We have a few sidewalk plots outside our building that were originally set up by a group called Friends of the Urban Forest here in town, where they’ll cut out a square and plant trees. Two were set up quite some time ago, and by the time we moved in last year, one was looking rather haggard and needed a desperate pruning, while the other one was…well, pretty dead. We tidied up the live one and pulled out the other, and over the last several months we’ve been trying to grow things there, like succulents and other drought-resistant plants and flowers.
Which was fine for a little while, until we realized that apparently gophers were digging in from below and eating them all on us! Imagine our frustration when a plant that looked quite healthy just a few days previous is now pale and missing parts, or worse: completely gone. We even put some in gopher baskets….which were then torn open from below. We know it’s not someone stealing them or a coyote having a snack, as we can clearly see the dirt left over from the tunnels the little bastards were digging!
So this time out, we’re doing what one of our former neighbors at our old place did: purchasing pots of various sizes and planting everything like raised beds. I do like the idea, and our neighborhood is full of front walkways with this kind of setup, making it not only homey but a nice visual, and maybe even providing some lovely scents to go along with it all. We just have a few set up so far, but if these two starters work out like we hope they will, we’ll add more along the way. Our neighbors seem to like what we’ve done with them anyway (and we try to keep the front clean and somewhat properly weeded), so we’ve had no complaints so far.
It’ll be slow going, so it looks pretty sparse right now, but I’m hoping it’ll look even better in the future!
Welcome to Bridgetown 