Limited space just creates a challenge which I love. This garden is at waist height, making it easy to maintain, but don't be deceived by the volume of plants, it is only about 800mm deep. How did it all start? Well, the beige wall needed some green height to give it interest, and so to ensure the Star Jasmine had somewhere to grow, we wired up a grid at 600mm intervals onto the fence and then trained the jasmine to follow its path. It is a work in progress, and needs regular attention, but not only does it look great, it smells amazing when the flowers are blooming all summer.
Then it was decided that due to minimal space in other parts of the garden that vegetables and herbs would be well sheltered and work well in front of the Jasmine. So planting height and colour in Rainbow Silverbeet and then parsley as a border plant in front makes an attractive 'companion planting' idea which as you can see has just gone from strength to strength!
Making sure that I cover many foods, Perpetual Spinach grows well next to the Silverbeet, and provides another contrast in both colour and form, and of course another food group to consume. Picking the Spinach actually keeps it growing so it is recommended you keep picking.
Over in the corner an obelisk supports a tomato, these obelisks I use a lot and are great to reduce tying and support the plant early on, and to train the tomato to keep within its allocated space in a tight location.
You spend a lot of time creating an attractive vegetable/herb garden so enjoy eating it just as much. Remember it is a good idea to plant out other foods to replace what you have eaten, if you have had a leafy crop in, change it out with a root crop to keep the nutrients coming through.
