Small Space Gardening

I have lived in a few places since leaving my parents home. Luckily for me each new apartment has had a bit more room for gardening than the last.

My first apartment, however, was a small one bedroom on the first floor of a very large pre-war building. No yard or lawn to speak of, just a common courtyard all cement and very dark. Oh and did I mention, my apartment was like a cave, the surrounding buildings blocked out nearly all the light.

So your probably wondering how I could possibly have grown anything in a cave, right? With a lot of research and an alternative light source.

The first thing I did was to pick up a book from the bookstore

I also collected a bunch of seed catalogs so that I could compare the plants on the chart, with those available to order. Seed catalogs can be a great reference for any gardener, so I keep a pretty big collection to help me plan each year. Some of my favorites are:

Gurney's offers fruits, vegetable and flowers at good prices. Their catalog is full of important information, such as plant height, depth and spacing, hardiness zones and germination periods. To receive a catalog Click on Free Catalog along the top of the website in the green bar.

Michigan Bulb Company offers bulbs, fruits, perrenials trees and shrubs. Of particular interest is their Money Saving Collections (found on the left hand side 2/3 of the way down the page.) These collections are great for a new gardener, who wants to experiment with a few different plants without the worry of having to pick plants which complement each other. These plans are also great for those who want an instant garden, but are not yet confident of their garden planning abilities. Each Collection comes with a plan to fill a small space garden. To Receive a Catalog Click on "Request a FREE Copy of our Catalog" at the top of the page.


Breck's is a popular supplier of plant bulbs. They harvest and ship their bulb direct from Holland and offer very high quality bulbs. Bulbs are wonderful for growing in a small garden because they thrive well in containers. To Recieve a Catalog from Breck's select the link that says "Free Catalogue" in the top right hand side of the site, just below the search box.

Square foot gardening lets you grow tons of vegetables and armloads of flowers in the smallest of gardens space.
You can grow this much produce in one four foot square area over the span of two months:

32 carrots
12 bunches of leaf lettuce
18 bunches of spinach
16 radishes
16 scallions
16 beets
9 Japanese turnips
5 pounds of peas
1 head of cabbage
4 heads of romaine lettuce
1 head of cauliflower
1 head of broccoli

Here are some great examples of ways to make a big statement in your small space garden.

Use your Vertical Space Creatively:


Contemporary Gardenfall Dark Copper-Bronze Mirror Indoor/Outdoor Fountain

Create a relaxing and meditative atmosphere inside or outside your home with this fantastic fountain. In this elegant, contemporary fountain, water flows down a tempered bronze mirror into a decorative dark copper basin filled with polished river rocks. A halogen accent bulb is included to add light and sparkle to this fantastic water feature. Designed for both indoor and outdoor use and including an in-line filter, adjustable flow valve and a submersible pump. Easy assembly; no tools required.