If you have big gardening dreams, but only a small patio, we have good news. You can turn a tiny outdoor area into a lush retreat that provides fresh produce, colorful blooms, and resources for pollinators and other wildlife. Here's how to plan and plant a small patio garden so you can maximize your growing space.
1. Check Your Lease or HOA Agreement
Before setting up your new patio garden, confirm with your homeowners’ association (HOA) or landlord that it won’t violate the terms of your residence. If you make no permanent alterations to the space, you likely won’t face any resistance. If you’re planning to use larger containers on a balcony, be sure that the weight when they are full and watered won’t exceed the tolerance of the structure.
2. Observe Your Patio's Unique Growing Conditions
A patio garden often is a unique microclimate with a sunlight schedule, wind exposure, and even temperatures that differ from the areas around it. Keep these factors in mind as you plan your patio garden.
- Orientation: Southern and western exposures tend to be the warmest and get the longest period of sunlight, while eastern and northern-facing patios may be cooler and shadier for more of the day.
- Height: The higher the location, the more likely your balcony will be exposed to strong winds that can damage plants. Temperature swings are more extreme as you go higher, too.
- Buildings and trees: The amount of sunlight your patio garden gets changes during the day, depending on nearby buildings and trees. The exposure changes during the growing season, as the sun moves through its cycle. Most vegetables that bear fruit, such as tomatoes and cucumbers, and many annual flowers need at least eight hours of sunshine daily to bloom and be productive. Salad greens, herbs, and foliage plants can thrive with less than eight hours of light. Note how much light each area of your patio gets and when it shines before choosing plants.
3. Set Your Small Patio Garden Goals
Ask yourself what you want from your patio garden and the answers will help guide all your choices, including what types of plants, containers, and even furniture you want. Begin with these questions:
- How much produce do I want to grow, if any? Am I looking for a few fun, fresh herbs and greens, or a more substantial veggie plot?
- Do I want fresh flowers, lots of foliage, or a combo of both?
- How do I want to spend my time here? Do I want a place to sip coffee in the morning, relax in the evenings, entertain friends and family, or just dig in the dirt?
4. Plan Your Patio
Once you know what you want from your garden, take time to create a detailed plan. It will ensure you use your resources wisely and get you the patio garden you want.
First, draw or use graph paper so that each grid is a square foot of your patio. Determine where your containers will get the sun they need and place furniture and other décor around them. Try to draw to scale (don't worry, it doesn't have to be fridge-worthy). Be sure you don't block any doorways, and plan how you'll bring water outside. Once you've filled in your horizontal surfaces, don't be afraid to go vertical for even more growing space.
5. Best Varieties for Patio Gardens
Most garden varieties can be grown in containers, but thanks to the work of dedicated plant breeders, you can now find lots of options that have been developed just for use in patio gardens. ‘Sweetheart of the Patio’ hybrid tomato bears tons of tasty little red fruits on compact vines. ‘Patio Baby’ hybrid eggplant will produce as many 50 egg-shaped, 2- to 3-inch, purple-black fruit on plants that stay 16 to 20 inches tall. You can even raise a little crop of sweet corn with ‘On Deck’ hybrid. Cut flower lovers will want to grow ‘Tom Thumb Mixed Colors’ strawflower, which opens ultra-vivid blooms in orange, yellow, red, and pink on 10- to 15-inch-tall plants. Check out Burpee’s extensive selection of other annual flower varieties that are sure to thrive in containers.
6. Plant Your Small Patio Garden
When full of moist soil, large containers can become too heavy to move. You can find lots of attractive and durable pots made from plastic and other lightweight materials. This makes it easier for you to rearrange your plants as conditions change. Whichever container you choose, be sure it has drainage holes, so your plants don’t sit in excess water, causing them to drown.
Fill your pots with a light planting medium designed specifically for containers, such as Burpee Premium Organic Potting Mix. If you’re growing vining plants like tomatoes or ‘Giant White’ moonflower, set up a simple support system to keep them growing up.
7. Take Care of Your Patio Garden
Plants growing in containers don’t have access to moisture stored in the ground, so you need to check your pots daily to see if watering is needed. Push your finger into the soil to see if it’s damp below the surface. When the soil is dry, water thoroughly and let it get almost dry again before you water more. Too much water is as harmful to plants as too little.
Because potting mix has little or no nutrients, you’ll want to feed vegetable crops with liquid fertilizer such as Burpee Organic All Purpose Water Soluble Plant Food. Follow package instructions on amounts and frequency.
Despite your best efforts, chances are you'll have to adjust some things throughout the growing season, such as where a container sits or even what's growing in it. Allow yourself to continue refining until you achieve patio perfection. This process of editing helps to turn a collection of potted plants into a container garden right outside your door.
As you bring your patio garden to life, don't miss these container gardening tips.
If you have big gardening dreams — but only a small patio — we have good news. You can turn even a tiny outdoor area into a lush retreat that provides fresh produce, beautiful blooms or whatever else you want to grow. Here's how to plan and plant a small patio garden so you can maximize every square inch of growing space.
1. Check Your Lease or HOA Agreement
As much as you want to start transforming your patio into an urban jungle immediately, be sure it's OK with your homeowners association (HOA) or landlord if you have one. If you're simply looking to add a pot of flowers or herbs, you can probably skip this step. If you have grander dreams, you'll still likely get the green light to start growing, but perhaps with a caveat such as a weight restriction. Trust us; it's better to find out the policies or any limitations on your space before you haul home that heavy concrete planter.
2. Study Your Patio's Unique Growing Conditions
The light, wind and temperature on your patio might be different than your region's — or even your neighbor's. Some patios can feel like their own microclimate depending on a variety of factors, such as:
The direction they face: Southern and western exposures tend to be the warmest and brightest, while eastern and northern-facing patios may be cooler and shadier.
The distance off the ground: For example, a high-rise balcony may experience more extreme winds than a second-story one.
Proximity to trees and other buildings: If you're planning your patio garden in early spring, be sure to account for any trees that may not have leaves yet.
What's more, different areas of your patio might be better suited to certain types of plants. For example, you might grow shade-loving plants like hostas in the back corner and place produce that needs full sun toward the front.
3. Determine Your Small Patio Garden Goals
It's essential to prioritize what types of plants, containers and even furniture you want for your patio so you can make the smartest use of your space. As you brainstorm small patio or apartment patio garden ideas, some questions to ask yourself include:
How much produce do I want to grow, if any? Am I looking for a few fun, fresh herbs and greens, or a more substantial veggie plot?
Do I want fresh flowers, lots of foliage or a combo of both?
How do I want to spend my time here? Do I want a place to sip coffee in the morning, relax in the evenings, entertain friends and family, or just dig in the dirt?
4. Plan Your Patio
Resist the urge to run to the garden center and start throwing things in your cart. Although we completely understand the excitement of starting a new garden, you'll save time, money and stress in the long run by creating a detailed plan.
First, draw or use graph paper so that each grid is a square foot of your patio. Determine where you'd place any containers, raised beds and furniture, and draw them to scale (don't worry, it doesn't have to be fridge-worthy). Be sure you don't block any doorways, and plan how you'll bring water outside. Once you've filled in your horizontal surfaces, don't be afraid to go vertical for even more growing space.
Next, decide what you want to plant. Are you going for flowers that will last for one growing season, like container-friendly annuals, or flowers that will come back for multiple seasons, like perennials? Maybe you're sticking to herbs, fruits and veggies fit for small spaces and your patio's unique growing conditions.
Finally, determine how you'll grow your plants. Will you try starting from seed indoors with some hot-weather peppers and tomatoes? Will you plant easy-to-start lettuce and pea seeds directly in containers? Or will you purchase some starter plants, such as annual flowers that add instant color?
Now, you're ready to shop.
5. Plant Your Small Patio Garden
Once you've gathered everything you need, it's time to bring your vision to life. Plant any seeds you're starting indoors. Arrange your containers, planters and furniture outdoors. Fill your containers or raised beds with a potting mix designed specifically for containers. Sow seeds according to the packet directions and pot up your starter plants. Now you're ready to give your plants the care and attention they need. Whatever you decide to plant, you can find a growing guide to help you and your new green space along the way.
6. Stay Flexible and Enjoy the Process
Despite your best efforts, chances are you'll have to adjust some things throughout the growing season, such as where a container sits or even what's growing in it. Make changing things up easier by placing heavy pots on planter caddies with caster wheels so you can move them around easily. But above all, enjoy the process and continue refining until you achieve patio perfection.
With careful planning and the right plants, small patio gardens can live big. By determining what will grow well in your space, what you want to grow, and how you want to use your patio, you can create a one-of-a-kind garden that suits your needs.
As you bring your patio garden to life, don't miss these container gardening tips.