Transportable Gardens

Mindme

A couple of years ago I planted wild flower seeds on top of chicken wire approximately 2 and a half metres long by a meter wide which lay on store bought compost.

The roots of the plants meshed around the wire and once established as a green mat were then transported to cover an eyesore corner nearby where youngsters usually threw their beer cans and bottles.

The plants flourished creating an instant garden which is now still flowering away. Only an odd can is thrown there now and easily removed. The garden is enlarged. Nasturtiums, fuschia, marigolds and pelagorniums etc have been added.

Improving on the idea I now plant up all sorts of trays and containers with wild flower seeds and once in full growth they can be placed on prepared ground anywhere you like to create an instant garden to surprise those passing by.

looksee

That looks great, lovely idea!

Jellybaby1

That's beautiful! Well done you Mindme. Are you by any chance, a guerilla gardener? I have great admiration for guerilla gardeners.

Mindme

Thank you looksee and Jellybaby1, yes I am a guerilla gardener and I plant small ring gardens around the trunks of trees in our neighbourhood and along main roads too.

It's very rewarding to see them survive and flourish. They brighten up the area and bring smiles to faces when they appear from nowhere early one morning.

Jellybaby1

I'm a little curious about the guerilla gardening thing. Are you planting perennials or annuals? You'd have to replace the annuals each year.

Mindme

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

I'm a little curious about the guerilla gardening thing. Are you planting perennials or annuals? You'd have to replace the annuals each year.

When I first started I was planting summer bedding plants such as pelagorniums, bizzy lizzies, and nasturtiums etc bolstered with ground cover plants like saxifrage and mother-of-thousands.

Now I'm concentrating on perennials such as the common marigold and self seeding wild flowers like poppies and cornflowers etc.
In larger open spaces shrubs like the red and white fuschia and hebes etc can be added. We have our own supply of cuttings.

Really anything at all that adds colour to the environment.

Pansies of course.

Jellybaby1

Pansies are great! They always look like they are laughing faces - happy flowers! My favourite at the moment is the petunias - they just keep going which I love because I'm not a great gardener and anything that works is a a bonus for me.

Do you actually sow the seeds, or do you just fling 'em and hope they'll come up, or do you plant plants? Lots of scraggy bits of ground near me, wondering how I could improve it without being seen!! It'd be just my luck for the council to do some 'work' just after I've been around!

Mindme

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Pansies are great! They always look like they are laughing faces - happy flowers! My favourite at the moment is the petunias - they just keep going which I love because I'm not a great gardener and anything that works is a a bonus for me.

Do you actually sow the seeds, or do you just fling 'em and hope they'll come up, or do you plant plants? Lots of scraggy bits of ground near me, wondering how I could improve it without being seen!! It'd be just my luck for the council to do some 'work' just after I've been around!

These are seedlings of wild flowers planted a month ago. The compost cannot be seen now as the plants have grown and spread, the roots all matted together forming a 'carpet'.




Planting out of the way of council workers is your best bet. Some will actually spray and mow down flowers in full bloom!

Iuse all methods. Seeds, bedding plants bought in stores and homegrown plants and flowers too.

I like pelagorniums as they flower all summer well into the Autumn till the first severe frost. Some survive the winter if sheltered, but most don't.

Marigolds survive even the most severe frosts and propagate themselves. :-) Also lots of Forget-Me - Nots. Evergreen ground covering plants are also very useful.

Throwing wild flower seeds randomly can also work, if you are lucky. A guy in Golden bridge area plants up the Grand canal bank that way.

Generous people will be successful as guerilla gardeners. The rewards make the investment worthwhile.

Mindme

The wild flower seedlings two weeks ago.

Jellybaby1

Mindme wrote: »

The wild flower seedlings two weeks ago.

They look very healthy. Keep up the good work!

Mindme

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

They look very healthy. Keep up the good work!

Thanks. I'm an early bird as you can see and will be out planting more wild flowers as soon as the breakfast has been digested.

Joggers should sprinkle wild flower seeds as they go. :-)

edanto

An random search result brought me to this old thread, and I just wanted to say well done to Mindme for brightening up the place.

A lot of effort there, I hope you feel well rewarded by the enjoyment people would have gotten from your plantings.