Living walls & Vertical Gardens

Vertical Gardening! Growing up is good!

I have been trying out some of these ideas for our community gardens. The gutters and recycled pipes are winning out in terms of structure...the pocket planters are super easy to construct, and can be as simple as re-using a hanging shoe organizer! Just be sure to use loamy, light potting soil rather than garden soil to ensure your vertical garden doesn't weigh more than it has to. 

There are countless ways to use vertical planters in areas where there is no horizontal garden space; if you have a wall, you can have a garden. A vertical planter can be in your kitchen, or outside. All of the hanging planters can be easily made more indoor wall-friendly by affixing a moisture barrier on the back of the planter to avoid leaking or seeping of water. If you are super fancy you can install a drip irrigation system (it's actually very easy and not very fancy at all...!) or you can stick with old fashioned hand watering. A reservoir underneath the planter ensures any water that drips from the bottom is collected; make your own from felt material and water behind the plants rather than the soil, and water is dripped down to the roots and the remainer evaporates through the material. Genius! 

The gutter & pipe style planters can be installed at angles so that the water drips from one gutter/pipe to the next. For major eco-friendly gardeners (or lazy waterers!), install your gutter planter underneath an existing run-off section from the roof and voila! Nature does it for you. Next up: my obsession with square foot gardening.....

design a greenhouse for the Summerhall community garden!

With winter fast approaching, it's hard to remember that gardening can continue despite the cold! There are tons of edible crops that can be planted, grown & harvested during the wintertime, and with a greenhouse or polytunnel, the possibilities are even greater!

we had a terrific harvest of edible crops at our little garden at Summerhall, and would like to turn the largest of our veggie beds into a greenhouse or polytunnel by the end of the year. It doesn't need to be huge, and doesn't need to be glass. In fact, plastic sheeting and PVC tubing can create a pretty awesome polytunnel that can house all sorts of winter crops like kale, chard, cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, leeks & parsnips. 

In keeping with the brave and innovative artistic mission of Summerhall, we thought it appropriate to hold a Design Our Greenhouse competition! Details to come, but have a look at the below images of simple greenhouses & polytunnels to get an idea of what can be done with very little....and c'mon, these designs could so easily be made into amazing creative structures! Questions? email us: treesnottrashuk@gmail.com

update on the contest to come!

Edible Breakfast at the Botanics on Wednesday!

Hey everyone!

Come check out the awesome Edible Breakfast event at the RBGE on Wednesday June 19th from 7.30-10am ! Wake up early & hang with TNT UK and make edible animals, while chefs and foragers cook up a free delicious breakfast just for YOU! Organic, home-grown, slow food and inspiring folks to share breakfast with... it's all there on Wednesday!

Harvest day!

Knee deep in organic green goodness!

Salad days at summerhall!

Join us Saturday June 13th at 2pm in the courtyard at Summerhall to harvest our beautiful salad greens and eat them! Also lots of mint for mojitos and Barney's beer! Come check out how tasty local grown can be! See you there!

in go the trees!

10 fruit trees found their new home at summerhall! Thanks to everyone who came out to help plant- these beautiful trees will flower & fruit for years and years of summerhall. Next up: lupins! Stay tuned!

Holy before & after, batman!

Summerhall courtyard garden is almost ready for harvest! The majority of our amazing seedlings are edible, organic, and local! Check out the before and after pics ... I did so today after sampling the tastiest spinach i've ever had! Reminds me that the possibilities for transforming space are endless... And delicious! You are invited to come and sample our salad greens next Saturday June 15th in the Summerhall courtyard!