Vegetable Garden Ideas for Small Spaces
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There are few things as satisfying as eating a salad or soup made with vegetables you grew yourself. But not everyone has a ton of room. So check out these vegetable garden ideas for small spaces! And see this month by month garden planting times for a free printable list of what to plant when.
One reason that people grow a vegetable garden is vegetables the garden produces can help save money on grocery bills. You might think you can only have a vegetable garden if you have a big space, but that’s not the case. Vegetable gardens do not have to be done in big spaces; they can be grown in any space that you have available.
As rewarding as vegetable gardening is, it can also be challenging. Growing a vegetable garden takes a little more effort and diligence than growing, for example, a flower garden. But there are things you can do to make sure your vegetable garden gets off to a good start.
Garden in small space ideas
If you are limited on space and want to grow a vegetable garden the thing that you need to think about is what you are planting. You will want to avoid planting vegetables like pumpkin, potatoes, and corn. Even though these vegetables are fun to grow, they take up a lot of room so are not a good choice for small spaces.
Something else that you want to think about when planting vegetables is to only plant the vegetables that your family will eat. If you are limited on space, why plant some weird vegetable that nobody in your family likes when you can replace it with something that your family loves.
Here are some examples of good vegetables to plant if you are a beginner and if you have limited space.
Vining Vegetables
These work great if you have a trellis, porch rail, patio support, or fence in your small gardening space. The reason for this is that the vegetables will grow upward, so they won’t take up a lot of ground room, but they will also use the structures in your gardening space as support.
You can even train some of your vegetables that grow along the ground to grow upward instead. If you have a concrete patio or a wooden deck, you can plant these same vegetables in barrels or tubs and set them next to the rail to grow.
Flower Beds
If you have flower beds spread out throughout your yard you can mix in a few vegetables with the flowers. The vegetables that you will want to mix in would be some quick-yielding vegetables, such as radishes, green onions, garlic, and leeks. You can also plant rhubarb in a shrub bed. Rhubarb is a great plant to mix with shrubs because it is ready to be harvested by the time the shrubs have leafed out for the spring and once you harvest the plant, it won’t grow back until the following spring.
Container Gardening
If you do not have any yard space for a vegetable garden, you can use containers to plant your vegetables in. The containers can be placed on your front steps, outside staircases, patios, decks, or even the roof if you need the space. When using containers for your gardening you will want to use the right sized container for the vegetables you are planting.
If using small containers you will want to plant dwarf or pixie vegetable varieties. If you want to plant bush vegetables, such as beans or eggplant, you will need to use containers that are at least 5 gallons. Herbs are also another choice for growing in containers because most herbs do well in small containers or small spaces.
You can even grow food in buckets!
Garden designs small
Choose vegetables that will still be thriving at different times during the season to maximize your garden ideas for small spaces. If you plan it right, you can be picking fresh vegetables from your garden for longer than you could’ve imagined. It’s called succession planting and it’s really great.
If you are limited on space, you can rotate your crops so that you can plant more varieties. For example, you can plant some vegetables in early spring and they will be ready for an early summer harvest. Once you have harvested those vegetables you can remove the plants and plant a summer crop in the same place, which will maximize your yard space.
Vegetable gardening can be a challenge. But it can also be extremely rewarding. And by keeping these tips in mind, you will be well on your way to having a healthy and successful vegetable garden.
Some great garden ideas for small spaces plants include:
And check out how to grow even corn in a small garden!
For a great garden planner, check this out!