h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Any veggies I want I'll have to grow in pots. The only patch of garden that gets enough sun has been invaded by next door's lilac roots. Not good.

But you can move pots around after they start - the lazy gardener's solution to planning!

Have you tried sinking the pots in the ground? This keeps the soil a bit cooler in the heat of summer and you don't have to water as often - which means you need less fertilizer. Of course, you can't rearrange them all the time that way.

There's always a way to grow vegetables if you really want to. Good for you!

I saw a great above ground garden years ago and have wangted to reproduce it ever since. It was built out of treated lumber and was about 20 feet long and 10 feet wide and had four terraces on each side and then a shared level on top. And.....by using square foot planting techniques, it held enough vegetables for an entire family. I would have to make shorter lengths if I did it ...I'm short and need things on a smaller scale than tall folks. But it was terrific. Unfortunately, my husband didn't agree. He doesn't even like raised beds.

I like the idea of raised beds. I wonder if that would work with the lilac roots or if they'd just grow up into it.

This year's pots, all with runner beans, were on concrete but I was thinking of putting them where the lilac roots are. I might half bury them, because being raised helps with slug control. A major problem .

I put stones I've collected from the beach on top of the earth in the pots to help keep them cooler. I think that worked. They're nice smooth, mostly granite ones.