Lighting Up The Fire Escape
A roomy windowsill? A south facing ledge? Throw in some soil and the right plants, and you’ve got what it takes to start your own urban garden. To begin, measure the amount of direct sunlight your spot gets. It might be tempting to fill your space with edibles, but most herbs and vegetables need at least six hours of sun to flourish. Select durable containers that maximize space and won’t rot, like ceramic troughs or oblong planters, and fill with a good potting mix like Fafard ®. Make sure the planters’ drainage remains unobstructed by placing a piece of broken crockery, or a stone, into each of the holes before filling with earth. Soil should be tamped down into place to prevent later compaction and sinking.
A garden grown from seed works best as a jubilant tangle. Sow seeds in spring, after the danger of frost has passed, and barely cover with soil. Nasturtiums and lettuce are good edible selections for the usual, part-shade fire escape garden. Purple ageratum paired with pale lavatera give height and structure to the display.
For the lucky gardener with ample sunlight, salvia is the word! Salvias come in every shade of blue, red and pink, are tireless bloomers, easy to grow from seed and highly drought resistant. Potted plants require dedicated daily watering, so cut down on your work time by pairing salvias with tenacious succulents that you may keep nestled indoors like aloe, stonecrop and hen and chicks.
Image shot by Winona Barton-Ballentine
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