Starting Small

I have a very small area to work with at my new condo. It is about 24'' x 12''. The previous owner planted three tulips and then "tried" planting some sort of bush. Well, the bush is dead/dying and surprisingly the tulips came up. We bought the house in November so I had no idea what was in this area until this spring. I would to either like to start over and build something of my own, or add to these tulips. I'm a beginner and I really only have experience with planting veggies. If anyone could help me with the steps I need to start to make this very small area beautiful (but not overwhelming), it would be much appreciated.

....are you saying you have a 2 square foot area to plant in? What type of sun will it receive? Do you know your zone?

The possibilities are so broad it is hard to say. First, see what kind of light the area gets, and then browse around for plants you are fond of that grow well in that light. Think about if you want something that you can plant and forget about, or, since it is small, you could easily change the bed with the seasons.

Also, especially since the shrub that was in there died, check out the condition of the soil. You'll probably want to mix in lots of compost before planting.

Also depends on what kind of shrub they may have planted in the wrong conditions. Does the water drain properly in the area?

Yes it is a 2 square foot area pretty much. I would say it gets about 8 hours of "direct" sunlight a day during the spring/summer/early fall season. The sun is on it for a majority of the day. I have some experience with soil. When my parents taught me how to plant veggies when I was younger, they taught me the importance of tilling (is that the right word) the soil, replacing nutrient low soil with nutrient rich soil. I would like to completely remove the shrub, possibly put a rose bush in. The tulips came up very nice. I would also be interested in putting more of those in. Would mixing roses and tulips be wrong?

Roses don't like to be crowded, they get black spot real easy if not enough air around them.

masink,

I think you will be able to grow many nice flowering plants even in a very small space. I believe you are zone 5a and as you stated it sounds like your growing area is mostly full sun. I certainly could be wrong, but I think roses might be a little more challenging than some other choices, possibly the miniature ones would be a sound choice. If tulips grew and flowered well other bulbs could be a possibility....they have are their needs wrapped up in a neat little self-contained package so to speak at least for the upcoming season. Raising the bed could be an option that would provide a better selection of possibilities. Being somewhat new myself I am not wanting to set you in the wrong direction, so I'd suggest you do some research for things that do well in containers or pots (although you will be planting in ground) for your zone. Small spaces like you describe should be similar to container gardening. You'll have hundreds of possibilities depending on your ability to provide for your selections and what you want to achieve. The trick to nice flowers is in choosing what will do well in the conditions you can provide. Being a fan of day lilies....I must ask if you have considered them?

Happy gardening to you!

This message was edited May 4, 2010 9:52 PM