Recently reader, Jennifer, contacted me asking about how to grow a garden in a small space with homeowner restrictions. She wrote:
“Hi Mavis – I have a question. We live in an townhome complex with some pretty strict rules. We can’t plant gardens in the grounds or the flower beds. While we’ve looked at moving, for health reasons, this is the best place for my mum right now, and so we’re staying. That said, I’d love to create a garden for vegetables and maybe some fruits. We can grow in potted planters on our deck and patio, both of which get full sun all year round. Any suggestions/recommendations for how to get started gardening this way, what would work, and things not to do?”
First off, let me assure you, container gardening rocks. It actually helps with a lot of issues that come up in regular gardening beds–it allows you to control your soil, drainage, water, and it even helps to manage pests. That being said, getting started is really the most important part. If you are growing in containers, you want to consider three things: drainage, sunlight, and soil. That’s pretty much it. If you can knock those three things off your list, you can have a successful container garden.
For drainage, make sure to get containers that you can drill/poke holes into the bottom, if the containers don’t already have them. Make the holes about 1/2″-1″ on the bottom of the pot. Water regularly, a good rule of thumb is to literally poke your finger into the soil. If the top 1″ or so of soil is dried out, it’s time to water again.
It sounds like sunlight is not an issue in your townhome, but if it were, that is the beauty of container gardening: you can totally move the containers around to “chase” the sun.
Finally, soil. You CANNOT use regular garden soil in containers. It is waaaay too dense and prohibits proper drainage. You need to splurge and get the potting soil mix, or make your own.
As far as plants that do well in containers, there are tons of choices. Botanical Interests has a pretty awesome “set” you can buy of seeds that are specifically for small space or container gardening. It’s called Container Vegetable Seed Collection {it includes carrots, cucumbers, kale, lettuce, onion/scallions, sweet peppers, spinach, and tomatoes}, which is a pretty well rounded garden, if you ask me. 
In addition, you can grow most herbs: basil, thyme, cilantro, sage, etc. I have a friend who has been super successful growing larger plants, like zucchini in containers {she just uses tomato cages on the zucchini plant to train them to grow up instead of out}.
For fruits, you can grow strawberries {hanging baskets work well} or try a Meyer Lemon tree. Our local nursery even has dwarf apple trees that could potentially be grown in large pots {though, I have never tried, so I can’t say for sure how successful it would be}. I think your only real limitation with fruit would be melons–they need a lot of space, plain and simple.
Good luck Jennifer, and make sure to send me pictures of your container garden.
~Mavis
Sharon says
Hi Mavis – thanks for the container seeds website. I am going
To order. Hope all the rain will not drown them !
Cecily says
Container gardening is awesome! I’ve successfully grown everything from herbs to pumpkins in containers. My favorite containers are half whiskey barrels and 15 gallon plastic totes. I have gotten totes for as little as $3 on clearance. Just punch some holes in the bottom, fill with potting soil and get growing!
Brandy @ The Prudent Homemaker says
You can also grow a bush variety of zucchini in your pot. Both Burpee and Territorial Seed sell one. I grow that in my garden to save space.
For potted fruit trees, stick with dwarf and semi-dwarf varieties, and purchase the largest pots that you can. Sam’s Club and Costco have HUGE pots in the spring for the lowest prices that I have seen anywhere.
I am growing oranges, a lime, and pomegranates in pots. Citrus of all kinds do well in a pot, but any small variety of a tree will do well for you. Apples and pears would be especially good, because they fruit on fruiting spurs, so they can be kept small and continue to produce fruit in the same space for years (unlike other fruit trees, which produce on the previous year’s wood). Pomegranates are an exception that are also good for pots, as they produce on the current year’s wood and can be pruned to whatever shape you need.
Best of luck with your garden!
Caroline says
Don’t forget about the self-watering containers. agardenpatch.com has some good ones. There are also the EarthBoxes.
Mamahousemouse says
Wow, I LOVE your post! You can also grow things vertically with a bit of work. I used bamboo poles, but I’ve also seen pallets, PVC tubing with holes drilled in it, and even a vinyl over-the-door shoe container with plants tucked into the pockets!
Growing vertical really helps when your space is limited. I’m in a similar position with my garden, being unable to grow edibles in my yard due to soil contamination. It’s a bit bigger than a typical condo patio, but here’s what I’ve managed to grow in an 8’x16′