this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2026
7 points (81.8% liked)

Gardening

6683 readers
152 users here now

Your Ultimate Gardening Guide.

Rules

  1. Be respectful and inclusive.
  2. No harassment, hate speech, or trolling.
  3. Engage in constructive discussions.
  4. Share relevant content.
  5. Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
  6. Use appropriate language and tone.
  7. Report violations.
  8. Foster a continuous learning environment.

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
scarabic@lemmy.world
sabbah@lemmy.world
ManamaKhan@lemmy.world
Spacebar@lemmy.world
Bitswap@lemmy.world
7
Mid Michigan Planting recommendations for these? (lemmy.world)
submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by Aberration13@lemmy.world to c/gardening@lemmy.world
6 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I am slowly working on creating a. Permaculture garden/ food Forest sort of thing and got these large clay drainage pipe sections for free but I'm not sure what would go well planting in them if I'm using them as stationary planters / small raised gardens, looking for perennial edibles preferably, but honestly any and all recommendations are welcome.

I will basically just be filling them with dirt and planting stuff on top. Nothing detailed like filling them with different types of dirt or mulch or stone. Literally just dirt shoveled out of the ground.

Shovel for scale.

top 6 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Wouldn't want to just lay them in the ground and fill them, you'd want to dig a hole and submerge probably half of them, then fill the bottoms with a mix of the ground soil you dug out, and soil amendment meant for raised beds. This will help to deter subterranean pests from getting in.

You may also want to (carefully and with the right bits) drill 1/2" holes spaced around the outside to let more water drain and let microbes and worms in and out. This helps to normalize the inside with the outside soils. Then fill to about 1" from the top.

As for what to plant, I would imagine leafy greens that like cooler conditions would like this sort of setup (the soil inside will stay cool versus a wooden raised bed structure). Spinach, Kale, Cabbages, Mustard Greens, Brussel Sprouts...etc.

[–] Aberration13@lemmy.world 0 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Ik you're trying to be helpful and I am aware my described preference is suboptimal but it kinda feels like you didn't read most of what I said, I am trying to avoid extra work and expense so embedding them in the ground and buying soil amendments are the exact things I am avoiding. Also none of those are perennial to my knowledge? I am looking for perennials that will sit happy in this filled with (good quality) soil from the ground. If there are none that would fit those requirements that's ok by me and would be good info to know as well but I only really picked them up because they were free, if it's extra effort beyond filling and planting and maybe watering a few times to get them started it's probably not worth it to me with the type of garden I am growing.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I'm just giving you the simple facts. Your requirements are like asking how to farm salmon in a bathtub: not going to happen.

I just gave you the most realistic use for what you provided, the simplest part of that knowing that GROUND soil cannot be used for RAISED beds of any kind for a number of different reasons. The most obvious being is that it will compact down to whatever it was once watered a few times, and looking at your picture it's simply compacted clay dirt mix. Dirt is not soil, and it won't grow anything successfully in a container setting.

To successfully grow anything perennial, you need aged, worked, and nutrient rich soil or compost to even get to any sort of successful stage to eat. You can't just lump dirt into something and expect a living plant that needs nutrients to work from that.

[–] Aberration13@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago

That's not the ground I will be getting the soil from, maybe my bad for not mentioning that but I have ground with much higher quality soil nearby in my actual garden. I just haven't moved these there yet since they're heavy.

Do you know any edible perennials that would grow well in a raised pot thing like this?

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip -1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

The type of perennial isn't really going to make a difference.

[–] Aberration13@lemmy.world 0 points 5 days ago

Sure, some like their roots drier or wetter, some have tap roots that might reach all the way down this tube to soil underneath, others are fibrous

Cat mint would grow in this just fine but it's not edible, alternatively I doubt raspberries would like this much though. But my overall range of knowledge is limited. There are hundreds of species with unique growing conditions and while I could probably come up with a few that would grow in these I am asking because maybe there are others I wouldn't think of or don't know about.