What is a bag garden?

QUESTION: What is a bag garden? Is it literally growing vegetables in a bag? What kind of bag? -Jacob R.

ANSWER: There are multiple ways to grow a bag garden. To begin, you must have a bag. This can mean that you either purchase a bag of soil or you purchase a linen, burlap, or heavy plastic sack. These are available at most major retailers.

Some of the large woven bags can hold up to 50-gallons, have handles to make moving your garden easier, and ensure proper airflow.

Like anything, it’s up to your resources and preferences to decide which type of bag works best for your garden plan. Believe it or not, you can actually just buy a bag of container gardening soil or potting soil and rip the top of the bag open and plant in it and that works too!

From there, you’ll fill your purchased bag with whatever type of soil or compost you desire. If you’re looking for ease, purchasing a pre-filled bag of soil is the way to go. If you’re more interested in having control over the contents of the bag, purchasing a bag and filling it yourself might be your best method.

After your bag of soil is ready, you’ll either stand it vertically and leave the top open to plant inside or lay the bag horizontally, poke holes in the bag, and sow seeds or plants this way.

When your plants are in place, you water them, pull any necessary weeds, and allow the plants to grow.

The benefits of this style of gardening are the bag provides a protective layer from pests and weeds. Plus, it’s a great way to start an inground garden.

As you lay the bags of dirt over the sod, they kill the grass. At the end of the season, the grass beneath the garden is gone, and you can empty the bags of the quality soil right onto the ground to begin amending your future garden plot.

The negatives to this style of gardening are you must water the bags daily as there isn’t enough soil to retain much moisture for prolonged periods. Plus, purchasing new bags of soil each year can become expensive.

Even if you fill reusable bags, many people opt for using plastic bags which raises environmental concerns.

Should you choose this style of gardening, you can grow a variety of crops such as:

·       Garlic

·       Leafy greens

·       Tomatoes

·       Root vegetables, assuming the bag is used vertically and is deep enough

If you’re in the market for a new type of gardening, don’t overlook the bag garden. It works well in small growing spaces and has allowed people in difficult environments to grow their own food supply.

Should you decide this type of gardening is right for you, hopefully you can utilize these tips to make the right decisions for your circumstances.

More About Gardening in Containers

https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C787&title=Gardening%20in%20Containers

https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/growing-vegetables-containers/

https://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/garden-help/container-gardening/