Start a container salad garden

My first major container planting of the spring is a salad garden. Planted in late February or early March and sheltered against a warm house wall, the container could be moved gradually into the open as the weather warms. Mainstream salad vegetables are hardy plants that won't be daunted by light frosts.

If you're serious about actually making beautiful salads from a container planting, this is not the time to skimp on the container size. A patio tub 16 to 18 inches (40 to 45 cm) wide is ideal.

To deal with the problem of moving large pots after they're planted, I've begun investing in pot dollies. Mine are simple white wire structures on three wheels, discovered at a local garden centre. Phone around to find out which garden centres near you carry such back-saving devices.

It is possible, with a little forethought, to keep a patio tub producing salad materials from spring through autumn. A large container that offers cushy root room and efficient moisture retention is the first prerequisite. A nourishing soil blend is the next.

Start with a lightweight planting mix such as and add about half as much sterilized soil, which for convenience I purchase in bags. If you want to keep it simple, use that blend as is and mix some slow-release 14-14-14 pellets into the top soil layers of the filled container.

To my own planting mix and soil blend I add a little vermiculite for enhanced moisture retention and perlite for aeration, and several handfuls of fertilizer in each wheelbarow load of soil mix. For fertilizer I prefer a slow-release, natural-source type.

Before filling a large pot or patio tub with soil make sure there are drainage holes at the bottom. Then place a drainage layer at least two inches (five cm) deep. I use old, composted wood shavings, fir bark and perlite, or peat and perlite. Then add the soil mix.

About half way up the side of the pot I usually place a layer of bagged, processed manure and a light scattering of fertilizer as a sort of feeding station for the plant roots as they develop. Press the soil mix gently into the container, filling it to within about an inch (25 mm) from the rim top.

Now the fun part. For a really attractive salad garden seed or transplant both plain green and red leaf lettuces into the tub. The beauty of leaf lettuce for containers is that you can harvest continuously from the outer leaves, allowing you to keep the lettuce and eat it too. Add a few onion sets (tiny starter onion bulbs, available at garden centres) for quick green onions, and a parsley plant or two. Refrigerate unused onion sets for later planting.

Water the soil well with a solution of fish or seaweed fertilizer, or a combination of the two. Place small patches of spinach and radish seeds over available spaces. Cover the seeds with a scant drift of soil mix, pressed down lightly.

As the season progresses and plants are harvested from the container salad garden, stir a few pinches of fertilizer and some fresh soil mix into the emptied spaces and pop in more lettuce transplants and onion sets.