Small garden ideas: 25+ creative ways to make the most of a tiny outdoor space

An illustration of a trio of cartoonish insects, including a bee, a lady bug and a butterfly, in straw gardening hats; they are standing at a potting bench and planting seeds into tin cans for spring gardening.

Spring is hereeeee! 😍 And if you’ve been out and about, chances are you’ve seen more than a few reminders that spring is gardening season. Racks of seeds for brilliant blooms. Adorable sun hats. Cute little trowels. But you have an apartment. Or a tiny porch. Not a yard. You don’t have the space to garden…right?

Well, I’m here to tell you that you absolutely have the space to garden!

After all, if I could make a little herb garden happen in my tiny studio apartment in Chicago, you can have your own little piece of horticultural heaven. Heck, with these small garden ideas, you’ll be surprised at just how many options you actually have!

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Container-forward small garden ideas  

One of the biggest mistakes people make when thinking about gardening is assuming that you have to plant things in the ground. But that’s simply not true! You can build an entire garden out of containers filled with everything from flowers and herbs to even fruits and vegetables! Check out these ideas:

  • Portable perennial flower garden: Fill pots of varying sizes with flowers that rebloom from year to year (perennials), which you can keep inside during the winter months, if it gets below freezing. Some good perennial flowers include bee balm, coneflower, coreopsis, sedum, lavender and salvia. (Bees and butterflies love all of these!)
  • Vegetable planter box garden: If you have a balcony, patio or porch with room for a small, raised bed, you can plant bigger things that require deeper soil, like small varieties of cherry tomato plants. Even root vegetables like carrots, baby potatoes and radishes are possible!
  • Container-friendly fruit: You can even grow fruit in containers! There are certain blueberry bush varieties that are really well-suited to containers and will only grow to a certain size. Strawberries are also a great container fruit…you can even buy specific strawberry growing pots!
  • “Cut and come again” greens: You could also plant things like lettuce or herbs, the leaves of which can be harvested again and again, as long as you leave a few behind to keep the plant going. It’s the small garden idea that keeps on giving!
Two side-by-side illustrations of small garden ideas, including a potted sweet pea plant that utilizes a trellis to grow vertically, and a sunny windowsill where a collection of herbs and small vegetables are grown in containers.

Vertical small garden ideas  

Don’t have a ton of space on the ground? Try growing UP! This is an especially great option for small porches and tiny balconies. Here are some vertical gardening ideas to try:

  • Hey, Sweet Pea! Sweet peas are beautiful, highly fragrant flowers that are related to edible garden peas. They need something to climb, so give them a trellis for support—the kind of trellises that stick right into the soil they’re growing in. Of course, more than sweet peas climb. You could also try clematis, morning glories and, if you live someplace warm year-round, jasmine.
  • Climb the ladder. In this instance, it’s not the plant that’s climbing, but the plant stand. Ladder-style plant stands enable you to fit lots of pots on a very small footprint, especially if it’s one-sided and is leaned against a wall. Great for making sure all the plants get an even amount of light. Do anchor them to the wall somehow!
  • Hold my pot, please. Another great option, if you don’t have a ton of square footage for pots to sit on but you have some sturdy wall space, is a wall-mounted planter. This keeps it up off the ground and out of the way—and also out of reach if you’re worried about pets getting to your plants.
  • Hanging around. Hanging baskets are another way to grow without ground space. Flowers with a trailing or vining growth habit, like nasturtium (which is edible!), sweet alyssum, petunias, vinca and million bells are all colorful, pretty options. Strawberry plants grow well in hanging baskets, too!
  • Out the window. Window boxes are also a great vertical option for growing anything you’d grow in a small container. From herbs to lettuces to flowers—or a mix of all of these—the options are practically endless.

Indoor small garden ideas  

The great outdoors is…great…and all, but what if you’re more of an indoor cat who’s looking to start a garden? You’ll be happy to hear there are options for you, too!

  • Simply succulent. Succulents are some of the cutest dang plants to grow. And among the easiest! They come in lots of shapes, sizes and colors, too, so you can put a bunch in an arrangement in a shallow dish or pot and achieve a pretty stunning effect. My favorites include echeveria, crassula, lithops, sempervivum and aeonium. And each of these species comes in a crazy-huge number of varieties. These can literally be watered once a month and be totally happy.
  • On the shelf. For those of us who are not blessed with a ton of perfect, south-facing light, there are lots of plants that are low-light friendly and do well on a shelf. Many of them grow slowly and only need watering every few weeks! I love pothos and peperomia especially, and again, they come in many varieties.
  • Care for a climb? Oh, did you think you could only grow climbing plants outdoors? Let me set you straight! You can absolutely grow climbing plants inside your house, and the effect can be stunning. Imagine a bookcase with ivy trailing up the side of it. Or a window wreathed with hoya vines, held in place with little clear wall hooks. Like a fairy tale, really. Go try it!
  • Kitchen windowsill herb garden: If you have an apartment or house with a kitchen window that gets a lot of light during the day, a mini herb garden is a fun, useful option. Herbs are easy to grow and can add so much brightness to meals, both in terms of taste and appearance! Frequently used fresh herbs include basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme and dill.
An illustration of a trio of cartoonish insects, including a bee, a lady bug and a butterfly, in straw gardening hats; they are standing at a potting bench and planting seeds into tin cans for spring gardening.

DIY and inexpensive small garden ideas  

Let’s say you’d like to spend most of your budget on the plants and seeds you need to get your garden started. I got you! There are plenty of inexpensive DIY ideas to help get you growing. For instance:

  • Use an empty coffee can for a container. Try out a fun new flavor of coffee that comes in a metal can then, when it’s done, drill a few small drainage holes in the bottom and paint the sides to make it pretty. (Unless you just really love that Folgers logo, in which case, you do you.)
  • Thrift or source old pots and plant stands. Hit up neighborhood garage sales—very common in spring and summer—or Facebook Marketplace for used planters and pots.
  • Check out the clearance section. Go to your local craft or décor store at the end of the season and see what they have on sale. Likewise, see if your local nursery has a clearance section for pots they’re trying to get rid of as-is. Some may be chipped or cracked, but they’ll still make a great home for a plant and many cracks can be sealed.
  • Make your own plant markers. We have a tutorial here! All you need is some oven-bake clay (like Sculpey®), some paint, hot glue and a wooden plant stake. These are especially great if you’re growing from seed and need to remember what you planted where or you’re not great at knowing one type of herb from another (yet!).
  • Think outside the pot. Kitchen herbs look adorable when planted in coffee mugs, vintage tins or any other kitchen container at least a few inches deep for roots to grow.

I hope these small garden ideas have got you ready to grow this spring! Remember: you don’t need a ton of space to start gardening. You just need some soil, sun, water and a little plant. The rest can be figured out along the way!

 

Want some more fun ways to make the most of spring? Here you go!