My first tabletop garden

Bit of an experiment, trying to see what I can (and can't) do with a tabletop garden, and then see how well I find it works, since my SFG that was on the ground hasn't been much of a success, although I think mainly due to ant infestation, weed infestation, and mint infestation.

The main thing I did not do, was put in cross-beams, this was on purpose, first because my wood was only 2x6 so not much space, second because I planned originally to put it up on cinder blocks (although ended up putting it up on an old garden table we have)

Main note to self is I think next time I'll have the weed barrier go up onto the sides of the SFG (rather than cutting it off at the top level) that way the MM doesn't go down between the weed cloth and the side of the box.

Box prior to adding anything else


After stapling hardware cloth onto the bottom, note this was because of the planned support under the box (Cinder blocks)


After adding weed cloth, note, next time don't cut it off level with the top of the box, staple it around the top of the box, to stop any MM falling between the side of the weed cloth and the box.


Starting to put MM into the box


Finished box, complete with grid (made of strimmer wire and screw eyes)

I love it. The table will provide the necessary support. And it is a smaller box than the 4x4 I put supports under.

Kay

Very nice job! You are going to love working that garden without having to bend and squat. Keep us posted on how well it works for you.

Looks terrific. I wish I had some tabletoppers for these old legs and back. Maybe in the future.

Im going to be setting up a table top garden similar to yours 3' x 3' on an old wrought iron table that I have. I havent bought the hardware cloth yet and I was wondering what kind you used. Also been searching the local thrift stores for mini blinds, but havent found any yet. Is that weed whacker wire? I have some fishing line that I thought of using but I dont know if its sturdy enough. Comments? Suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

Lilly

You make it look so easy that I could almost try it.

Seriously, a lot of folks in our area are going to attractive cedar boxes like that. Some are making tabletop getups, while others are making long above the ground designs. I have seen one that was about 35 feet long and two feet wide, and I have seen one that looks like a giant plus sign. I have put in a word to some of these people about trying Mel's Mix, and I think I converted one or two. Most use 100% compost.

I hope you have a wonderful time and great success.

Sorry didnt mean to hijack the thread. was hoping someone could help.

Lillyz wrote:Im going to be setting up a table top garden similar to yours 3' x 3' on an old wrought iron table that I have. I havent bought the hardware cloth yet and I was wondering what kind you used. Also been searching the local thrift stores for mini blinds, but havent found any yet. Is that weed whacker wire? I have some fishing line that I thought of using but I dont know if its sturdy enough. Comments? Suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

Lilly

Hi Lilly,

Don't worry about hi-jacking the thread. Your questions were appropriate. I can't answer for the original poster, but I can tell you that many folks use 1/4" hardware cloth and yes you can use weed eater string or fishing line for your grids. Hope that helps!

Thanks for answering my questions. Really appreciate the help!

Congrats on your new table top

hoping some day to have few :drunken: ....for now we have two children that helps with the bending

keep us posted with pic's how its growing.....love to see others gardens

happy gardening
rose

Mine have 1/2 inch hardware cloth, so far so good, we'll see what happens when I come to move it. The weed eater string ( or strimmer line as I call it ) seemed like it might hold up quite well, and be a bit less obtrusive than some of the wood shims or blinds or such.

Lillyz wrote:Im going to be setting up a table top garden similar to yours 3' x 3' on an old wrought iron table that I have. I havent bought the hardware cloth yet and I was wondering what kind you used. Also been searching the local thrift stores for mini blinds, but havent found any yet. Is that weed whacker wire? I have some fishing line that I thought of using but I dont know if its sturdy enough. Comments? Suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

Lilly

Lilly if you look in my avatar piccy on the thread for this months avatar theme you'll see that the first bed has two lines of bright orange weed trimmer line as a test trial .
It's been there 9 months or so . it is simply threaded through a small hole in the top of a long seed label, so I can take the lines away when required and store them in a bucket .
I did initially use some pink 40 pound sea fishing line for a couple of grids but removed it when my masculinity was questioned by an un male male .

You don't realy need sturdy stuff for the grids just something that lasts as long as possible and is cheap , unless of course you want to make a prominent garden feature of it & money is no object .

unless of course you want to make a prominent garden feature of it & money is no object .

snip

Well, I love my gardening hobby, but getting started with this has cost alot of money, mostly for the vermucilite!! and I havent even started to put it together. I did buy a couple of raised bed kits from hd and they were finally delivered yesterday. They were really easy to put together. Trying to get them level is another story (lol). Probably will be on the hunt for 5 kinds of compost next week or so. The guys at hd were really nice and loaded the vermuculite and peat moss into the trunk of the car for me. Hope they will do the same thing when it comes to the compost. Also got all my seed starting supplies cleaned and disinfected. Almost time to start those tomatoes and peppers and eggplants.