Many people want to grow vegetables but don’t have an ideal place for a garden. Often the most sunny place is on a driveway, cement patio, or in another location where there is little to no soil. In such cases consider making a garden in boxes, galvanized troughs and other above the ground arrangements. Consider the photos below for inspiration. I ordered the Behlen tanks in these photos from Amazon.
Behlen Country RE 74 Gallon Galvanized Round End Tank
Here is the tank on my deck. Before you do any planting in these containers you should remove the drain plug so that excess water can drain out.
I didn’t want the soil to fill the entire container, so I placed a plastic crate and some upside-down pots in the bottom. I also added some Mosquito Dunks – a form of Bt that kills mosquito larvae.
Next I put Smart Pots in the trough. These fabric bags are perfect for lining any container. If you’re planting a large urn with tropicals you want to save from summer to summer, for example, you can line the urn with a Smart Pot and then just lift those tender plants out and bring them inside for the winter.
Fill the Smart Pots with soil and you’re ready to plant!
I used the 20 Gallon Smart Pots for my troughs, two per tank.
Smart Pots 20-Gallon Smart Pot Soft-Sided Container, Black
Here is another example of a veggie garden that’s been planted above ground. These gardeners used wooden boxes and assorted recycled containers for this garden on top of pure sand. They fenced it to keep rabbits and other critters out. The green box used to be a truck tool box and they’ve repurposed it as their “garden shed” to hold tools and supplies.
