How to Garden When You Have No/Small Yard
Have you wanted to have some fresh veggies but don’t have the gardening space? Do you live in the big city and in an apartment? Do you live in the country but on a small amount of land or just have ground that is not able to support a garden? Welcome to my world!
Everyone has tried to have a plant. Whether it is a house plant or a vegetable, we have all tried one plant or another. When we lived in our old house, we had a HUGE yard and a field beside the house that we made a very large garden. When we moved to our house we live in now, we dropped from a huge garden area to ground that is shale and stone.
I love having a garden. Even if I have no yard, I will have some sort of vegetable growing. While we have some soil that is capable of growing plants, I have shrubs there and my herb garden. This leaves you in a bit of a sad state. Where am I going to plant my veggies?
Have You Tried Gardening in Pots
YEs, you saw that correctly. I am trying for the first-time planting all of my veggies in pots. People do it all the time. I recommend finding some cheap pots to begin with if you are not sure if this is the correct route for you, but if you are experienced with plants and gardens already, gardening in pots is not that much different.
Above are seeds I started in a mini greenhouse starter kit you can get at just about any store. It comes with a tray, dome and peat pot disks that you just add water to. Once you add water and place the seeds in the swollen disks, cover and sit in a warm spot. In a few days, you will start to see them growing up out of the dirt. Uncover them and let them grow a little more before repotting.
Once they are a decent size, upgrade them to a larger pot that they will continue to grow and thrive in. I have discovered these stackable triple pots from the dollar tree. They stack on each other and make even small spaces seem like giant spaces.
If you do not have a giant window for gardening in front of like me (sliding glass dorr we hardly use), small windows will work too. You can also do your pot gardening on a front stoop, balcony, or back stoop.
Other Options For Gardening
If you are lucky and have a larger deck/porch, or a small but usable yard, you can invest in a small greenhouse. We are in the process of building a more permanent greenhouse, but to help for now, we have gotten this smaller version. You can find them at hardware stores or online. The above is a 5×5 plastic covered greenhouse. It comes with shelves and small Velcro close windows. The planting season where we live has not arrived yet, so I have moved some of the hardier baby plants out to this greenhouse, while keeping my more sensitive plants inside by the door.
I have placed this greenhouse where it gets a majority of the sun for most of the day. I have to admit, it is kind of nice being able to just walk out and go check on the plants right on my deck.
Gardening Trees/Shrubs
While gardening in pots is excellent for veggies and herbs, what about trees and shrubs like blueberries or lemons? I have a small amount of room as a flower bed around my porch that I have inherited (was here when we bought the house) a blueberry bush. While this is the best option, I understand the fact that some, if not most, people do not have this option.
You can plant trees and bushes/shrubs in pots! Make sure that you are prepared to get a pot for all stages of growth. I would recommend only doing bushes in a pot, especially if you have to keep the plant inside your home.
Gardening trees in pots can get heavy. Most fruit bearing trees grow very large to be able to produce large amounts of fruit to survive. I would really recommend not trying to plant large fruit bearing trees inside. They like the outdoors. Keep to the smaller bush type fruit bearers.
Soil
To make sure you have a good growth by your potted plants, it is vital to get some good soil. Not everyone has access to organically produced potting soil. Using the store-bought soil is fine too. Some even comes with fertilizer mixed in. Use your judgement and make sure to read the items listed in the bag. Cow manure potting soil sounds like it would be wonderful for your plants, but what about Fido smelling it and wanting to roll in the good smelly dirt mom just brought in the house. I use a peat soil mix and add some vermiculite to my indoor plants for drainage assistance.
I hope in your gardening journey you have the opportunity to try out potted veggies. While this is a newer venture for me, I hope that along my journey I can help others as well. If you have any questions or any other advice, please reach out and leave a comment. I love reading comments and learning new things. Maybe we can help each other on the journey of potted plant gardening! Good luck!
