Gardening Tips

Do you have a green thumb but limited outdoor space? No worries. There are thousands of alternatives. Well, not that many, but at least five or so. Don’t let lack of space deprive you of the opportunity to enjoy fresh strawberries, veggies and herbs from your garden. No matter your place’s size, you can find a way to grow plants. Here are a few tips to help you out.

Use your space wisely. If you have a small garden, you’ll have to grow only the plants you need the most. List the veggies and fruits you and your family like indulging in, and limit your produce to the most essential. Plant tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, onions and potatoes. Add herbs if you have more space. If there are many more plants you want to grow, then you should be more creative. Check out the other tips.

Spread out of the garden. Why limit your green thumb to the garden? Take advantage of the nearby areas as well. For example, use pots to grow a variety of plants. That’s called container gardening, and it allows apartment dwellers to grow plants without a garden. The best container gardening plants are some vegetables and citrus fruits such as oranges, limes and lemons. They love sunlight, and they can be placed anywhere outdoors during summer.

Here are some vegetables that perform well in pots: tomatoes, squash, potatoes, peas, onions, radishes, peppers, lettuce, eggplant, cucumber, beans, beet, carrots, etc. But what do you do if there is no garden at all? Keep reading. There is more.

Think vertically. Yet, if your patio is small and your space is limited, think about adding shelves to make the most out of your space. Add potted plants that you can’t grow in your garden because your space is limited.

You can use the exterior walls of your home. Grow Australian native monstera, Wedding Vine, Dracaena, Limelight bower wattle, Sword Fern, Croton and others. Some of them require minimum care.

Use baskets. If you don’t have any outdoor space, you should take advantage of your window sills. Make window boxes or use small baskets to grow your veggies and fruits. Watch them grow all season long and utilise them for your favourite dishes. The advantage of increasing produce by the window is that it will receive lots of sunlight daily.

Additional tips. If you grow veggies, herbs or fruits in containers, there are a few other things to remember. First things first, you need to fertilise more. As your produce won’t have access to the nutrient-rich soil available for ground plants, you must spend more time fertilising. You will also want to select some high-quality soil.

Additionally, when growing in containers, think dwarf varieties, for example, squash, peppers, and eggplant. Rather than planting vine tomatoes, opt for cherry tomatoes. You’ll see how much space it saves. At the same time, you will enjoy an entire season’s worth of fresh and clean produce. And the last thing to keep in mind is your location. Choose an area that receives at least six hours of sunlight daily. Don’t limit yourself to the backyard. Think balcony, deck, patio, windowsills, and so on.

The benefits of container gardening are many. Indeed, the most significant advantage is that it is easy to maintain.

I wish you a happy planting.

GardenersMates Peckham contributes to the article.