Small Space Gardening

Not everyone has a large spacious backyard in which they can plant a huge abundance of crops or flowers and some people don’t even have enough room to plant a few flowers or vegetables but don’t worry that doesn’t mean that you can’t garden or that you'll have to wait until you have more space - all it means is that you get be a little more creative with the plants you choose to plant and how you decide to plant them.

Small space gardening is completely do-able and doesn’t have to be difficult or restricting. Just like with any other garden you start out by planning in advance what kind of plants you want in your garden and where you’ll be putting each plant. With small space gardening it’s important to look at all possible options you have before you get too set on any certain set up for your garden. Do you have lots of empty windowsills that small potted plants could sit on? Do you have a balcony, a porch, or a deck of some kind to work with? What about a fire escape or access to the roof of your building? Are there places you can hang certain plants or put up staking to let plants climb vertically? Can you put flower boxes in certain places and container pots in others? Do you have a neighbor that might let you borrow part of their property to plant on? Look at all the places you have to plant before you decide exactly what it is you’re going to do.

With small space gardening it’s best to look for plants that do well in containers or don’t need a lot of room to grow. Plants that can be trellised to grow upward are also a good idea because they can be wound up columns or beams without taking up much extra room. It’s also important to realize that you’ll probably be growing in smaller quantities so make sure to pick plants that you can get the most out of in small spaces.

Be creative with where you place your pots and plants and find unique spots to put them that might not have otherwise been used. I once had an apartment with a fire escape connected to it - there wasn’t much to it but it did have a flat space of three or four square feet and that ended up be enormously helpful for some of my potted plants that I might not have otherwise been able to grow. Little areas like this are often neglected and unused and can be put to better use with some plants on them.

Do some research to find out what plants do well in smaller spaces that you would be interested in planting and then find ways to use the space you have as efficiently as possible and you’ll certainly be able to have a garden you enjoy no matter what size the space you’re working with is.