Free Downloads Small-Space Container Gardens: Transform Your Balcony, Porch, Or Patio With Fruits, Flowers, Foliage, And Herbs
Small? Yes. A concrete slab populated solely with plastic chairs and an abandoned grill? Not anymore. Chances are your balcony, porch, or patio could use a major makeover. Fern Richardson, charismatic creator of the Life on the Balcony blog, is here to walk you through the process of beautifying a small space--even when you have a similarly small budget. This exciting guide layers practical gardening fundamentals with creative solutions that encourage thinking outside the pot. Maybe this means repurposing a shipping pallet to create a colorful vertical garden of nasturtiums and lobelia. Or simply seeing walls, rafters, railings, and everything in-between as fair game. It's in these containers--traditional or not--that you'll cultivate your own food, attract beneficial insects, grow flowering vine privacy screens, and so much more. You'll also learn how to tackle unique challenges, like windy conditions when gardening several stories above street level, and how to care for plants and troubleshoot with the best of them. From design basics to essential plant picks, Small-Space Container Gardens proves you don't need a yard to have a garden. For anyone who wants more green in their life, it's time to get out there and start growing.
Paperback: 188 pages
Publisher: Timber Press (March 6, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1604692413
ISBN-13: 978-1604692419
Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 0.6 x 11 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #286,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #59 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Gardening & Landscape Design > By Technique > Urban #81 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Gardening & Landscape Design > By Technique > Container Gardening #112 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Home Improvement & Design > Small Homes & Cottages
Small-Space Container Gardens: Transform Your Balcony, Porch, or Patio with Fruits, Flowers, Foliage, and HerbsOne doesn't need a yard in order to garden. In the equal-opportunity world that many of us inhabit, anyone who wishes to grow plants ought to be able to do so, no matter where they reside. The fact that so many apartment-dwellers and condo-owners choose gardening as their passion, speaks not only to the ingenuity and zeal of the individual hobbyist, but also to the versatility and adaptability of most plants to container gardening.Master Gardener, Fern Richardson writes about small-space gardening with an authentic voice. She lives in an apartment with minimal outdoor living area, yet manages to grow food, flowers, and plants with only a balcony and front porch as her garden. Her book is filled with ingenious ways to convert tiny areas into outdoor oases, complete with plant vegetation and small-scale furniture so that anyone's balcony, porch, or tiny patio may become a multi-purpose outdoor living area.The author's book is divided into nine easy, comprehensive lessons. Chapter One over arches the main elements of a small garden, namely the colors, shapes, sizes, and textures, of plants and containers, appropriate furniture, and the option of lighting. Chapter Two discusses the pivotal role that weather and climate play in affecting the productivity, hardiness, and health of container-grown plants. The third chapter offers suggestions for attracting wildlife and the fourth is about growing food - yes, one can grow food in containers. Read the book to discover how it can be done.
I've been a fan of Fern's stylish blog Life on the Balcony for some time. Fern's like an approachable version of Martha Stewart for container gardeners - while her photos and ideas are gorgeously inspiring, her projects are never so difficult or time-consuming that I feel I couldn't possibly fit them into a weekend, unlike some of Martha's cool but overly involved eye candy.So when Fern's new book Small-Space Container Gardens came out, I already had two copies pre-ordered, one for myself and one to give as a gift. I just knew I was going to love it. And sure enough, I do! The book is structured as a total from-the-ground-up guide to having a gorgeous balcony garden. While you might think that would encompass only container planting, she also shares numerous tips on design and décor, dealing with narrow spaces, vertical gardening, and issues unique to balcony gardeners like how to deal with rain pouring in sheets off the roof and onto your potted plants.Even better, Fern's DIY style is made easy and fun with numerous tutorials and crafts throughout the book. I absolutely adored the chalkboard planter idea for taking ordinary, inexpensive pots and making them cute and functional. How many times have I gotten a call from a client just before dinnertime wondering whether the plant with big leaves was the oregano or the sage? Now, I can show horticulturally-challenged gardeners this tutorial and they can create their own (very chic) labeled pots for their edibles. What a great gift idea!I felt this way with all of the tutorials in the book. Fern made everything look so elegant that I immediately wanted to rush out, get a few supplies, and make `em happen. She showed a small-space DIY birdbath which would be perfect nestled among a few potted plants.
Small-Space Container Gardens: Transform Your Balcony, Porch, or Patio with Fruits, Flowers, Foliage, and Herbs Flower Pictures Names And Descriptions.: Flower pictures names and descriptions. flower care, annual flowers, bulb flowers, orchids flowers, perennials flowers, roses, wild flowers, organtic flowers. Herbs: Everything You Need To Know About Medicinal And Culinary Herbs: (Growing Herbs, Herbs For Health And Healing, Herbs For Weight Loss, Herb Gardening) The Winter Garden: Over 35 step-by-step projects for small spaces using foliage and flowers, berries and blooms, and herbs and produce How to Grow Potatoes: Planting and Harvesting Organic Food From Your Patio, Rooftop, Balcony, or Backyard Garden (Booklet) Medicinal Herbs: Discover 12 Powerful Medicinal Herbs You Can Immediately Start Growing In Your Garden (Herbal Remedies, Alternative Medicine, Healing Herbs, Growing Herbs) How To Dry Herbs: The Ultimate Guide To Drying Herbs At Home For Better Health And Nutrition (Preserving Herbs, Drying Food, Herbs And Spices) GROWING HERBS: How to Grow Low cost Indoor and Outdoor Herbs in containers, for Profit or for health benefits at home, Simple Basic Recipes ( How to grow herbs, growing herbs for beginners ) Quick and Easy Container Water Gardens: Simple-To-Make Water Features and Fountains for Indoor and Outdoor Gardens Small Space Decorating (Better Homes and Gardens) (Better Homes and Gardens Home) The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds: 322 Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, Flowers, Trees, and Shrubs Edible Plants for Prairie Gardens: The Best Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs (Prairie Gardener) The Beautiful Edible Garden: Design A Stylish Outdoor Space Using Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs Shipping Container Homes: How to build a shipping container home, including plans, cool ideas, and more! Shipping Container Homes: The Ultimate Guide on Finding, Designing, and Building an Incredible Shipping Container Home Small Buildings, Small Gardens: Creating Gardens Around Structures Gardening with Foliage First: 127 Dazzling Combinations that Pair the Beauty of Leaves with Flowers, Bark, Berries, and More Coleus: Rainbow Foliage for Containers and Gardens A Small Porch: Sabbath Poems 2014 Perennial Flowers: A Gardening Primer (Perennial Flowers, Perennial Gardening, Perennial Gardens, Perennial 101, Perennial Plants, Perennials For Beginners)
