Balcony and Fire Escape Gardening

My other blog on Nordic noir and Scandinavian culture has prevented me from posting here lately, but I have a huge backlog of photos to share from this summer in Hyde Park. Today I salute those who "garden with what they've got," along with a few more traditionally beautiful balconies.

Case in point, below. Perhaps that security light is a brighter red than the little flowers above it, but my heart swelled at the sight of the planter. It doesn't take much to say, "I care, and I take care"... 

...I've seen some nice stone balconies that look like a plant cemetery, so bravo to this gardener (above), who puts something up here every year--and keeps it watered. I might only suggest some trailing plants next year in addition to petunias etc.

And hats off to this scrappy gardener for using basic cinder blocks to create pedestals. By raising the plants up to chair level, the occupant can sit outside with some measure of privacy:

A tale of two balconies (below). I see this a lot. People are biased toward balconies with big cement enclosures. If they have one, they happily add plants. Yet the upper, see-through balcony would be lovely to sit on (and private!) if only it had plants.

Every year this balcony looks terrific with its oversized plants (below)....

...but I have felt some trepidation walking beneath it in a wind storm....

...so I googled around and read somewhere that you can secure big pots by using Velcro sticky tape. I don't know what this person's secret is, but we've had some fierce, tree-shattering storms on this street and I've never seen these pots budge.

This could almost be called a fire escape community garden... 

Fire Escape Garden Colony

...If you live in Hyde Park, you've most certainly seen these (above) since they face a very public area. The inhabitants have chosen not to sulk inside with the shades drawn, and instead have gone hog wild with hanging pots and ivy. The lowest floors have little plots of earth that are all planted up too. A great example of infectious gardening!

This is more of a stoop than a balcony...

...but I fell for the mix of fancy cement flower planters and the upscale, stained wooden green bean trellis.

Now, for some typical three story walk-up balconies, the kind you see all over the University of Chicago neighborhood. They are so conducive to picturesque balcony gardening...

I love, love, love the way this hanging circular sun catcher (below) gives focus to the plants:

Other things give focus to a balcony as well...

Anyway, if I missed you--don't worry, I'm still looking...

Beautify a Chain-Link Fence: Paint It Black, Or Partly Dismantle It

Here are two thoughts on how to alter the appearance of a basic chain-link fence. For once, this is not about growing plants on or around it. It's about the fence itself.

1. I came across this very unique approach in Hyde Park the other day.

A partly dismantled chain-link fence

Chain-link fences are a fact of life for many of us. Digging out the posts can be quite strenuous. The posts are sunk into concrete that has been poured very deep into the ground. Digging them up can cause plants or structures around it to collapse into any remaining holes. You could rent a metal-cutting power saw and just saw them off at the base...but you still wouldn't be able to plant anything where the concrete is.

This gardener shows how you can remove just the chain-link part of the fence. This works especially if you don't need a secure yard for a dog etc.. Then it might look like this (above and below):

These large sculptures take the place of the old chain-link mesh

I am really quite fond of the contrast (below) between the beautiful traditional garden on the right, with its trim white picket fence and tidy potted flowers, and the striking bohemian garden on the left. Both are eye-catching, and even more so for being right next to each other.

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So what else could you do with a chain-link fence to make it look a little less like... a chain-link fence?

2. You could paint it black (or green etc.). Purchasing an already black chain-link fence would be better. But I think black is within your reach if you want it. Just try to do it before your clinging vines are established. You could also use Rustoleum's Chain-Link Fence Paint to brighten a rusted silver fence back to its original, gleaming industrial shine. Your choice!

I would paint my own fence black now, but my clematis and a few other plants prevent me from doing so. I also think that if you really want it to look neat and clean in black, the fence needs to be pretty straight. If it is leaning here and there, that's where you should grow some plants!

A Short Chain-Link Fence

For about a year now I've had my eye on this newly revamped garden. The chain-link fence is even shorter than mine--3 feet tall at most.  It actually looks taller in this photo:

I can't remember what used to be here--I guess not much. But I remember the day I walked by and saw that little stone bench, which is probably less than two feet high itself. This makes perfect sense. You can imagine how a regular sized garden chair would pop up above the fence line, the proportions all out of whack. But with this very small, complementary stone bench, I imagine a different scene instead--maybe a child sitting there in the sun while a parent tends the tomatoes. In other words, the fence is the last thing I notice, and its height seems "about right" rather than "short."

While the new plants are growing in, the garden decor offers colorful whimsy.

One can imagine a banana scented butterfly bush in here, with real butterflies floating about.

It's amazing how that bench, some new mulch, a patio, and a few stepping stones turned the formerly nondescript urban space into a very cute, tidy garden. 

Some musings on what to do with a shorter chain-link fence:

Clearly, aim to find a focal point that is the right size!

If privacy is not an issue, and the height of the fence will not be changed, I might try extending the miniature garden theme to go with the little bench. Miniature roses, crocuses, Siberian squill, sweet woodruff...a tiny pond, or painted bird houses. Maybe a Japanese Maple somewhere, pruned accordingly.

A miniature children's garden would also be interesting. I picture vintage toys, like an old red wagon planted with ranunculus or any extremely bright flowers.

On the other hand, if privacy is wanted soon-ish and on the cheap, a shrubby border would do. Lilac or forsythia might even engulf the fence, hiding it entirely. If you use grapevine or ivy, you could eventually add in a taller trellis to increase the height. 

Really, the possibilities abound. I look forward to seeing what the gardener here decides to do. Even if he or she puts in a big wooden fence, at least I'd know it was nice inside!

Unlikely Spaces Spring 2012

Been wandering around new areas lately, and saw this. What a great way to beautify your condo or apartment building. Yet it seems like 60-70% of all such buildings have only lawns, which don't offer wildlife much food or shelter, and may be bad for the environment. It's still early spring (if crazily warm) but I can see where this patch is going, and I may return for more photos.

Being sensitive to the difficulties faced by less dominant birds, I love the different feeders and varieties of seed here. Once the vegetation grows up, it will look great. The birds are of course pleased with anything just now.

I've lived in Hyde Park for nearly a decade, and I've never noticed the fire station's garden on 55th Street.

It's not thriving just yet, but someone bothered to hang a little bird house and set up a brick border. Perhaps a donation of annuals or bulbs would be in order... I'd love to see a little trellis here too.

And here we have an example of my pet interest. There's no reason the chain-link garden should be deprived of spring blooms...

So don't be shy about throwing some seeds down, hanging a feeder, or using odd materials to create a plant stand. You never know whose day might be brightened by your effort.

Hyde Park Critters

Even in winter, in the city, with a tiny garden and a chain-link fence, there's a lot to see out there. When we get a thin layer of snow like we had a few days ago, I always go out to look for tracks...

We have some bunnies in our alley...and so do you. They're everywhere. They never steal from my garden, but they always check it out anyway.

These tracks on my frozen bird bath are the ones I dread seeing:


Though they're muddled, they look like cat tracks. But baby opossum tracks have fooled me before. Plus, a neighbor let's her cat out, so maybe it's not a stray anyway. Before Hyde Park Cats became active, I used to see these quite often. Once, on a 15˚F winter night, I followed some tracks out of my garden and down the alley, and then they disappeared in a parking lot. It was so sad. But that story had a happy ending. With HPCats' help, I trapped little Daisy and now she's a professor's cat. I rarely see cat tracks these days.

Since I have a bird feeder, I see a lot of hawks, especially in summer. They're fascinating, but they always kind of kill the party. All the other birds leave.

One time a young hawk was spotted in our courtyard. It looked stunned and someone called Animal Control. I made sure to notify Flint Creek Rehabilitation Center right away (here's an article about the center). The bird was transferred to them promptly. Apparently this is common with young hawks, and they usually pull out of it.

Of course there are always squirrels...

If I can, I'll get shots of some of the other critters in Hyde Park. The 'holy grail' would be a shot of the great 'Coonzilla'. I saw her/him in my alley once. She's HUGE.

As always, if you already have some shots to share, send them in!

Winterized Chain-Link Fence and Garden Cookies

I am in the middle of my annual winter garden sulk, so I made "holiday" cookies yesterday as I saw fit:

Chain-link garden cookies

What looks better, the cookies or my winterized chain-link garden? Either way, one will be gone tomorrow--I know that much. I've been tossing around ideas as to what could make a chain-link garden look festive in the winter, and finally wound up wrapping this fake garland around the fence top, arbor and shepherd's hooks...all to uncertain effect:

At the very least, the garland catches the snow nicely, and the birds seem to alight on it happily.


Garlanded shepherd's hooks, with baskets left up as bird-feeding platforms



A garlanded section of chain-link fence, dusted with snow

I thought about entwining the fence with even more of the garland, but never found time to do it. It looks a bit worse if you hastily drape it everywhere, and weaving it in and out of all the links proved somewhat maddening. I found later, though, that cutting the garland into shorter strips makes it a lot easier!

Nichols Park Community Gardens Reduced

I cut through Nichols Park the other day and saw this:

That's a big change from a few months ago. It used to look like this:



 I'll have to revise my community gardens page. There still seems to be some space for gardening outside the wrought iron fence. Anyway, they appear to be shifting toward youth centered activities. For more info, see: http://www.hpnclub.org/

Ghoulish Gardening - Hyde Park Halloween

Often, gardeners like to add a few final touches to the fragile beauty of their golden autumnal landscapes by swathing everything in cobwebs and hanging ghosts, zombies, witches, and skeletons all over the place. I would do the same if we had any trick-or-treaters on our block. But they're rightly drawn instead to South Harper, Hyde Park's foremost Halloween destination:

What was that hanging in the tree, you ask? Rather horrifyingly, this thing appears to be attached to a pulley...which is to say, it moves.

This fair maiden was one of the creepiest things I saw today, although last year many people waited until the 31st to set up all their decorations. I'm sure it will get creepier still.

If you look closely at this photo, you'll see a Hyde Park Garden Fair poster in the window. I don't think this is a coincidence. I've killed so many plants this year that I should be making amends too.

Who needs hanging baskets of chrysanthemums on the porch when you've got a pal like this? 

Well, only the brave will venture over to S. Harper on Halloween. I will be far away when they finally let this guy out of his house.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Spotted: Corner Corn

Think you don't have room to grow corn? Turns out you can grow corn in a pot. On a street corner! This glorious example of a gardener's determination was spotted by the Hyde Park Cats blogger. Thanks Terren!

Chain-link Coverage: Grapevine (video!)

I return today to my interest in plants that go well with chain-link fences. What about grapevine (Boston Ivy, which is, confusingly, not ivy)? The particular variety I'm referring to is (I think) parthenocissus tricuspidata, and it's all over Hyde Park and covers many University of Chicago buildings. The grapes aren't fit for humans to eat, but birds love them in the fall.

Here is a photo of the vine growing on and sticking to a brick wall. It does not necessarily twine about things on its own (more on this problem below).

Grapevine has one magical quality that I must share, and it requires video. When the grapes begin to ripen (the video was taken in late July 2011), the outer casing bursts open and pops off. There are so many dozens of grapes per cluster, and so many clusters per vine, that the effect is like some sort of dry rain. Have a look:

It leaves a bit of green "confetti" on the ground afterward, which later turns brown (and tracks into your house!). However, it disintegrates fairly quickly on its own, or you can brush or spray it aside.

But how does it work on a chain-link fence? The photo below suggests that grapevine can provide good coverage, but also that training it properly may require some care. Here, left untended, it is growing straight up and then flopping over on itself, rather than moving sideways across the the fence. I can imagine going out every few days to weave it in and out of the wire mesh myself.

So...some PROS for grapevine on a chain-link fence:
*it leafs out early, and hangs on fairly well in the fall (turning beautiful colors)
*coverage can be dense
*grows quickly
*you can get a clipping easily in Hyde Park and start your own vine using rooting hormone (I'm told)
*grapevine "rain" offers a zen-like experience
*it will come back every year; the main vines become thick and woody and will eventually provide winter interest even without the leaves
*may attract birds, or even huge flocks (starlings especially, as far as I've seen), which is fun for humans and cats too!

Some CONS:
*It can be quite invasive
*You have to clean up the leaves in the fall...they leave a thick matting on the ground
*You'll have to train it at least a little on a chain-link fence or trellis
*You'll need to think about what to do if it spreads to a nearby building (or your own building!)... it is easy to pull off, but if it's very high up, it could present problems

I like mine, and I wish I had grown it over my chain-link fence years ago. Other peoples' experiences with it are welcome!

55th/Woodlawn Gardens Revisited

I love before and after photos, and now I can finally offer some from the 55th/Woodlawn community gardens (see original post).


55th St. -- Before



55th St. -- After!

 As usual, I am amazed by what good sun conditions can do for a garden. Look at these monster green beans!

It was hard to capture the dazzling array of zinnias and other flowers on my little camera, so I tried a semi-artsy shot of these orange ones (which I can't quite identify...some sort of coreopsis?).

These giant blue cabbages dominate several plots. They're beautiful, if also perhaps frightful... This one had its own pet frog:

An avid gardener I met on-site eagerly ushered me over to the delicate blooms of borage, which I had never seen before. He was sorry to say they were just past their prime, but we found a few left to admire.


Borage

The heat made me appreciate the rest spot in the center of the garden beneath a tall shade tree. In this garden, you definitely want to sit and enjoy everything for at least a few minutes!

See you again in the fall!