Everyone knows the old adage: you can lead a horse to the trough, and if it isn’t drinking, make it a planter.
Was just a joke.
But if you go for one of the hottest trends in the country, you can make your own jokes about an old caballo.
In the shop, these containers have names such as storage tank, feeding trough, water trough and, if I choose, horse trough.
If you search for trough gardeners online, you will find this trend is flaring up across the country. When I was younger I had a nice Grumman canoe. I know Grumman was a big part of the aerospace and shipbuilding industries, and if they’re still up, I’d tell them: keep some dazzling troughs for all of us gardeners. On the street it is said that these are always difficult to find.
First, you know that there is a trough that you can grow almost anything you want to grow. You could have an exotic water feature, flower garden, or several for a luxurious raised bed vegetable garden. The 36 inch high containers are ideal for those who use wheelchairs and motorized aids or who have trouble bending over. In other words, these can become vegetable or flower gardens for all abilities.
You can find lots of instructions on how to set it up. Without denigrating any of the suggestions, I’m just telling you how it’s done in my town by my son James. The oldest troughs in Columbus, Georgia are around 10 years old and retain their integrity. After all, it is galvanized steel.
These were originally attached to wooden piano trolleys with wheels or castors. These worsened over time and the containers are now moved with muscle power when necessary. Some of the new containers at other locations have wheels; others don’t.
A third of the containers are filled with aged or even composted pine bark, the rest is made of potting soil. The containers have drain plug holes that are similar to what you might see on an ice box.
These containers serve a dual purpose and act as a barrier to prevent a vehicle from entering. However, you will see on the Internet that they have become works of art by many gardeners in the domestic situation.
In Columbus, a cool planting season is planned from autumn to April and a redesign of the warm season from late April to early October. In a commercial setting, they are first planted with a controlled release fertilizer and then watered as needed from a 250 gallon tank with dilute water soluble fertilizer over the seasons.
If you’re looking for a new adventure in gardening, you might just want to consider a trough. You may find that you have an award-winning green thumb.
Norman Winter is a gardener, garden spokesperson and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden”. Follow him on Facebook: @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy.
