Moving from a house on a spacious lot into a condominium or apartment can be disheartening if you enjoy gardening. You may feel that gardening’s lost to you. Or, perhaps you haven’t moved, but you’ve noticed a forgotten corner of your garden where only a scraggly Hosta spreads its indomitable leaves. Can that patio, balcony, or lost corner be transformed into a gardener’s delight? Let’s consider the possibilities! Tiny gardens, like tiny jewel boxes, can hold delightful surprises.
Let me offer some suggestions for creating a garden in that forgotten corner, small patio, or on your balcony. Let’s consider (1) Planning, (2) Guidelines, and (3) Tricks to make your challenging little garden into something that will delight your eye and heart.
First, Planning:
1. Begin by measuring the size of the space where you’ll create your garden. Take an old-fashioned piece of graph paper (or you can print out a grid from your word processing program) and draw the garden’s dimensions. (Perhaps one graph square = 1 inch or 1 foot.)
2. Over the next few days, observe the sunlight across the soon-to-be garden. Also note where there is no direct sunlight. You may want to shade the squares to indicate light or lack thereof. Of course, this is one sampling, but you can adapt your notations over the coming weeks and months so that after one growing season you’ll have a reliable chart of light for future plantings.
3. On your diagram of this soon-to-be jewel of a garden, note the locations of a source for electricity and for water. (You may not have a faucet outdoors. In that case, you’ll want to keep in mind that you’ll be carrying a watering can to all your plants.)
4. Make a list of the furnishings you may have or plan to add to your garden—a bistro table and two chairs? A comfy lounger for sunning and reading? Will you want a gardening bench or workspace? Where will these pieces fit in? The rule-of-thumb is 50 percent plants and 50 percent furnishings.
5. What resources are already available? Is there a mature tree that overhangs the garden? Perhaps your balcony garden offers a grand view of a distant skyline.
6. Finally, consider courtesy and privacy—your own and your neighbor’s. Will your plants impinge on the next unit’s patio? Will watering your balcony’s plants drip water down into your neighbor’s space? How can you design your plantings and arrange the containers to avoid disturbing others? Also think about providing additional privacy for you and your guests. How can you arrange the plants, so you and your guests are shielded?
Here are some General Guidelines for implementing your plan:
- Avoid the cluttered feeling; look at your list of furnishings. Choose only pieces that fit. You may need to take some pieces to the resale shop and look around for smaller versions. Remember the 50/50 ratio, plants to furnishings guideline.
- Looking back at your notes on sunlight, make a list of plants that will be comfortable with the amount of sunlight you can give them. (I felt terrible when I planted a lovely Shasta daisy in a too-shady spot.) Consider including some evergreens; they’ll serve well for the shadier areas and provide color in the bleaker days of winter.
- Think UP and ACROSS when arranging where to place your plants. Hanging plants are a boon in small gardens. Shepherd hooks and plant stands lift your lovely garden to eye level and above. Be careful! Remember, you’ll have to water those dear spider plants and Fuchsia, and their petals will fall—not into your glass of lemonade, we hope. Don’t forget that plants will grow—in width as well as height. So, allow for spreading or, if you’re tough enough, prepare to cut back or remove some plants as they forget their place and nudge out their neighbors or overhang your table.
- If you’re working with a patio (this won’t do for a balcony garden), create raised beds in which to plant. Such flower boxes contain the soil and plant roots, helping your garden area to remain tidy. Be sure there is proper drainage. An added benefit to raised beds, they serve as edging to contain the grass or wood chips or fine gravel of a walkway or seating area.
Finally, here are a few tips and tricks you may want to try:
Add a touch of whimsy to even the tiniest garden. Perhaps a repurposed children’s toy, a small sculpture, a wall or table water fountain, or a carefully placed mirror. (A mirror can add a note of surprise but be careful that it doesn’t reflect too much sun and burn leaves or blind guests.)
If your patio is the only place for your refuse cans, use plants to mask them. You might group some large pots planted with ornamental grasses of various varieties—choosing for color and texture. Or plant a vining Hibiscus or Clematis on a trellis beside the cans. One caution: You’ll be needing access to the cans often, so whatever you plant, they must not impede your ability to get to or move your refuse cans.
Stick with a few colors or shades of a single color in your small garden. Cool colors will give a sense of spaciousness. Warm or varied colors pop and close the space.
To tie together you little garden, consider painting the garden door and furnishings a dramatic or cheery color. Be sure the paint color you choose complements the colors of the garden’s blooms.
Don’t be disheartened by planting your garden in a small space. Remember what Helene said about her friend Hermia n Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream: “Though she be but little, she is fierce.”
