Gardening and Horticulture - Gardening on the deck

Hello all,

I'm wanting to start a small garden in my yard, but I live in an HOA on a corner lot so I'm thinking gardening in the yard isn't going to work. I have a deck with lots of space and I'm thinking about building some planter boxes and putting fruits/veggies in them on my deck. I'm tired of buying the fruits and veggies so I think this might be a good alternative. Any suggestions? Thank you very much.

Fruits won't do well in a confined space as a planter, but you can grow what you want in the vegetable/herb line on a deck. We have large gardens, arbors, fruit tree and blueberry areas, but still use deck boxes for things we want to use on a daily basis, especially things like our spices, some tomatoes. Go for it!!

What type of box do you think I should build? I'm thinking just building a square box made out of of 2X6s and plywood probably wouldn't be the best thing to use. Any suggestions?

Actually, I built a few cedar frames to hold the long plastic planters available at the orange big box store. That way I am not putting dirt directly against any wood, and they are removable at season's end. They also make hanging racks for those boxes that just hang on your deck railing. Making the boxes isn't difficult, just don't use pressure treated wood. Use something more eco-friendly like cedar, since you will be eating what comes from it. You don't want to eat too much wood treatment that may leach into the soil. When it stops raining, I will take a couple of pix and post what I have built so you can see what to do. Others may have other suggestions as well, so stay tuned.

It was a quick shower, so here. I have better fitting planters that fit in the frame. My wife just stuck this one in there.
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j3/larrychandler/?action=view&current=DSCF0780.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3/larrychandler/DSCF0780.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j3/larrychandler/?action=view&current=DSCF0781.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3/larrychandler/DSCF0781.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I own one of these Upside down tomato planter (http://www.hammacher.com/publish/67403.asp?promo=QCO&ls=). I have herbs and bell peppers growing on the top.

OK, Melissa......that is the only entertaining part of watching the evening news.....those ads for the upside down tomato planter. My wife asked if they worked (she is an accomplished organic gardener and local writer on gardening). I told her they might, but not to the extend with perfect fruits as depicted on TV ads. Well....do they???

I've used the one that I posted for two years now. I find that you need young tomato plants (four inches tall or so) because you have to place the root ball up into the hole. I've gotten a decent amount of tomatoes from each of the four plants that I have.

It obviously won't yield the same results as a full on garden, but it satisfies my need for a garden.

It was a quick shower, so here. I have better fitting planters that fit in the frame. My wife just stuck this one in there.
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j3/larrychandler/?action=view&current=DSCF0780.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3/larrychandler/DSCF0780.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j3/larrychandler/?action=view&current=DSCF0781.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3/larrychandler/DSCF0781.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Thank you very much. That's what I needed right there.