Do you have a green thumb but nowhere to put it to good use? Whether you love apartment living, have recently downsized, or can’t afford or aren’t ready to buy a house, sometimes, you want to be able to enjoy the benefits of gardening but a place or the space to do it. Of course, there are options like getting a spot at a community garden, but those tend to fill up quickly. There are also windowsill planters, but these don’t provide much space and might not be possible in some buildings.
However, there are plenty of great solutions to this problem. If you’re willing to get a little creative, you can easily participate in the most relaxing hobbies and watch your plants thrive. Let’s look at some of the options for growing a garden without a backyard.
Table of Contents
Start a Rooftop Garden
If you live in a building with a flat roof, check with your property or building manager to see if they will allow you to grow a rooftop garden. Rooftop gardens are an excellent way to use up what is often just wasted space, and if there isn’t already a garden on yours, it could be that no one has bothered to ask yet. Keep in mind you’ll have to cart everything up to the roof. If there’s no water access, you’ll have to haul the water up yourself. Start small with some container plants, and if it goes well, maybe one day you’ll have a constructed garden bed to work with.
Make sure you’ve got the go-ahead from a building engineer or the best roofing company that the roof is in good condition and able to take the weight of a garden.
Grow Vertically
Often when people think they have no space for gardening, they’re only thinking about the horizontal space. Once they realize they can grow a garden vertically, the possibilities are endless. If you’ve got some space on a balcony or patio, or even if you only have some indoor space, growing up rather than out can be just the space saver you need.
By using a trellis, netting, fence or another type of structure, you can gain the benefits of vertical gardening. Use tall or mounted containers, or even consider building your own trellis boxes.
Vining and sprawling plants are perfect for vertical gardening. You can find plenty of plants that are ready to be grown this way, like vining tomatoes and sweet potatoes and sprawling types of zucchini, cucumbers and squash.
Gardening up has plenty of benefits, like bringing in more yield and being easier on your back as you won’t have to constantly bend and kneel over plants. Keep in mind that vertical gardens do tend to need more frequent watering.
Once you start looking at things differently, you’ll see there are plenty of options for using your green thumb, no matter your lack of yard or space to garden. No matter what solution you choose, start small and remember to have fun with it.
Also read: How To Grow A Garden On Your Balcony
