Welcome to the growing number of gardeners who find gardening in wooden boxes very rewarding. I'm not sure if the Search engine is working, but there are numerous previous posts on this subject. If not, then just ask away. You probably will be getting many, many suggestions for the best way to treat your particular soil/gardening problems, and the nice folks in these forums can be very helpful. (just ask me how I know). Anyway, my solution was to have 9 cedar boxes to grow veggies in - (I wish they were all the same size now) - but the best dimensions seem to be 3 ft across by 6 to 9 ft. long. This is so one can reach across to pull weeds, plant, etc., and also have room to maneuver wheelbarrows or mowers around. They are without bottoms - but I nailed a piece of galvanized hardware cloth on the bottom to prevent burrowing voles, etc. One nice thing, they can be placed directly over existing grasses - so no need to dig below, any grass will be killed off from lack of sunlight. Soil - whether you grow in boxes or directly in the ground, a good porous soil is necessary. I recommended the box method above, if your soil is clay, hardpan, cement, sand, etc. Plants like compost, manure, peat moss, vermiculite, etc. to keep them happy. Many folks make their own soil - visit the Soil Forum for good ideas there. While not always easy to find material in the beginning, it can save a bundle if you make your own (leaves/grass/shredding). Otherwise, top soil can be had - check your landfills - they sometimes have free mulch, etc. If you intend to work your own soil - then adding compost or composted manure would also be beneficial, also deep digging if possible - to break up the existing hard soil clay/cement/hardpan/etc. Many older gardeners prefer the alternative box gardening to avoid this. You mention keeping watering to a minimum - this would also be ideal for that as well. Tomatoes and peppers love heat to ripen - so their biggest need in summer is to keep them watered. This is only a starter for ideas. But feel free to tune in again, whenever you have specific questions. The folks in these forums are only too happy to pass along their helpful ideas. Just my 2 c's. Bejay

Thanks for the feedback. I'm hearing from everyone that this isn't the ideal garden situation because of sunlight and the close proximity to the trees. Next year, we may relocate the garden to an area away from the trees. I'm not sure if that area gets more sunlight, I will need to evaluate that a little closer. The current spot does get quite a bit of sunlight though - the sun rises to the back right of the garden, and as it gets to the top of the sky its towards the right of the garden. I'd say it gets sun from 12-1 until about 7PM at least. At 6:30 today it was still getting direct sunlight. I have an updated picture. One tomato plant (the one behind the first row one) is slowly dying...although the first one is still growing strong. Jalapeno, squash, and cucumbers are still producing quite well. I'm keeping the jalapeno's on the plant until I notice cracking/coloring to test out the different stages and flavors. About how long until you start to notice the change in color? And we have some bell peppers starting to grow too...probably about 4 that are ping pong ball size. Here's a picture of our cucumber plant that is starting to get some yellow leaves...any idea what may be causing this? Its only started in the past week or so, but I think we need to get it figured out soon! So far, we had about 10 cucumbers, 10 squash, 5-6 tomatoes, and 3 jalapenos (although about 20 are currently growing). Happy gardening!

Is this the Yates Spray you're using? http://www.yates.com.au/products/disease-control/concentrates/yates-rose-shield-insect-disease-spray/ If so, it says the fungicide is systemic, meaning it absorbs into the plant and incorporates into the sap to provide the protection for two weeks. Spraying more frequently than that can damage foliage and over expose you, your pets (if any) and anyone else coming in contact with the chemicals. If your roses continue mildewing after the systemics have reached their "sap levels", you have other issues at work. Water stressed plants can also experience diseases because of the stress. You can force them to mildew even when the conditions aren't proper for the disease by keeping them too dry. Not necessarily that you aren't watering enough, but the reflected, radiated heat from surrounding surfaces "cook" the water out of the plants. Perhaps the pots are over heating from the air temperature, direct sun shining on them or the radiated/reflected heat from walls or the patio floor? Growing other plants in the pots with them also increase the competition for water in those soil balls. The traditional conditions favoring mildew are cool and damp. If your roses are mildewing when it's either hot and humid or hot and dry (and nights aren't cool and damp), that sounds like water stress induced mildew to me. Are the roses mildewing worst closest to either direct sun exposure on their pots, or closest to the hottest walls where the sun shines most directly, for the longest period of the day? If they are, that also helps point the finger toward water stress induced mildew. Might these also have the ground cover growing vigorously in their pots? That ground cover is using water the rose seems to need to help prevent the mildew. Yes, some roses are much more susceptible to mildew than others. Your local rose garden center/nursery should be able to point you toward those varieties. You can also find out that kind of information about many roses on Help Me Find-Roses. You can make a list of what's available locally, then check Help Me Find to see if there are statements about their disease resistance on the site. But if you've used your systemic spray properly for several weeks or longer and these are still mildewing, the other possibilities I've offered could easily account for why the problem isn't clearing up. You may want to take a look at their placement on the balcony to see if by moving them around, you might alleviate some of the greater heat these might be experiencing. You may also want to consider removing the ground cover and any other companion plants from the pots of the roses which continue mildewing. You might also need to increase the size of the pots they grow in. If they're too small, the plant will consume all the water they can hold, or it might cook out too quickly, leaving the plant "thirsty", inducing it to mildew. Once thing is certain, I would not suggest using the Yates more frequently than the label instructs. You should have enough of it in the plant sap after several applications and a few weeks for it to begin working. It won't remove the mildew on older foliage which already show symptoms, but it should prevent the new foliage from mildewing as long as it is used properly. I hope it helps. Kim Here is a link that might be useful: Help Me Find - Roses

I agree. Many in my area wait for the tulips to bloom and then plant annuals on top. The bulbs remain in place. They aren't moved or disturbed so they can come back year after year. The annuals "on top" can bloom and grow, too. The bigger question is where you want perennials. It would be better to remove the tulip bulbs in the places you want perennials. At least those tulips came up before you planted out your perennials. There's always Plan A, Plan B and so on! Any bulbs you don't want be sure and trade or give away. I'd hate to see any discarded.