Small Space Vegetable Gardening Tips

We’re heartened to see so many first-time homebuyers embracing small space vegetable gardening in Houston. After all, it isn’t exactly typical for starter homes to have a sprawling backyard with plenty of acres of space for growing food! Luckily, there are so many ways to maximize your space and make the most out of your small yard, without compromising style or function. Don’t worry; your property won’t end up looking like a cluttered Tetris field crammed full of planters! 

To reap all the benefits of vegetable gardening without taking up a ton of space, start by gathering some inspiration with these unique vegetable garden ideas!

Save Space With Vertical Vegetable Gardening

Obviously, the standard layout for vegetable gardening is rows upon rows of crops in a garden or field, but those of us with limited room in the yard can’t quite pull off that setup. Instead, try playing around with the vertical axis and find creative ways to make use of all that open air. Try attaching containers to your fence, or stacking gardening boxes on shelves—just make sure they still receive adequate light. 

Build A Small Raised Garden Bed

Raised bed gardening is a super popular method for sowing crops because it’s easier to manage drainage, soil quality, and temperature. You can build one yourself pretty easily, as there are a number of DIY tutorials available online. This way, you can make one that’s perfectly sized for the dimensions of your yard. Try to make it at least three feet wide — this will give your vegetables enough room to breathe. You can even try elevating your garden bed on wooden legs to free up space underneath for tool storage. Or, attach wheels to the bottom so you can move it around your patio.  

Grow Edibles In Hanging Baskets

Hanging baskets aren’t just for petunias! Strawberries, herbs, small tomatoes, and a bunch of other veggies and fruits are perfectly suited to container growing, so why bother cluttering your yard with them when you can hang them up? If your yard has more shade than sunny spots, you can try growing less heat-tolerant vegetables like spinach and other salad greens. They’ll grow more comfortably in the cooler conditions away from direct sunlight. 

Get Creative With Decorative Pottery

For the perfect combo of food and art, pick up some painted containers in a color scheme or motif that jibes with your decor and use them to frame and accent different areas of the yard. Right now, we’re really digging the traditional Mexican-style painted pottery, with bright floral patterns in every color. If you have stairs coming off your deck, you can pop a container on each step. We love clustering different sized containers in the corners of the yard. Growing a mix of flowers and edibles will add some nice variety to match your garden’s eclectic layout. 

Install An Indoor Hanging Herb Garden

Even if your yard is non-existent, you can still grow edibles at home! If you’re wary of cluttering your home with big plant pots, don’t worry, there’s a simple solution: suspend your containers in the window with a hanging herb garden! Installing some slim bars across your window and hooking on some tiny containers is another excellent method of vertical gardening, and it creates a gorgeous display of greenery indoors. If you’ve got a window in your home that doesn’t have the most spectacular view, you may as well fancy things up with some cute herb plants!

Integrate Edible Plants Into Landscape Design

Bordering your home and surrounding property with ornamental shrubs is a pretty common practice in the world of landscape design, but by choosing fruit-bearing options, you’ll get a lot more bang for your bush! Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and so many other tasty snackables can be planted all along your house and fences. Better yet, their cute spring flowers and summer colors help to pull the overall landscape design together.

What Can I Put In A Small Vegetable Garden?

Obviously, if you’re working with a more modestly sized area, you aren’t going to have much success growing giant pumpkins and watermelons. It’s best to stick with plants that don’t take up too much space and are easy to grow in containers. Here are our top small-space veggie picks:

• Radishes
• Lettuce Greens
• Carrots
• Herbs
• Patio Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Peppers
• Peas
• Pole Beans
  

There aren’t many things more satisfying than a freshly picked vegetable off a plant you’ve grown all by yourself, and having a small yard shouldn’t stop you from enjoying that level of awesomeness. If you have any more backyard vegetable garden ideas you’d like to experiment with, swing by Plants For All Seasons to grab all the tools, seeds, and starter plants you need to make it happen!