16 Oct 2018

Tips for a Single Container Garden

The concept of the three sister’s garden has been around for hundreds of years. It is a great idea that can be modernized to suit the needs of today’s busy gardener. The traditional three sister’s garden has corn, peas, and squash planted in a half barrel. I say its time for an overhaul that is long past due.

To get started you will need to have a base. Choose a larger plant such as a tomato or pepper plant and two common plants such as squash, watermelon or strawberry. Find two smaller plants such as Marigolds for color.

You can choose a full size more large plant, but when you select the two common plants try to find varieties that are pot-friendly such as Sugar Baby watermelon or Minnesota Midget. Mix and match the smaller types. For this example, I am going to use a Sugar Sweet Cherry tomato, an Ozark Beauty strawberry, a Sugar Baby watermelon and 2 Marigolds.

Buy a 5-gallon bucket from your local home improvement store and drill five quarter-inch holes in the bottom. Cover the holes with mesh to prevent soil from seeping out. Fill the bucket with potting soil leaving about 2 inches of space.

Plant your seeds or plants according to their directions with the tomato in the center a strawberry on one side and the melon on the opposite side. In between plant you’re Marigolds. So when you’re done, you should see a tomato in the center ringed by the other plants. This gives plenty of room for the tomato to get water and nutrients.

Once the plants have taken root place 1 inch of mulch inside the container. Its to help keep the water from evaporating. Water the plants in either early morning or evening. Keep the bucket on a hard surface such as a deck or patio. This will allow proper drainage for the plants. Soon you will be enjoying up to 3 different fruits or veggies.

Please experiment and see what works well for you. I recommend trying one or two buckets to start each with different varieties. These mini gardens are perfect for decoration, saving money and space. Enjoy!