Hugel Bathtub update

The bathtub garden is doing well, but there are a couple things I think I would do differently next time.

• Instead of rocks in the bottom for drainage, I would just put more wood. The garden would certainly benefit fom the increased water retention. A container this size probably does not need drainage, so…
• After all the work I did unclogging that drain, I probably should’ve left it plugged. I still might stuff something in there to slow it down. I don’t really know if any water makes it to the drain but either way I feel it’s not needed.

But most everything in it is doing great. I water the shallow, recently planted plants as moisture is presumed to be (and obviously) deeper. What causes me to doubt things is that one of the blueberry plants that was doing great is now showing signs of distress/dying. But that could be for many reasons I suppose, considering how well everything else is growing.

The Canna lilies are in full bloom now and I saw a hummingbird fly from them. The Elephant Ear is holding its own but may be slightly affected by the close proximity of the lilies…didn’t seem too close when I planted them but they do now.

I planted four things in the tub mainly because 1)I had some space to fill and 2)I had to get these things planted.

First is a “Dragon Cayenne” – the only pepper plant that has done well and produced so far.

At the opposite corner is a Rosemary herb. I’ve never used rosemary in cooking but it’s a cool looking herb and smells nice. I’m sure I’ll find a use at some point. It’s doing good.

Along one corner and a couple other spots, I planted elephant garlic cloves, never to be seen again. Wait, yes. I decided they weren’t going to happen so I started to turn the soil to plant something else and the first bulb I came across seemed to be alive. So I covered it back up, never to be seen again. I wonder if it’s a case of irradiated produce that will never grow and takes a long time to rot. I don’t know, just a theory.

Then later, I planted the luffah vines that I had started and still hadn’t planted. They seem like they’re just getting established and ready to grow. There won’t be time for them to produce anything but hopefully be a nice decorative vine.

I mentioned the “sick” blueberry bush. I hope it recovers. It was a replacement for one of the originals that didn’t make it and it was a much more robust plant. It really did great at first. I am thinking maybe water is an issue as I think Blueberry bushes have narrow roots. Maybe I did this. Doh! It looks like it might be just a setback. Hopefully.

I say “Hopefully” a lot.

The bathtub is facing the wrong way now, since I extended the garden by two feet so the tub is now on the inside of the garden instead of the outside. I’ll probably enclose the back and sides to make it look nice, and maybe help keep critters from taking up residence under it, if they haven’t already.

So I think that does it for the hugel-tub update. I think next year, if the blueberry bushes come back, I’ll plant something smaller in there and shallow-ish rooted (thinking maybe strawberries….hmmm a berry tub), so that they cover the ground but don’t compete with the blueberries…wait, are blueberries shallow rooted as I said above? I’ll figure it all out.

Happy Gardening!