Easy Gardening Tips for Small Spaces and Balconies

Setting up a garden does not require having a backyard or an expansive flower bed. You can hone your gardening skills even if you live in a city apartment or have a small living area. Balconies, patios, windowsills, and even tiny corners indoors are good places to grow plants. Whether you want to add color to your space or grow fresh produce, there are many ways to make plants a part of your life in limited spaces.

How Gardening in Small Spaces Can Be Rewarding?

Gardening allows you to transform a compact space into a little oasis of your own, a corner where you can enjoy and relax. This is because a garden, even if it’s small, can bring a lot of positivity with blooming flowers that naturally attract butterflies and birds. Besides, tending to plants is a creative hobby that is quite flexible for everyone, without being too complicated. It’s something that can work wonders for your mental well-being.

Small Space Gardening Tips

Choose the Right Spot

The first thing to do is assess the space you have. Check if there’s enough sunlight to allow the plants to grow and see that there’s enough protection from strong winds. Smaller and delicate plants may get damaged if placed in areas with high wind.

Balconies, windowsills, indoor corners, patios, and entryways are suitable spots to start with. Balconies with western or southern sun exposure get the most sunlight and are great spaces for most vegetables as well as flowering plants. Meanwhile, windowsills are suitable for small decorative plants and herbs. Pots and raised planters can be placed in patios and entryways. Shaded areas like indoor corners are good for low-light plants like ferns and leafy greens.

Pick Versatile Containers

Garden containers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so pick the right ones to make planting easier and keep your limited space tidy and organized. For starters, you can buy window boxes or rail planters and place them along balcony railings. Both are perfect for planting small flowers and herbs. You can also repurpose old mugs, buckets, or wooden crates to make unique containers and pots for your plants.

Get Plants for Small Spaces

Certain plants can easily thrive even in smaller spaces. From herbs to flowering plants, you have many varieties to choose from. You can mix up colors, textures, and plant types to create a lively garden.

• Fresh produce: With herbs and leafy greens in your garden, you always have freshly harvested produce for your meals. Cherry tomatoes, peppers, spinach, lettuce, arugula, and strawberries grow quite well in small gardens, if the conditions are right. You can also plant basil, mint, chives, parsley, and rosemary, which easily thrive in pots.
• Flowers: Petunias are a good choice for a colorful garden in a small space. Along with these, you can plant marigolds, which repel pests and last quite long. Lavender and geraniums can also add a nice splash of color and fragrance to your space.

If there are a few shaded spots around, you can place ferns, hostas, and impatiens, which do not need much sunlight.

Make Vertical and Hanging Gardens

When you have limited square footage for your garden, it can be a good idea to go vertical. Hanging and vertical gardens not just save space but also look visually pleasing. To create a vertical garden, you can use wall-mounted pockets, trellises, and stackable shelves. Hanging baskets are also a good idea. Besides saving precious floor space, these baskets will add color to your mini garden. You can place them in tight corners along walls to make maximum use of the available area.

Picking the right plants is important for a vertical or hanging garden. Trailing plants like pothos and ivy have a cascading effect of greenery. Along with these, you can have a little herb section with small pots placed at eye level.

Pro tip: Build a layered look by mixing herbs, flowers, and trailing plants.

Decorate the Space

Transform your garden into a cozy space for reading, relaxation, or simply enjoying a cup of tea. You can do this by using colorful pots and chairs with cushions. Wind chimes, small garden statues, and wooden wall hangings can also be added. If you would like to invite birds to your garden, place bird feeders and birdhouses. For that extra sparkle after sunset, string a few solar lights and fairy lights along railings or across the walls. All of this can make your garden a cozy, senior-friendly space.

Garden Maintenance Tips

Small space gardening is quite simple. By following a few steps, you can help your plants and flowers thrive.

• Water your plants regularly. Early mornings and evenings are the best times for this. For potted plants, check the soil moisture with your finger and water them accordingly to prevent over-watering as well as dehydration.
• Use light fertilizers once every month.
• Prune and pinch to remove old blooms and keep herbs bushy.
• Watch out for pests and protect your plants using gentle and natural sprays, such as diluted soap.