosystem engineers and provide habitat and food for 215 species of beetles.” Panthera and Defenders of Wildlife (2022)
God’s creation is amazing!
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ABOUT US
BRENDA BEUST SMITH WE KNOW HER BEST AS THE LAZY GARDENER . . . but Brenda Beust Smith is also:
- a national award-winning writer & editor
- a nationally-published writer & photographer
- a national horticultural speaker
- a former Houston Chronicle reporter
When the Chronicle discontinued Brenda’s 45-year-old Lazy Gardener” print column — started in the early ’70s as a fun side-project to reporting, it then ranked as the longestrunning, continuously-published local newspaper column in the Greater Houston area. The name, she says, is not just fun, it’s true. Brenda’s gradual sideways step from reporter into gardening writing led first to an 18-year series of when-to-do-what Lazy Gardener Calendars, then to her Lazy Gardener’s Guide book which morphed into her Lazy Gardener’s Guide on CD, which she now emails free upon request. Brenda became a Harris County Master Gardener and, over the years, served on theboards of many Greater Houston area horticulture organizations. She hosted local radio and TV shows, most notably a 10+-year Lazy Gardener specialty shows on HoustonPBS (Ch. 8) and her call-in “EcoGardening” show on KPFT-FM. For over three decades, Brenda served as Assistant Production Manager of the GARDEN CLUB OF AMERICA’S “BULLETIN” magazine. Although still an active broad-based freelance writer, Brenda’s main focus now is THE LAZY GARDENER & FRIENDS HOUSTON GARDEN NEWSLETTER with John Ferguson and Pablo Hernandez of Nature’s Way Resources. A native of New Orleans and graduate of St. Agnes Academy and the University of Houston, Brenda lives in Humble, TX, and is married to the retired Aldine High School Coach Bill Smith. They have one son, Blake. Regarding this newsletter, Brenda is the lead writer, originator of it and the daily inspiration for it. We so appreciate the way she has made gardening such a fun way to celebrate life together for such a long time.
JOHN FERGUSON John is a native Houstonian and has over 27 years of business experience. He owns Nature’s Way Resources, a composting company that specializes in high quality compost, mulch, and soil mixes. He holds a MS degree in Physics and Geology and is a licensed Soil Scientist in Texas. John has won many awards in horticulture and environmental issues. He represents the composting industry on the Houston-Galveston Area Council for solid waste. His personal garden has been featured in several horticultural books and “Better Homes and Gardens” magazine. His business has been recognized in the Wall Street Journal for the quality and value of their products. He is a member of the Physics Honor Society and many other professional societies. John is is the co-author of the book Organic Management for the Professional. For this newsletter, John contributes articles regularly and is responsible for publishing it.
PABLO HERNANDEZ Pablo Hernandez is the special projects coordinator for Nature’s Way Resources. His realm of responsibilities include: serving as a webmaster, IT support, technical problem solving/troubleshooting, metrics management and quality control. Pablo helps this newsletter happen from a technical support standpoint.
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