You’ve finally made it past moving day and are settling into your new home. The snow is melting and spring is in the air; you’re excited to try out a garden this year after spending the winter looking through Instagram posts, Pinterest, and greenhouse websites. This is the year you’re going to spruce up your yard, make it your little oasis to come home to every day. But, you have a pretty small backyard and not much of a front yard, either. And, the most you’ve been able to grow so far have been a couple of potted plants on your balcony. Can you do it?
Your backyard may be small, but you can still grow an amazing garden! You don’t need acres of land to grow yummy fruits and vegetables for your family, all you need is a little creativity and planning.
Planning your garden
Before starting any big project, it’s best to plan everything out. What type of vegetables do you want in your garden? Are you looking to build a privacy fence? Are you hoping for a cut flower garden you can use to fill up vases of beautiful blooms or a sea of roses to smell from your deck while enjoying your Sunday morning coffee? Figure out what it is you’re looking for in your backyard oasis and go from there. The sky’s the limit when imagining things, so see where your mind takes you, even if it takes you to an acreage complete with every vegetable, flower, herb, and fruit under the sun. You can always scale it back to what’s truly needed (perhaps you really don’t need a hazelnut tree) and what works well in your yard.
If you’re disappointed with the fact that you won’t be able to get everything done this year, think of the first year gardening as an experiment. You’re not sure what will grow well in your yard, what you’ll have to tweak or how much you’ll need of what. Have fun with it and add on next year.
The next step in planning your garden is to look at your budget. How much are you willing to spend? And, how much are you able to spend? Buying plants at the nursery can be expensive, and if you’re starting from scratch, things will get expensive, fast. Growing your garden from seeds will cost a lot less, but it will take longer to grow, meaning you may not get to enjoy certain parts of your hard work until the end of summer. A mix of started plants from a nursery and seed planting is often the way most gardeners go and will make things a lot easier when starting your small backyard garden.
Square Foot Gardening
Square foot gardening was made for small yards. This handy planting method saves you time on weeding and watering your garden, which means you’ll have more time to enjoy your backyard instead of working in it. This type of planting method is perfect for beginners and will provide you with the right amount of veggies for summer meals. While there are lots of fancy raised garden beds out there that have been blocked off in squares, you don’t need to spend extra money or time making a garden bed that is specific to square foot gardening.
All you need to do is divide your space up into 4×4 blocks. This can be done by using string or can be simply measured and planted, left open. Each block is available for a different vegetable, keeping them tightly together while adequately spaced apart. It may look a little messier than straight rows, but this will make sure you don’t waste any space!
Plant Up Small Garden
If you have one raised garden bed and are wondering how you’re going to fit all of the beautiful plants you just bought, don’t worry. There are ways to incorporate all of your plants in a small yard. Look towards buying trellises for plants that like to climb like cucumbers, beans, zucchini, and peas. You can even have pumpkins and melons climbing up a trellis as long as they’re sturdy enough!
By planting most of your garden up, you save room on the ground-level for veggies that don’t like to climb like onions, radish, lettuce, and carrots.
If you’re working on tight space, try making or buying a tiered planter. If you’ve a sliver of space to work with, you can still get more out of your garden by planting various layers of plants in each tier, getting the most for your space.
Get Creative
The front garden beds of houses are usually reserved for flowers, giving your home a little curb-appeal beauty with some darling blooms. Mix in some vegetables with your flowers to make the most out of your smaller yard. Cabbage and lettuce look great next to bright flowers. Mints love to bush out, making them a cute addition to a flower garden – be careful, as mint likes to take over the garden, so prune it back when you can.
Is your fence non-existent, chain-link or so short you can see everything your neighbors are doing? Plant a privacy fence with tall-growing vegetables! Corn is a great vegetable that grows tall and can provide some privacy to your yard. Mix them with sunflowers for a beautiful yard come fall.
Plant in Pots
Planting vegetables in pots is a great way to get more out of your small yard. Gardens don’t have to be only in a raised garden or natural garden bed. Lots of vegetables grow well in pots like tomatoes, carrots, radish, onion, even potatoes, and cucumbers. Provide your tomato and cucumbers with supports and place your potted vegetables on decks, or on the front steps of your home. This can add a bit of nature décor to your deck and front of the house while containing items that you can simply use when cooking your next meal.
When you become a gardener, you will definitely need to know how to start composting, read our article!