This post shares a roundup of 18 DIY garden ideas for small spaces, including ideas for convenient vertical and container gardens. Because you can have a garden in a small space—you just might have to get creative!
DIY Garden Ideas for Small Spaces: 18 Vertical & Container Gardening Ideas
Hey guys, today I’m sharing a roundup of DIY gardens for small spaces—because you can still garden even if you live in a small space! I’m splitting them into two sections: vertical gardening and container gardening. So let’s jump in.
HOW TO GROW A GARDEN IN A SMALL SPACE: VERTICAL GARDENING IDEAS
First let’s talk about vertical gardens. The best way to maximize a small space is usually always to go vertical, and that’s so easy to do when gardening! Here are a few examples from some of my small-space gardening friends.
This stunning vertical wall planter is specifically designed for herbs, but it can be used for any kind of plant. It would look stunning with trailing flowers to create an entire plant wall.
This design also includes a drip watering system, which makes watering all of the plants more convenient.
Here’s another similar wall planter that incorporates planter boxes on a slatted back. This awesome DIY also includes a spot in the bottom for storage…or a raised bed Check out the full plans.
Speaking of a raised bed in the bottom of a vertical planter…that’s what I did with my dumpster wood vertical baloncy garden when we lived in an apartment.
This design gave us the ability to position all herbs on the maximum sunny area without taking up much space. I planted lettuce in the bottom, which worked out to be the perfect space and size.
To say I fell in love with this accent wall is an understatement. It’s so incredibly chic and makes such great use of vertical space all along an area that previous had no plants. And it’s just gorgeous.
Remind me next year, I want to do this! I want to plant ground cover in it so it will spread and trail and eventually just cover the bag. I love how easy this is.
Another beautiful vertical garden that gives you a ton of space for plants. If I could keep my plants outdoors year round, you better believe I’d have this and put all of my succulents in it.
Since I can’t keep my plants out all year round, I’d probably put herbs or annuals in something like this. This could also be easily mounted to a fence.
Anika has the best simple woodworking DIYs, and this one is no exception. I love how you could plant pretty much anything in these, and both beds are easy to reach
Vines on the top would be beautiful, too, especially if you had something behind the planter you wanted to cover up.
This is a great tutorial for growing fruit trees in small spaces. Isn’t this image beautiful, too? The post covers pruning and some other tips, too.
CONTAINER GARDENING IDEAS FOR SMALL SPACES
It’d be impossible to cover DIY gardens for small spaces without talking about container gardens. This can mean anything from a small pot to a raised bed (some would disagree with me on that, but I totally consider a raised bed a container!)
This planter was designed specifically for an outdoor situation where they couldn’t stop plants from being eaten. You could make this plant stand build without the wiring if you didn’t need it.
I could also see this cute idea being adapted to be a mini greenhouse for a deck, which is something I’ve been researching a lot lately.
I absolutely adore this DIY from Angela! It’s so chic and cute. If our front porch were just a bit bigger, I’d probably do this. (Yes, our porch really is that small, #townhouselife)
One great way to maximize space is to use deck railing planters. If you have a deck, chances are it probably gets great light, especially if it’s a second-story deck.
They are easy to build, too—you just need to find railing hangers that fit your deck railings. Or, if you have wood deck railings, you can attach the planter boxes directly to the railings.
I love this cute build because it also has some space on the bottom for storage. I could envision this one looking really chic with some tall upright plants in it, too.
I used a Home Depot homer bucket for my modern indoor planter with hairpin legs, and this idea is great, too! These buckets are cheap and make the perfect home for container veggie gardening.
If you have room for raised beds, you can get a lot of mileage out of just a few. We were able to fit two in the corner of our yard, and it gives us a ton of growing space.
You can also see we added rock landscaping for all of our pots and other containers for veggies. We also take advantage of the fence for things that vine.
If you’re looking for a planter that also provides privacy—which we small-space dwellers usually have a hard time getting!—this is a great DIY. I love her combination of plants and flowers, too.
Angela made excellent use of the small space by her home’s wall to add some greenery. It turned out beautifully, too.
If you live in an apartment with a balcony and decent light, you can grow! Here are some more photos of the vertical apartment balcony garden I had a few years ago.
We had a small half table and two chairs and a few table-top plants. I was also able to fit a few pots for tomatoes and jalapeños in addition to the vertical herbs and base bed full of lettuce. If I could go back and use the knowledge I have now, I’d probably plant something beautiful and vining on that far railing!
This one is a combination of going vertical and container gardening. Because why not do both? We use our second-story deck posts for pot clips to hang pots. I had herbs planted here last year, but this year I have mostly flowers.
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