MUDLARKS

The One Square Metre Garden

With a mature garden stuffed with ornamental plants and fruit trees I have very little space to cultivate soft fruit and vegetables. Coupled with very little south facing space available I utilised this one metre sqaure patch of patio intensively for nine months of the year.

Given the wall and concrete acting as a suntrap the first use of this area is for seed cultivation and a display of spring bulbs. The three-tier mini-greenhouse is extracted from the shed and assembled and the zipped cover is washed down. Various seeds are sown in trays and pots, watered, turned and rotated. In front the pots of bulbs are brought down from the nursery area when they are about to flower.

With a succession of bulbs, from snowdrops through daffodils and tulips the patio looks very attractive and detracts from the structure behind them.

Late Spring

Pots of bulbs are gradually replaced by pots of fruit and vegetables. The bulbs are moved to the nursery area where the leaves are allowed to die back naturally. The bulb pots have been particularly successful as excess water drains and the bulbs do not rot. The bulbs can be potted-on in the Autumn.

This year I have tomatoes, runner beans and strawberries growing in pots. Last year I grew courgettes, tomatoes and chilli peppers successfully.

Pots in close proximity, watered daily, do attract slugs and snails. Fortunately they tend to rest in the sides and lips of the pots and so are easy to extract. The few that survive my efforts are consumed by the hedgehog on its evening tour of the garden.

Summer

It is important to have a succession of plants to replace those that have fruited. Failing that pot geraniums are always an easy maintenance replacement. During hot weather I place the pots on trays and I have very little loss, even when going on holiday for a week.

Autumn and Winter

The runner beans will start to go over during September so it is important to have pot plants with height to replace them. Confiers and grasses add structure, colour and texture to the patio and the odd ornament can provide interest.

I am tempted to grow as few winter vegetables in this patch but will obviously select larger pots to avoid too much frost damage. The benefit of the area being by the house is that it will not be too much effort to throw fleece over the plants on cold nights.

The Nursery Area

For this system of pot rotation you clearly either need a nursery area or can affort to visit the garden centre for new plants every few months. My nursery area is under a dwarf apple tree and spills over into a wooden cold frame.

The One Square Metre Vegetable Leaves Garden

Even the hedgehog and frogs cannot cope with the huge population of slugs and snails so this year I have used the garden table to grow lettuce, herby salad, rocket and raddish in pots. The experiment has been reasonable successful and has certainly paid for the seeds, compost and fertilser several times over.

The Hanging Basket Vegetable Garden

Another experiment, but apart from a small crop of raddish, pretty much a failure. The pak choi bolted but are being retained as the flowers are very attractive and the bees love them. I suspect slower growing herbs may be more suitable.

By the way, slugs and snails still managed to climb up the wires. Welll out of the way of their predators.

Mike June 2008.