Portable Summer Salad Garden Guide

Creating a portable garden means you can still enjoy fresh homegrown delights while you are away from home. Fill yours with your favourite salad ingredients that you can harvest a leaf at a time.

If you have small space, choose a spot close to the kitchen for easy access e.g. on your deck.

Prepare

Choose a container that can be easily transported once it is planted up. Plastic containers with handles are a good option, or get creative and upcycle a wooden crate (beer crate size works well) or bucket - just make sure they have drainage holes in the bottom.

Plant

Suitable options for your salad garden include lettuce, mesclun, radish, spring onions, and a mix of herbs to add a punch to your salads!

Salad garden boxes can be planted densely, so you can fit lots of variety in! Check out some planting suggestions below.

Salad staples

Lettuce, spinach, rocket, spring onion, coriander, parsley, radish.

A punch of flavour

Lettuce, mesclun, dill, basil, coriander, parsley, mint (for your new potatoes!).

Stir fry delights

Bok choy, spinach, spring onion, coriander, chives.

Something different

If you want to try something different, plant a combination of Vietnamese mint, Thai basil and lemongrass.

Planting directions:

1. Fill the base and line the sides of your container with Tui Pea Straw Mulch to help hold on to water, and so you don’t need as much soil so the container isn't too heavy to move around.
2. Fill the container with Tui Vegetable Mix, a high quality natural-based planting mix containing the right blend of nutrients to provide your plants with the best possible start and sustained growth.
3. Dig a hole approximately twice the size of the root ball of your plant.
4. Gently loosen the root ball of the plant.
5. Position the plant in the planting hole. Space plants accordingly in your chosen container.
6. Press soil gently around the base of the plant.
7. Water plants well after planting - add Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic to the watering can to help with transplant shock.

Nourish

Feed your plants and they will reward you. Plants use nutrients from the soil as they grow, so replenishing the nutrients ensures your plants remain healthy over the summer season. Feed your salad garden with Tui NovaTec Vegetable fertiliser, an all purpose controlled release fertiliser suitable for containers.

Keep in mind plants grown in containers dry out quicker than in garden beds so regular watering is needed. It is best to water deeply twice a week, as this will encourage deep roots, rather than a little each day. Water in the morning or evening to avoid water evaporation.

Apply Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic every 2-4 weeks to promote strong root growth and keep your salad garden thriving.

Click here for more top tips for salad greens >