ust because you live in an apartment, or don't have much yard, doesn't mean you have to miss out on the joys of gardening. Creative use of containers and vertical spaces combined with smart plant choices means you can have thriving green areas around your home, no matter its size. Villas and townhouses with small courtyards, rental properties, and apartments with balconies are all prime locations for small gardens where space is at a premium. Use your imagination to indulge your passion and read through the rest of this article for inspiration.
Making the most of the area you have available is critical to creating a small garden you will enjoy - here's how.
Creating the best environment for your plants will require some planning. Regardless of how much space you have, you should know what you are dealing with exactly. Measure up the garden area to get its precise dimensions so you can accurately plan the layout.
Where you plan on placing the garden will also play a critical role in the types of plants you can grow. Does the area get a lot of sunlight, or will the plants spend more time in the shade?
Check the condition of the soil. The soil in Arizona, while great for desert natives, can be poor for other varieties. If you plan on growing herbs, flowers, or vegetables, you will want to improve the soil's condition by adding in compost, earthworm castings, or plant matter.
Use an organic fertilizer like chicken or cow manure. Small gardens using containers have an advantage here, as you can provide whatever type of soil the plants prefer.
Gardening is enjoyable, but it's even more rewarding if you garden with a purpose in mind. You might want attractive flowers to add some color to brighten up a drab corner, have a ready supply of fresh herbs for your favorite recipes, or grow fresh vegetables to supplement your groceries. You will create a much more productive garden if you have a plan and a reason for its creation.
Property boundaries such as fences and railings make it obvious how small the space is. Use plants to strategically to hide the borders, or at least soften their lines. For instance, if there's a small shrub encroaching over your fence from the neighbor’s yard, put a small garden in front of it, and it will look like all the plants belong to the same area and will create the illusion that the area is bigger than it is.
A garden needs to be enjoyed by people, so the design will need to accommodate visitors. At the very least, there should be a pathway through the garden, but a park bench or chairs and a small table will create a comfortable place to soak up nature.
Whether you want to supplement your groceries with fresh produce you grew yourself, flavor your supper with herbs from the balcony, or add some color to drab corners of your home, it's all possible even in the tiniest of spaces. Here are just a few ideas you can use to get the creative juices flowing.
If you've got some old furniture you plan to discard, consider using it for a tiny, tiered garden instead. Use the old dresser for small flowering plants, herbs, or succulents. The bottom drawer is pulled out further than the one above it to create a step for each level.
You probably think this is a great idea and wish you had an old dresser you could use, but don't have one available. Try secondhand stores, yard sales, or flea markets, which often have old furniture available for just a few dollars.
Don't fill each drawer up with soil. Instead, keep each plant in its pot and use bricks or wood blocks to prop them up to about the same height. Drill holes in the drawers so water won’t sit and rot the wood.
Succulents are a good choice for this type of tiny garden, as they have minimal water requirements, and do well in the Arizona climate, regardless of the time of the year. You can set the dresser up anywhere, so you can easily take advantage of cooler areas around your home if you wanted to use this idea for small flowering plants that don't handle excessive sun or hot temperatures. It's also perfect for a handy herb garden on the balcony.
When space is at a premium, and you want more plants than you can fit in a horizontal garden, consider going upwards. The great thing about vertical gardens is that you can enjoy a sizeable harvest if you have a spare wall available. You won't have to worry about weeds and critters with a vertical garden, or the quality of the soil because you will be mixing it yourself.
You may have seen examples of vertical gardens scaling high-rises in major cities, but they are also an excellent option for small-scale gardening. Here are a few ways to use vertical gardening in a small space.
A shoe organizer is a fantastic accessory for a vertical garden. You can use this idea to grow various plants, but it's especially useful to use as an organic herb dispensary. You will need to pay attention to how much sun is available for the plants, and that the area has protection from the rain. Heavy downpours can flood the pockets and wash the soil and compost away. Check out this excellent tutorial on creating a shoe organizer vertical garden
[*in-text link: https://www.instructables.com/VERTICAL-VEGETABLES-quotGrow-upquot-in-a-smal/]
You can use old guttering to grow a bountiful harvest, add a dash of vibrant color around your deck or patio, or grow your favorite succulents. As with the shoe organizer, you need to be mindful that the area you hang your gutters will get at least 4 or 5 hours of sunlight each day. Arizona receives more than its fair share of warm days, so you will want to use heat-tolerant varieties for the summer months.
Here's another great tutorial for building your vertical garden using hanging gutters. If you have a spare wall, you could also mount a series of gutters to that with brackets. Just make sure you leave enough space between them, so the plants receive an adequate amount of sunlight and don’t forget the drainage holes.
[* https://www.goodshomedesign.com/hanging-gutter-gardenhow-hanging-gutter-garden/]
Some people have concerns about chemicals leaching from the gutter materials into the plants. If you are growing edible plants, you will want to research what the gutter is made from to ensure that it is food safe or use a liner between the soil and the gutter.
When the balcony is all you have, stackable, tiered garden planters are an efficient use of space. Create your own using terracotta pots, with the largest pot at the bottom, and working your way up to the smallest at the top.
Plastic planters will work as well, but terracotta pots are the sturdier option if your garden will be a semi-permanent fixture. If you need something lightweight that you can move around consider these garden towers. [in-text link: *https://www.amazon.com/s?k=garden+tower&ref=nb_sb_noss_1]
If you don't want to tear up what lawn you have, or you can't because you're renting, a kiddie-pool garden may be just the thing. A kiddie-pool garden is one of the most straightforward ideas for small gardening spaces.
Choose your location, put the pool down, and fill it with soil to get started. If you want to blend it with the landscape a little more, try lining it with stones or bricks.
When the season changes, you can remove the pool, move it to a new location, or quickly swap out the plants for varieties more suited to the climate.
Window boxes save space and look great by adding some color to your view. You can purchase window boxes ready-made or make your own if you're handy. Have one outside your kitchen window with tasty herbs and your favorite succulents hanging just outside your other windows.
If you have a pathway around your property and have some unused ground between the wall and the path, you can use the space to grow an abundance of flowers, vegetables, cacti, or succulents. Use narrow planters to line the path if you aren't able to dig up the area. You will want to make sure the garden is on a wall that won't shade the plants too much.
What do you do when you don't have a balcony or even a tiny backyard, but still want to garden? You may use hydroponics to satisfy your green thumb and grow plants inside with artificial lighting.
Hydroponics is all about growing plants without soil. You can use the system for just about any type of plant, but you might have to forget about growing trees and shrubs.
It's not the cheapest way to garden, but it's certainly affordable when you're keeping it small. Imagine growing your favorite herbs, lettuce, or spinach, right inside your kitchen, or having beautiful flowers growing along a wall of your lounge room? It's all possible with the right hydroponics system. Plus, you don't have to worry about weeds or concern yourself too much with what the weather is doing outside.
References:
[1] https://themicrogardener.com/garden-design-ideas-small-spaces/
[2] https://summerwindsnursery.com/blog-az/prepare-your-soil-for-fall-planting
[3] https://www.wikihow.com/Garden-in-a-Small-Space
[4] https://www.bhg.com/gardening/design/projects/how-to-build-a-hydroponic-garden/
[5]https://web.archive.org/web/20160416235537/http://www.houselogic.com:80/photos/gardens/container-gardening-ideas/slide/small-space-splendor/#made-in-your-shade
