How to Create a Beautiful Garden for Small Spaces (Inside and Out)
You may think you need a large yard to have a beautiful thriving garden, but there’s a lot you can do in smaller spaces, both indoors and outdoors.
Whether you want to grow edible plants for your kitchen or just aesthetically pleasing ones to enjoy, we’ve got you covered with our gardening tips for small spaces.
Gardener Knowhow
The Benefits of Gardening and Plants
Before we dive into gardening advice, let's review why gardening is beneficial.
Research has shown that gardening has many health benefits and can help your body fight disease (Healthline). When you spend time outdoors your body gets vitamin D from the sun, which is essential to many body functions. It can also reduce your risk of certain cancers and other diseases.
Gardening can also promote better sleep, boost your mood, reduce stress, help anxiety, and promote a healthy lifestyle.
Gardening outdoors also helps your local ecosystem by attracting native birds and insects.
Plants are great to incorporate into your interior design indoors because they help purify the air and remove toxins. Making them a beautiful and healthy decision.
Architectural Digest
How to Create a Thriving Garden in a Small Space
Now you know many of the benefits associated with plants and gardening you’re ready to dive in, but don’t know how to get started. You want to make the most of your smaller space and have plants that flourish. Keep reading for our guide below.
Choose Plants Carefully
One of the most important steps, when you’re gardening for a small space, is to choose your plants wisely.
You’ll want to make sure they won't outgrow the space. To identify these plants, the tag will usually say “mature size stays compact” or when in doubt ask the nursery for advice.
Think about selecting upright plants, which work great when space is limited, like small citrus trees which tend to have a thin trunk and then round out at the top.
Or go with dwarf or miniature varieties of some of your favorite plants. Examples include dwarf ferns, miniature shrubs, and trees.
Also, think about selecting plants that will thrive together, not compete with each other. This is particularly important if they’re sharing a planter. Some plants will compete for resources, while others grow together harmoniously. Check out this veggie companion guide for ideas.
Last but not least, grow for the light conditions available. Part of choosing the right plants is examining the space you have available and noting the environment. Some plants thrive in shady spaces while others need plenty of direct sunlight. This also means that you may need to rotate plants seasonally.
Grow Up Not Out
When you’re short on space, maximizing the use of vertical space is a must. It helps draw the eye upward, making the space feel larger. There are many ways you can do this both inside and outdoors.
Apartment Therapy
Take advantage of vertical space with hanging plants, a plant wall, or a plant ladder. Or think about incorporating plants that automatically grow up along a wall, railing, or fence.
Think about incorporating layers and utilizing multiple levels, like with plant stands or stacked pots.
Tips for Small Outdoor Spaces
If you’re planning a garden outside on a patio, balcony, or rooftop terrace there are lots of techniques you can employ to make the most of the space you have.
GoodHouseKeeping
Raised gardening beds work well on patios, and so do potted plants or small trees. Window boxes are nice and compact. They are great for growing herbs or perennial flowers.
GoodHouseKeeping
Incorporate pots and planters on stairs to make use of edges that otherwise might be wasted space.
Gardenista
If you want to grow edible plants think about square foot gardening. Do this by dividing raised gardening beds into a grid. Vegetables then get planted in one or more squares in the grid.
NYTimes
Tips for Small Indoor Gardens
If you don’t have any available outdoor space or like to enjoy plants inside and out, then you can definitely include plants in small indoor spaces as well.
Apartment Therapy
Think about filling a blank or awkward space with potted plants or small trees. Incorporate plants into bookcases and shelves.
Or install a living wall, to really make the most of having greenery indoors, it doubles as a stunning wall feature, while creating a healthy environment.
Architectural Digest