My Yard Is Too Small For A Real Garden

Is it now? As yards become smaller and smaller in many areas, not enough gardening space is becoming a much more common complaint. Many plants need less soil space than you think to grow well. As long as the roots have plenty of room, and the plantings can be situated so the lighting that they require to thrive is available, plants are usually somewhat flexible about their homes. I have even seen some gardeners who just slit a bag of soil they bought at a gardening center, plant the seeds, and water through the opening in the bag after adding drain holes. These bags can be stacked and arranged to save space and can be moved easily when required. Simplicity at its best.

Use your imagination and think of the many ways you might get a trailing type of plant to grow up instead of out. How might you stack and arrange the containers to conserve space and best complement your yard or patio?

By making a lattice framework to keep the plants from making direct contact you can mount plant pots all the way up a wall of a building and grow on several levels. How about making a face with a few well-placed planting containers and vines along the sides for long hair? You can get whimsical or be serious with your designs. How about using plants for containers like dried gourds, etc? A more natural container goes good with a rustic style wall. Arched trellises are good ways to save space. They can have hanging baskets, as well as plants trained to grow up over the top, filling every square inch with greenery. Two large sized landscaping posts with wire strung between them can make a wall of beauty with a small footprint inexpensively. I’ve seen sections of metal porch railing painted brightly so it sets off the colors of plants as it supports them. Some use the netting used to protect fruit trees from birds for support of lighter types of greenery. I can see the rubber truck bed netting being used for a rugged, techy look. You can really get so artistic.

Many like to use various unique containers for their gardening plots. Retaining wall blocks that are made to hold plantings can make that space do double duty. Scraps from a tree trimming operation can make great wood components for your space. Natural seashells and even abandoned bird nests are popular and eye catching ways to make a customized statement from an otherwise dull area. Benefits of container gardens include their portability and flexibility. You can move spent plants out and change plantings around as the seasons change. Nearby buildings can shelter the dainty ones. Look around and see how many items you could use to nurture plants. The more unexpected the better. Some plumbing fixtures may not please the neighbors however.

Raised bed gardening and square foot gardening allow more plants in a given area due to the way the soil is contained and plantings are arranged. Wasted space like many wide paths through the greenery, and using only a single level of growing area is eliminated. The growing spaces are built upward, as well as outward. It is kind of like a three dimensional vertical gardening technique. Many organic gardeners like these sorts of techniques because it gives them more control. Pests are easily eliminated because of the more carefully contained soil areas. The building materials used to make the garden structures can be made from almost any substance strong enough to contain the weight of the soil and water that will be used. Look at your petite yard in a new way and think about how many plants you can fit into it now!

By Kim Regan

About the Author

For more gardening and landscaping resources visit Kim at: www.gardeningresults.com/blog

Stacked Planters

Place a smaller planter on top of a larger planter. Now you can have two sets of cascading flowers with one right above the other. Place a tall bloomer in the middle of the top planter to add a third level of viewing.

Steps

Place a set of wooden steps against a wall and stack your planters. Put your tallest flowers on top so they do not block your view of the lower steps. Include flowers whose blossoms will drape down to the step below to cover any open space.

Coat Rack

If you have a floor coat rack, you can hang plants in wire baskets all around on the hooks. Create a circle of flowers hanging above planters directly below that help anchor the legs of the coat rack.

Bag Planters

Bag planters are tall, heavy-duty plastic bags with multiple three-inch holes cut down the front to allow the insertion of plants. Each bag is 18 to 24 inches long and are designed to be hung from nails or hooks. Three of them placed one above the other can give you a floor to ceiling column of blossoms.

Trellis In a Planter

Place a trellis inside a planter. Grow flowering vines above the flowers of the planter below. If you do not have a trellis, make your own using packaging string. Tie pieces of string from the floor or railing to a nail in the ceiling.

Now that you have seen these suggestions, be creative and think of your own versions of vertical gardening. Anything that can hold soil is a possibility. Think outside the box and imagine everyday items like a plastic wagon or an umbrella stand with flowers tumbling down the sides. Your space may be limited, but your gardening options are not.