Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Stealth Gardening - Hiding Your Garden in Plain Sight



Gardening is a great way to supplement your food supply. Unfortunately, having a big garden in the middle of your backyard may act as a beacon during a crisis. It will immediately get the attention of those who failed to put forth the effort and the time required for a garden. If they find themselves needing a food source, they will look at your garden as the answers to their problems. There is a simple way to minimize this problem.

The presence of decorative and ornamental plants is a common sight most everywhere and few people look beyond the pretty flowers. This is where you can put a little “stealth gardening” into action.

If you don’t have a fence or other barrier to help, you can simply add a garden plant here and there to your regular flower beds. The blooms from your vegetable plants will blend in with your flowering plants and still look quite normal and not be readily apparent to those who may be looking in your direction.

If you’ve got a solid wooden fence, this won’t normally be a problem since most of your yard is already hidden from view. It won’t hurt to put a few garden plants along the fence where they may be not so visible.

If you have a chain link fence, simply plant your garden on the backside of your fence line so as to hide your garden plants from normal view. Those persons passing by will only see the shrubs and plants you allow them to see. On the front side of your fence are your pretty flowering plants and on the backside of your fence are your garden plants.

Try to match your garden plants where they will be hidden by your ornamental plants. Low growing shrubs and hedges can be complemented with things like squash or zucchini plants, while taller shrubs and hedges can be used to hide plants like tomatoes or okra. Plants like beans or cucumbers can be allowed to vine along your fence line which will give them extra support.

Got garden in plain sight?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

when was traveling in the south, took notes about the flora at roadside rest stops; taking great humor at seeing califlower, cabbage, and brocolli growing amoungst the flowers. desp[ite trhe number of travelers at some sites, the groundkeepers had found their first traveler in several years able to see what was growing there.

another stealth garden note was how people allowed some weeds to grow along with the tomatoes and squashes along a fence at another rest stop.

so your blog piece is valid; in very good advice.

thank you

Wildflower

vlad said...

Very good.The unreconstructed diehard survivor/resister/evader in the piney woods, or the mesquite thickets farther west, might have several such patches here and there.

Teresita Darling said...

carrots look like decorative grasses, potatoes and cabbages are already used as annuals, herbs and medicinal 'weeds' blend easily;viney plants could easily look like the unmaintained neglected part of the yard if you don't mulch down paths and stake them.

riverwalker said...

To: Wildflower

Mrs. RW's grandmother always had all sorts of vegetables growing in her flower gardens and if you didn't look closely, you would never even know they were there.

Thanks Wildflower.

RW

riverwalker said...

To: vlad

I always miss the Piney Woods of East Texas and the time I spent there.

Many people don't even know what the plant looks like that produces the vegetables they eat. You'd probably have to explain what it is before they'd even realize it's true nature, especially if it's mixed in with a flower or shrub.

Thanks vlad.

RW

riverwalker said...

To: mama4x

Mrs. RW has all kinds of plants in different areas (dill,mint,cilantro, sage, etc.).

Some are in the garden area, some in containers inside the house and on the patio and others mixed in with her shrubs and flowers along the fence line.

Thanks mama4x.

RW

jade said...

Painting the pallet, building the flower box, and....what is that round thing??? You will just have to wait and see.wrought iron railing

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