Garden Design for Small Spaces

By now, most people in the northern hemisphere are digging in their yards to make their environments beautiful for summer. Garden design is challenging whether you have an acre or a few hundred square feet, but smaller spaces seem to be especially so. It's easy to get intimidated and overwhelmed with choices when you're a new gardener.

The very first thing to think about is what you want your garden to do. Is it an outdoor living area for entertaining or relaxing? Do you want an outdoor kitchen? Will the yard produce food or do you just want ornamentals? How much maintenance can you put in each week? Do you need privacy? Once you have a purpose, you can begin to fill in the blanks with details.

Photo: via Build Direct Blog

Tailor Your Garden to Your Outdoor Living Space

Here in New Mexico, walled courtyards are popular, leading right out from the home's living area. Roomy ones hold full kitchens, fireplaces, built-in seating, fountains and hot tubs, while less spacious areas have a small table with café chairs. I have seen everything in between, too!

Frequently, the perimeter of a larger courtyard is planted with native and drought tolerant species. Low plantings keep the space open to reflect the expansiveness of the high desert and to keep our 13,000 foot mountains in view. Container plantings of ornamentals are used as accents and focal points, and there may be a small tree on each end as a frame. Flooring is flagstone, or sometimes a small grassy area has been planted. A dining table with chairs or a full set of patio furniture allows for various entertaining scenarios. That's very basic in an area where everyone has an acre of land. The courtyard might be 600 square feet, and it becomes an extra room in three seasons. 

Photo: via Build Direct Blog

In town, the courtyards are very small and need privacy fencing. An entry gate is installed in a traditional eight-foot high latilla fence. Lush vines are grown over it to extend its height, create a garden and offer more privacy. Flooring is concrete, flagstone or small pavers, and gardening is done in containers if there is no more space to dig into the ground. Maybe there is a bench or a small chair and side table. The courtyard becomes more of an entryway than a main living space, but everyone here tries to take advantage of our wonderful climate in even the smallest way!

Vegetable Gardens and Flower Gardens - The Perfect Borders 

If you want to grow food, you don't need much space. Vegetables and herbs can be mixed in with a flower border - lettuces and greens in front, and climbers going up a trellis in the back. Or remove the flower border completely, and just plant vegetables, herbs and fruit!

Many varieties have now been cultivated to grow in pots, since the food growing movement has spread to the cities. Don't be afraid to try your hand at growing food, no matter how small your space. Everyone can have a container with food in it, even if it's a recycled 5-gallon bucket. A few large pots won't take up much of a footprint, and with upright supports they will hold tomatoes, beans, cucumbers and squash. Smaller containers are good for shallow rooted plants like lettuce, kale, chard, spinach and herbs.

Native Plants Means Low-Maintenance

If you need a low maintenance garden, native plants are the best choice. They only need the watering that nature provides, and they are already use to the soil in your yard. They need no soil amendments, and they are acclimated to the local climate, so they don't need to be fussed over.

Also consider slow-growing plants, and install a drip irrigation system with a timer for automatic watering. Several inches of decorative mulch will keep down weeds and keep in moisture to further reduce your workload. Even a few well-placed flowering trees and shrubs can add enough greenery without a lot of work.

Piece by Piece

Envision your garden and yard space after considering your personal needs. Put it together piece by piece, or if it's small enough, spend a weekend digging and planting. Any small space can be beautified with a little planning and a few good plants.

(You are reading an article originally posted on Build Direct Blog)

Benefits of Container Gardening

There are personal and environmental benefits to gardening in containers. First, it's a good way for beginners to start small. A pot with a few plants in it is less intimidating than designing and executing a garden of any size. Instead of figuring the best place for a garden, digging up the lawn and planning heights, food production and bloom time of flowers, you can fill a pot with soil, plant some ornamentals and food, water it in and be done!

Photo Credit: Eclectic Patio by Dallas Media and Blogs Sarah Greenman

You have control over the size of your garden, and there are fewer decisions to make. There is less maintenance for a container garden, too. I spend hours weeding, dead-heading flowers, checking for bugs, harvesting and dragging hoses from here to there (I know - the garden writer without an irrigation system! Blasphemy!). When containers are clustered in one spot, all your supplies and chores are also in one spot. 

Container Gardening | Take Notes

Growing only a few plants also lets you study them. If you make notes about their performances, you can expand your gardening knowledge each year, and you may eventually be inclined to dig up some lawn for a bigger garden with more varieties. On the other hand, you may never get the gardening bug, and containers may suit your needs to garden minimally!

If you only have a small outdoor living area, containers are perfect for having a bit of greenery in your life. It's a bonus to get food, herbs and cut flowers from your deck or balcony. Containers can even be part of the design, so a small collection can be a tastefully designed art project. 

Photo Credit: Modern Patio by New York Architect Resolution: 4 Architecture

Portability of Container Gardens

Being portable, containers can also be moved around. They can be brought in for the winter or placed for a special event. 

As for the environment, it's important we grow our own food, especially in urban areas. As Monsanto creeps into our gardens more and more each day, we need to retain our independence by growing our own food, saving seed and sharing with out community. Even one pot with one tomato plant in it is a way to fight back. Anyone with a smidgeon of space can grow a little bit of food. If you've never grown your own food before, you'll be hooked on the freshness and flavor!

Saving Water

Containers also save water. Instead of a sprinkler showering a garden and its surrounds, you can put the right amount exactly where it needs to go. The same stands for fertilizers (organic, of course). Instead of broadcasting them over spaces where there are no plants, you can give a container planting exactly what it needs. 

Self watering containers gauge when plants need water then delivers it to them. Alternatively, you can set up a drip system to cover a series of pots that are close together. That is the most resource efficient way to water. And you don't have to think about it. Put your system on a timer, and you won't have to think about it. That's great for the gardener without a lot of time to spend fussing over a garden. 

The best containers are recycled or upcycled. See the author's 'container garden' Pinterest board for recycling and irrigation ideads!

Photo Credit: Traditional Outdoor Planters by Other Metro Wayfair

One for Every Porch or Balcony

Container gardens makes a lot of sense, from the need or desire to grow food in a small area to accommodating disabled and elderly people to saving resources with efficient water systems. Soon we will see a small garden on every porch or balcony!

(*You are reading an article originally posted to Build Direct Blog)