Clever green ideas for small spaces

Shristi Nangalia

Not all city and apartment dwellers have the luxury to own a garden space with sprawling open lawns and elaborate landscaping. But, with some smart approaches, small areas can be personalised and turned into little pockets of greenery within any small or big home premise. Wondering how? Read on for tricks that you can apply for crafting your small, yet fulfilling, garden space.

Create vertical living walls 

Vertical gardening is a sure-shot way of bringing in a lot of greens, while occupying minimal floor area. It can be achieved in a myriad of ways. Green walls or living walls can be created by setting up a vertical mesh with growing medium over a wall, either freestanding or attached.Plants are then seeded and grown to cover the mesh network. Plants can also be led to grow in rows of planters attached to a trellis or a framed vertical structure.Vertical gardens can be given a more ornamental look by creating patterns with plants of different colour and texture. Climbing plants and vines can be trained to grow over boundary walls, exterior walls of the home, the entry porch, pergolas and fences as well. It not only offers a distinctive vertical interest to the garden, but also employs greenery without utilising the area on the ground. You can also go vertical by setting up offbeat planters over handmade frames or stands. Recycled rain gutters, plastic bottles, old shoes, etc. can be installed vertically with brackets. You can affix window boxes and small planters to the railings of your balcony or terrace as well; they save space, while modeling a layered garden look. You can directly put up open shelves on home walls or boundary walls to store small-sized pots and planters high up from the floor. 

Container arrangement

A container garden is probably the oldest (and the easiest) trick in the book. Container gardening refers to the use of planters with potting soil to grow plants, rather than planting them over the ground. Apart from opting for the conventional terracotta, clay, cement, fibre or plastic planters, one can also get creative and repurpose barrels, broken bathtubs, discarded kitchen containers, old baskets or buckets, etc. to create an out-of-the-ordinary focal point in the garden area. You can bring in huge planters or arrange several pots of a smaller make at your balcony, terrace, entrance space or backyard — as per the available space. The arrangement possibilities are innumerable; plus, they can be moved around as and when needed.  

Box on the window sill 

When space is at a premium, it is imperative to take advantage of available assets. Window boxes are box-like planters that are affixed to window sills. Although these boxes are commonly available in the market in wood, metal, vinyl and PVC, you can build your own window box with a crate or upcycled plastic or metal container of the suitable size. From flowering plants to vegetables, herbs to succulents, window boxes can support a wide variety of plant species. Make sure the window box is easily accessible and receives partial or full sunlight during the day.   

Go for hardy plants

I call succulent gardens mini gardens. Succulents are hardy plants that can add an intriguing tactility and lots of colour to small spaces. Being petite in nature, these plants can bestow an ornamental appeal to gardens in a comparatively lesser space. Succulents can be grown in pots and planters; they can be fastened to vertical gardens; they can be arranged in small groups in terrariums and more. 

Hang them up

A very obvious method of bringing in bright greens without making use of the ground space is by hanging them. From pergolas to eaves, from railings to chajjas, planters and pots can be hung or hooked from various elements with strings or ropes. You can create your own hanging planters or buy readymade ones from the market. Make sure the planters are accessible to allow for easy-caring and watering. 

Some useful tips

• Be wary of the size and nature of the planter and soil while picking the plants. 
• The climate must be considered while choosing plants and trees. 
• Learn caring, watering and fertilising schedules for individual plant species. 
• Ensure that all planters or containers have drainage holes to let excess water escape out.

Getting creative

Think artistic, think original. You can repurpose an old, broken, tiered water fountain, add a growing medium or substrate and grow your favourite greens over it. Another space-saving hack is toreuse discarded wooden or metal ladders as multi-level planter stands. A broken window frame can be amped up to house a patch of greenery on the wall. In tight spaces and corners, plant pots of different sizes can be stacked one on top of the other to save horizontal floor volume. There is so much that can be done!

— The writer is an architect based in Ganjam, Odisha