Unusual And Unique Planting Ideas For The Gardening Adventurer

If you are an avid gardener but are a little burned out by gardening in the same way every year, here are some ideas for you to consider. Sure, the ultimate result is a great harvest of yummy vegetables and fruit to eat from the garden and to, perhaps, put up for winter consumption. Nothing says you have to plant row upon row in a regularly shaped garden spot.

When you have tired of the normal planting for the springtime, and are ready to try a little something different, look around your place and seek out all the old tires, without rims, you can locate. You are about to build a potato tower. It really doesn't matter what size they are, just that they are relatively equal in size.

Begin with one tire on the ground, in an area you can get to easily. Pile in soil and compost to the top of the tire rim. Set five or six potatoes on this dirt, then cover with several inches more of dirt. Water well. As the plant grows, add additional soil, heaping it around the base of the plants. This will encourage more potatoes to grow from the plant. Continue doing this, adding a tire or two if necessary. Keep it well moistened. When the plant dies down, that is the time to "dig" the veggie. Remove a tire and begin to pick up potatoes as they fall out of the ring of rubber. Remove another tire and continue until all are rescued.

If vining veggies are your thing, try using your raised square garden site for adding a cattle panel, bent over to form an arch and secured safely to the ground with stakes, as a structure on which to grow them. It is fun for kiddies and adults alike to walk under the veggies at harvest time, to reach up and pick them. This works well for cucumbers, green beans, squashes and even well-vining tomatoes.

Sometimes folks just want to be different, a little rebellious in their gardens, so to speak. If that is the case, gather up a variety of unique containers such as old wheelbarrows, sinks of various sizes, five gallon buckets, plastic tubs and even regular bathtubs. These can all be made to drain well with holes drilled, if necessary, and tilted properly. Make use of natural drainage holes in tubs and sinks. Place them in interesting and surprising places for your and your family and friends enjoyment.

Being a little on the wild side, how about using exiting fences in an unusual way, by placing plants in the ground or in containers, at the base of the fence and allowing the plants to grow up on the fence. This method could actually be used for bramble fruits, vining veggies and flowers as well.

For the children in your life, try planting tall sunflowers in a square, about a foot apart. Leave a three foot open space on one side as a door. Also plant a vining flower of some type, or lightweight veggie, and help it intertwine up and around the stalks of sunflowers as they grow. This will create a cute and snug playhouse for the imaginations of all the kiddies to build on.