As we anxiously await the spring gardening season, you may want to find new and unique ways to enhance your landscape with flowers or vegetables. Here's one idea that you can even get started on now so you'll be ready when planting time comes.
Many of us who live in the city have cedar privacy fences. Those can provide the background for a great garden addition. All it takes are some flower boxes constructed of cedar and mounted on the inside of the fence. They look good hung just below the top of the fence.
A trick for keeping the soil moist in these boxes is to line the bottom with a disposable diaper before you add soil and plants. The absorbent material of the diaper is excellent for retaining moisture and reduces the number of times you'll need to water each week.
Petunias are a good choice for planting color in the fence boxes. Verbena also looks very nice growing from the top of a fence and it takes our summer heat well. In shady areas, wax begonias or impatiens will thrive. Or if you have limited space for a vegetable garden, plant cucumbers in your boxes; no ground space is needed.
The choices of flowers and vegetables are nearly endless. By using your imagination, you can think of many that can be planted in your new fence boxes.
Doris Waits, Smith County Master Gardener
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