7 Gardening Ideas for Small Spaces

These 7 Gardening Ideas for Small Spaces are ideal for people living in apartments, condos, or who have limited outdoor space for a garden plot.

It’s easy to harvest a ton of delicious vegetables from a small garden when you use these 7 Gardening Ideas for Small Spaces. As you go through these top gardening tips, consider how much time, money, and effort you have to put into this project. There are some great ideas that work perfectly for confined spaces and what I like to call ‘lazy gardeners.’ There are other ideas that will take more money and a bit more attention on a regular basis. Consider them all to figure out what will work best for you and your gardening needs.

7 Gardening Ideas for Small Spaces

Hanging Baskets- One of my favorite gardening ideas for small spaces is to utilize hanging baskets. They are created uniquely for housing plants and can work indoors and outdoors. They are ideal for use when you have a porch with a roof. This gives you plenty of space to hang your basket garden. Many vegetables and flowers grow easily in shallow soil that is common with a hanging basket.

Utilize this type of garden for things like squash, zucchini, and beans that have vines that spread out and over the edges of the basket. You can also use these for fresh herbs, lettuce, garlic, and onions. They are ideal for creating a simple herb garden or salad garden on your porch or hanging near a glass door in your kitchen or dining room.

Tiered Gardens- There are many small space gardens that are created by using tiered planters. These often allow you to stack multiple plants on top of each other to use less space but still give each plant the room it needs to grow. You can create a tiered garden by utilizing specially designed pots and planters, or building our own design.

You can also accomplish a tiered garden in a small space by planting your vegetables or flowers by height. Taller items go in the back, with the shortest in the front. This allows you to mix multiple varieties in a small space while still giving each the room that they need to grow and flourish.

Trellis Gardens- If you have a small space, one of the best gardening ideas I have seen is to create a trellis garden. A trellis can be placed against any wall. Planting things like tomatoes, beans, and other plants with vines makes it easy to grow against the wall in a narrow space. The vines can be trained to go upwards instead of out, and you’ll be able to keep a small garden in a limited amount of space with ease.

Consider adding a piece of trellis around porch steps, sides of your porch, or even on the sides of your home. You can use even less than a foot of exterior space to grow vegetables that are on vines trailing up the trellis. A trellis is also a great place to secure other small containers for individual herbs, pepper plants, and similar items that need less space but don’t have vines to grow up the trellis with.

Raised Bed Gardens- The ultimate garden idea for small spaces is the raised bed garden. It allows you to create small boxes that you can use in restricted space areas. They are especially nice for use on things like balconies of apartments, or small yards of town homes. In fact, they are one of the best gardening ideas for making the most of a small space. You can utilize a raised bed garden like you would a tiered garden by building 2-3 and sliding them under each other. They are usually best for plants that need only shallow soil.

Window Planters- Planting your herb garden in a window planter is a rather common idea, but there is much more you can do with that window planter. They are often ideal for growing lettuce, spinach, arugula, kale, onions, and garlic. You can even utilize a window planter for things like pepper plants and some small tomato plants. Depending on the space in your window, you may even want to add a hanging basket in your window sill. They are especially handy and useful where a window seat is placed in your home.

Container Gardens- Container gardens are great for small spaces since you can adjust the size and placement so easily. Using deep containers for plants that need more soil is ideal. Small, shallow window boxes or totes can be used for things like herbs and lettuce.

Container gardens can be created from traditional items like Terra Cotta pots, or they can be made with upcycled containers like milk cartons, shoes, storage totes, and in some cases, even cardboard boxes. The container you choose really depends on your need, but it is easy to add some versatility and upcycle what you have on had without paying more out of pocket when you build a container garden.

Integrated Gardens- For those who are trying to have a great vegetable garden in a small space, consider integrating with your flower beds. Instead of having a space that is devoted just to vegetables or flowers, you can combine the two for a smaller garden that is perfect for your needs. Planting bulbs in specific areas that grow annually is an easy way to have a beautiful flower landscape while your vegetables are just budding each Spring.

If you are looking for good gardening ideas for utilizing a small space to build your garden, these are some of my favorite options. When building a small garden, ask your friends for their best gardening tips. Spend time testing out different methods and most of all have fun creating something that is fun, useful, and easy for you to maintain.