Having just finished my second, and final Thistle clean up for the year, I am now going to overseed with Grass Seed, for the second time this year.  Fall is the best time to seed or sod a lawn; the only ‘gardening’ conflict at this time can be the size of the harvest you are trying to store or preserve for the winter!

Many gardeners choose to add some compost, or fertilizer, along with the seed, since the grass will be going into ‘hibernation’ shortly, and will make use of the extra energy next Spring.  This is definitely a great idea, but it is somewhat expensive.  If you are using a fertilizer, look for one with slow release nitrogen, in a moderate amount, and higher potassium.

If you have been looking after your lawn mowing, on a timely basis all summer long, you will have increased the richness of the soil, and this will help the seed to sprout, and create strong plants, even without the addition of fertilizer or compost.  So, decide what is best for your garden, and then give that lawn a little more TLC!   After broadcasting the seed, rake the lawn to ensure that the seed (and compost or fertilizer) has reached the ground, so that the grass has an opportunity to sprout.  Keep the lawn moist, if you can, until the grass sprouts….  or if you don’t have the ability to water, wait for a weather report predicting a little rain!  The cooler temperatures of autumn will limit the amount of evaporation.

It is important to rake up the leaves - make sure you get it done before the frost or snow- Leaves left on your lawn will suffocate the grass in the spring, and provide a prime breeding area for insects and grubs that you may not want.  You can use the leaves to cover your garden, to insulate the roots of shrubs, etc., or they can be composted.  Some gardeners like to run the lawn mower over the fallen leaves until all the bits sink into the grass and down to the soil.  So many options!

Many years ago, when I first started my own garden, it was on a balcony. A north facing balcony, at that. It had NO direct sunlight, only light reflected from the apartment buildings across the street. The pots were small - partly due to availability, but mostly due to bucks; I couldn’t afford big pots, nor could I afford big plants. But I had some wonderful, and still memorable, Great Plants. 

As I said, I had only reflected light from the windows of the apartments across the street, so I used shade tolerant house plants; even some cacti survived the years in that apartment, although they grew very little. The balcony garden had closed in railings that blocked all light to the balcony floor, so I had a narrow table that became the plant holder, and I experimented with using window boxes suspended on the railing. The boxes hung nearly level with the top of the rail, and as I was over 20 stories high, I hung them towards the inside of the balcony - I didn’t want to risk having anything falling off and landing on someone’s head far below!! I grew some lettuce, shade tolerant flowers and greenery on that balcony; it was a nice place to be, to read a book, enjoy a cup of tea, a real escape from the city below. Even the whisper of the leaves in the moving air drove away some of the noise, and the smell of plants was alive, green and sweet - nothing dank concrete jungle about it.

My next garden, another balcony, had more light - in fact there were several hours in the afternoon and early evening when about 1/2 the balcony was bathed in sunshine. Growing tomatoes, lettuce, peas and beans was easily possible, all in pots, none very large or fancy, on the floor or in the window boxes hung on the railing. On the shady end of the balcony were the shade loving plants. The floor, we covered with Green Outdoor Carpeting LOL! - very 70’s I think, but it was truly a wonderful oasis. The plants gave us privacy from the world below - this balcony was only 3 floors up, and had spindles that allowed the light and view through - we looked like a garden in the air from the sidewalk below.

Today the range of products available can make balcony retreats into real destination spots; you don’t need to have travelled the world to make it look like it. And building such a retreat, or a larger garden at ground level, can be done in small increments.

Mostly what a garden really needs are some plants, and a chair or two, to enjoy them. From there you can get ‘fancy.’ If you think about where (in the world) you would like your destination to look like, you can add colours and themes to bring that area to life in your garden.  You can choose to blend your garden colours with the indoor area they are adjacent to, or the outside walls - OR you can make them something shockingly different….  It’s up to you.  You make the statement in your own way.

If you are working within a budget, you should see what you already have in your possession.  What sort of Garden area are you blessed with?  What sorts of containers do you have that could be used as pots? storage? seating? tables? backdrops?  If it starts to look like a disaster - what about a can of spray paint, or what about organizing the various items into theme groups to use in different areas (i.e.: colour, style, material made of, size, culture…).  And what are you missing, in that group, that you will need to find a solution for - If you have a chair, but no table?… you have a yard, but no shovel?… you have something unattractive to conceal, but no ideas?…

There are some pictures posted on the Ideas page of some wonderful Ideas that I have seen.  I hope that you will share some of your own ideas, and pictures, with all of us.  Send me an email with your ideas and suggestions. I look forward to hearing from you!

Info at Garden Elemental dot com

The weather has REALLY improved!  This looks sooooo much better!Our first rainy day - I have noticed that despite the lack of rain, the grass seed & soil mixture that I put down, has been sprouting.  The rain today will help a lot.

A real-life Garden Diary - : more on my Blog at: gardenelemental.blogspot.com

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