Bag Gardens

[ajs88]

http://www.sendacow.org.uk/africangarde ... nsinuganda

I've found this video about making a garden from Hessian sacks, Send a Cow, whose promoting it, says that its the best way to get the most out of limited soil and water.

I'm aiming to start my kitchen garden this spring, ie. now, but have been worrying about the costs involved, containers and lots and lots of bags of soil.

Has anyone tried this? Does it look like a good idea?

A lot of the plants grow out of the sides of the sack at an angle, is this ok? is it better or worse for different plants?

Thanks for any help

[Annpan]

I think some plants would have a problem growing at angles, but the biggest problem I can see is that, you are increasing the surface area of the soil, I would imagine that would encourage increased evaporation of moisture in the soil.

The video is made in Uganda, where the have really good soil fertility and regular rainfall (I have contacts with the country) I doubt this would work well in drought conditions. But it is a good idea to use a small amount of space well and probably dissuade pests.

IMO

[MuddyWitch]

I've used those bags that the big DIY places deliver sand or gravel in that are about 1m square. I used them for spuds the first year, only half filling them to start with & then earthing up. A mixture of soil, made from stacked grass turfs, that had been cut the year before (who needs that much lawn?), and B & Q organic compost worked for me. People were only too happy to let me have them.

The land was awful so I stood them on bricks and old paving slabs, after rough strimming the brambles/docks/thistles/bindweed/dandeloins etc. I am on heavy clay with zero drainage ( ) being in a valley, so raised beds are the only answer & these bags did service till I could afford to build all the perminant beds. I only planted stuff in the top, and watered daily in hot weater.

The crops were good to marvelous, I still practised rotation and the oldest bags are about to be planted for the 4th year. After the others were finished with as bag-gardens I split them down their joints and put them down under the path as a deterent to weeds. Really determined perenials like brambles do get through though, so if these are your problem, maybe a more solid barrier would be needed.

I have one in the yard, by the back door as a raised-above-dog-spinkle-height herb garden and its edged with thyme which tumbles & helps to disguise it's appearence. It looks a bit sorry at the moment, but if I remember, I'll take some photos for you in the Spring.

Good Luck

MW

[privatehire]

top idea...have a bag and you might have solved my garden problems.....lol

[JulieSherris]

Bag gardens are a good idea, especially cost-wise...

As for potatoes - this year, I'm going to do tyre towers.... I'd like to set 10 up & stagger the planting to prolong the season, maybe popping one or two in the polytunnel once we've built it.

Good luck with the bags - and for the side plants, you could put tumbling varieties - like tomatoes, or strawberries....

[Enormous Sage]

I've used those bags that the big DIY places deliver sand or gravel in that are about 1m square. I used them for spuds the first year, only half filling them to start with & then earthing up. A mixture of soil, made from stacked grass turfs, that had been cut the year before (who needs that much lawn?), and B & Q organic compost worked for me. People were only too happy to let me have them.

That's genius! I've got loads of them and didn't know what to do with them until now
There's even one that's half full of soil next to my compost bin - it was staring me in the face the whole time!