Creative Small Space Gardening

Micro-gardening means everyone, even those living in a small apartment on the thirtieth floor, can enjoy the triumphs of landscaping or garden and raising their own plants for food, blossom, or foliage. Gardening in containers is particularly suited to gardeners with restricted movement who need easy access to their garden. It is the ultimate answer for soils deficient in necessary minerals or contaminated by chemicals. Gardening in small to mid-size containers can be a practical approach to growing crops for people in rental accommodation. Garden fresh herbs immediately to hand are a boon for cooks of all cultures and levels of experience.

Container-grown plants will flourish wherever they can have access to the sun. A doorstep is a garden a balcony is an advantage, a patio a luxury. The container can itself be an object of beauty a glazed ceramic pot, a hanging basket, a small cedar or redwood chest, although it needs to be chosen with practicalities in mind.

Containers should not be too small. At the other end of the scale, they should not be so large that the gardener cannot handle them safely. Plastic containers will break down in sunlight over time. Ceramic pots are a popular choice, but unglazed pots lose water very quickly, while glazed ceramic pots need to have drainage holes. Wooden containers rot, although hardwoods like cedar and redwood last a long time. You can also purchase plant terrariums glass enclosures that retain moisture, and other items such as mobile trellises or poles from which to hang containers.

You can buy special growing medium for container growing from some nurseries and landscaping companies. If it does not already contain them, you can add crystals that help the medium to retain water. You may find specific formulations for different sorts of plants, e.g. roses, tomatoes or orchids.
   
Give your container plants as much sun as possible. Leafy plants like lettuce can tolerate shade conditions better than, for example, root crops. If you live on the north side of a building and sun does not fall directly on your “garden”, you may do best to invest in shade-loving plants, of which there is a wide variety. Applications of liquid fertilizers or fertilizers absorbed through the leaves are recommended.

Vegetables suitable for container gardening include dwarf beans, beets, Chinese cabbage, carrot, eggplant, lettuce (many varieties), pepper, radish and tomatoes. Potatoes can be grown in ‘towers’ heavy duty polythene bags. Roll down the sides and put the seed potatoes on a bed of four or five inches of compost. Cover with an inch or two more compost. As the green tops of the potatoes grow, start to roll the sides up and add more compost. Keep going until the bag is full. When the potato tops die back you will have a bag full (more or less) of potatoes.

Herbs and salad plants are also excellent subjects for growing in containers. Basil, chives, marjoram, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme all do well in pots, and can fill a dwelling with delicious aromas. Thyme, prostrate rosemary and marjoram can also be grown in hanging baskets.

Some fruit can also be grown in containers. Citrus, which are relatively slow growers, make good subjects if you have room for really large containers. Strawberries and the various currants can be grown without difficulty; and fruiting canes such as raspberries and thornless blackberries can also thrive.


Among the many annual landscaping plants that do well in containers are alyssum, coleus, impatiens, marigolds, pansies, salvia and zinnias. Petunias tumble down the sides of hanging pots, making a wonderful display. Spring bulbs daffodils, hyacinths, jonquils, tulips and more provide a vivid promise of winter’s end, especially as, being in containers, they can be forced into early bloom. For the artistically inclined there is the whole world of bonsai gardening to explore.

The possibilities for growing beautiful plants are not infinite it just seems as though they are. You don’t need to go out into the garden: the garden can come in to be with you.

Tags: small space gardens | small space gardens | container gardens | container gardens | rooftop gardening | rooftop gardening | balcony gardening | balcony gardening | small gardens | small gardens

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