Short on space? Using vertical gardening techniques we can increase yields with out increasing space needed. A gutter garden could be added to any fence or wall, etc. where there is flat wide space that is otherwise unused. There would also be less work required for weeding and less or no bending needed for harvesting. So here is another inexpensive and useful project!
Feel free to embed and link these videos on your blog or website, when you do please credit frugalgreengirl. Thank You.
Video Rating: / 5
Sunflowers grow tall and create a living trellis for cucumbers and other vining plants. Vertical gardening in this manner saves time, money, and space in the garden. A variety of companion plants will help cucumbers thrive.
The large stalks of mammoth sunflowers make a living trellis for the growing pickling cucumbers. Growing cucumbers vertically will keep the cucumbers clean, they’ll be easier to harvest, and they’ll be less prone to soil borne diseases.
Sunflowers attract hummingbirds which eat whiteflies. Ants herd aphids onto sunflowers keeping them off other plants in the garden. A variety of birds eat sunflower seeds. Nitrogen rich bird droppings add organic fertilizer to the garden soil throughout the season providing plants with a steady source of nutrition.
Dill planted with cucumbers attracts beneficial predators as the flower heads of dill are one of the best nectar sources for beneficial insects attracting hoverflies, predatory wasps and more. Dill repels aphids and spider mites and may repel squash bugs.
Icicle radishes may protect gourd family plants like cucumbers and squash from squash vine borers. Radishes deter cucumber beetles and rust flies.
French marigold roots exude a substance which kills nematodes, and may help deter a variety of insects in the garden.
www.facebook.com/michigan.wilderness
Thanks for watching, commenting, subscribing to, and supporting this channel. If you like this video please give a thumbs up and share it with others. If you have any questions or tips please leave a comment.
Video Rating: / 5
How has it worked out so far??
Nice 🙂 take a long nail or something and support the bottom while you punch holes from the top
That would probably be cool for strawberries. Great for any baby green production.?
Love this!! I am going to try this on my chain link fence. I will let you know how it works……?
WOW
Very tidy 🙂
(I guess you already know now, but you can buy left and right handed end caps ;-)?
Great idea.?
I received a magazine article about two years ago on companion planting and as I re-read some of the article I realized I had planted cucumbers with sunflowers together this year, forgetting what the article had said.
Great Garden! ?
You could try some hot pepper tea, not sure how well it would work on birds though. I should have planted the sunflowers thinner as they are shading out the cucumbers. I made an update video showing what I did to correct that, will post in a week or two.
that sounds like a neat arrangement.
I also did some companion gardening this year. I have put winter squash close to a blue spruce which is on the north side of them. Also planted birdhouse gourds under and around a trellis/bench combo which I got at a garage sale (yahoo!). It stands about eight ft tall. The gourds are climbing up and that will be strong enough to support the large gourds. Downside – no more sitting in the garden! Guess that's ok. Was always spotting another weed to pull and getting up to pull it out anyway
Thanks! I've considered getting one of those for a while, or something similar.
Oh and for mosquitos I found that the OFF device that can be attached to your shirt or belt really does help.
Really cool idea!
Thanks Kaz!
Looks great my friend.
I added grass clippings last season and grew some buckwheat where the corn was last year as green manure. The spot with the buckwheat is the most fertile of the whole garden. This year I put a scoop of manure in each hole where my tomatoes and peppers were transplanted and put a piece of eggshell in each hole where the tomatoes were planted.
Thanks! That's cool you're growing them too. As the years go on I'll be adding more and more herbs and flowers to the gardens. Dill and marigold are easy because they make lots of seeds and grow like weeds.
that would be a great idea Marsh. thanks! We have plenty of bats here, they live in peoples' attics, not sure about purple martins.
Great idea! Awesome!
Have you thought of a bat box to house bats which would eat the mosquitos? Or a Purple Martin box?
I planted my cucumbers with sunflowers this year as well. I planted marigolds as well, but I didn't broadcast them. Looking back, and watching your video, I should have. I wish I had known about the dill also to repel bores. I've lost a few squash to bores, but next year, I'll plant dill, and more marigolds. Love your videos, man. Thanks for posting.
I hope it goes well. The sunflowers are about 4-5' tall now and marigolds are getting ready to bloom.
Thanks! I'm hoping it's a good combination.
I don't know if it helps, but, the variety I'm growing is Giant greystripe sunflower, they germinated within 2 days and germination was nearly 100%. I'll be saving seeds from everything I grow. Similar varieties volunteer throughout the community garden every year.
🙂 Thanks! I get my inspiration from people like you and the videos and comments we all make.
The moles haven't been in the sunflower and corn beds yet. Moles did go through the beds on the south end of the garden where my peppers are, but the peppers were planted by themselves. I've since broadcast sown the pepper beds with basil, zinnia and marigold.