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in Tools and techniques
I have just moved into a new house and the g needs some work!! There are two patches of concrete plonked into the lawn that have obviously had swings or something on them and I don't know what to do with them.
I was wondering if I could buy some growbags and put them onto the concrete and grow veg in them? like little raised beds...
Or is that a daft idea??
In the long term, you ought to get rid of the concrete, or make some other use of it. For example, as a little patio, or you could use tha area as a place to stand plants in tubs and pots. Or you could stand some sort of ornamental feature there.
In the short term, I can't see anything wrong at all with using the area to grow plants in grow bags, just as grow bags might be used in a greenhouse. They would be ideal for strawberries, outdoor tomatoes, and salad crops.
I find grow bags a bit shallow for most veg, could you get some wood sides and make deeper beds, you can then tip the growbag medium into to that.
I find grow bags a bit shallow for most veg, could you get some wood sides and make deeper beds, you can then tip the growbag medium into that.
If you wanted deeper soil you could cut the grow bag in half and use it upright and open at the top rather than using the lying down flat growbag method. I saw Toby Buckland do this on an old GW programme. I haven't tried it myself but if you don't have any large pots it may be worth a try.
You don't need growbags at all really-just grow what you want in containers-gives you more options.
Grow bags are OK for strawberries and other shallow rooted crops, as they are.
If you want to increase the depth of soil without incurring extra expense, then you can insert plant pots (with their bottoms removed), and infilled with compost, as shown below (the photo is not mine)...
The tomatoes in that photo could almost have been grown in the pots alone, as containers. Though having the grow bag as a base will help to stabilise the watering.
Alternatively, you could buy one grow bag, and use its contents to fill 3 large plastic plant pots.
The problem with some grow bags the compost inside is quite coarse and woody usually the cheaper ones so go for the named ones.You could buy a grow bag and mix some of your garden soil with it enough to fill some pots, some GC's give them away, neighbours or family may have some odd pots. Grow bags tend to be very bright and off putting but they will work so if that is the way for you do it, never be put off doing things your way.