Growing your own in small spaces

It really doesn’t matter how much space you have, everyone can give growing their own a try at home. I am really lucky to have a wonderful 300 square metre allotment to use to grow all my own fruit, vegetables and cut flowers. But don’t worry if you only have windowsills, a balcony, a small patio or a small garden you can still grow your own successfully, and I’m going to give you some helpful hints and tips to help you grow in small spaces.
I have recently moved from a large garden space to a much smaller garden so it has been a challenge trying to adapt with the space I have. I moved house just as lockdown happened, so I have made it my aim to develop my garden and grow as much as I can in a small space and want to show you some of the ways I have achieved this.
My garden space only really gets the sun in the afternoon as the trees at the bottom of the garden keep it quite shaded until noon. I only have one side of my garden that actually catches the sun so I’ve had to make the most of only really using half of the garden. I’ve also had to keep in mind that now I am renting I don’t want anything to be planted in the garden that I want to be able to move easily so I have planted everything into pots and containers.

Think Vertical
With the lack of space I can use I’ve had to make sure I use every part of it wisely to grow as much as I can, and the best way to do this was to think vertical. Vertical growing can really transform how a space looks and enables people to grow much more produce in a smaller space.
Using the fence panels, wall and shed to add trellis to then climb plants has been a great way to make most of the space, I have used my trellis to grow peas, mangetout, cucumbers and tomatoes. I have also added wall baskets and hanging baskets around my garden to make use of the space higher up.
My favourite part of the garden this year was my lettuce hanging basket, not only was it a great space saver, but because it was hanging up high it completely stopped the pesky slugs and snails eating it for dinner.
I used the other wall baskets for tumbling tomatoes, strawberries and nasturtiums. All the pots that are at the bottom of the trellis growing the tomatoes, cucumbers and peas I made the most of the pot space by growing lettuce, rocket, spinach and kale at the front of the pots so I didn’t miss a centimetre of space.
This season so far in my garden I have grown: strawberries, blueberries, mangetout, tomatoes, cucumbers, chives, parsley, mint, pineberries, kale, lettuce, lemons, calamondin oranges and edible flowers- nasturtiums/viola.

Attracting pollinators
Don’t forget that even in small spaces we need to attract pollinators into the space and make small urban gardens, patios and balconies a wonderful flourishing environment for pollinators too. In my garden I have lots of beneficial plants growing in pots like echinacea, salvia, lavender, agastache, scabosia, nasturtiums, sunflowers and borage to help encourage pollinators into the garden.
My garden may be small, but it’s mighty. It’s full of bees and butterflies making most of all the pollinator friendly plants and it’s also filled with an abundance of food to freshly pick and use at home.
I know that next year I can definitely maximise this space even more with more hanging baskets and wall baskets, and I will be experimenting with lots of different veggies, fruit and flowers to see what else I can squeeze into my small garden.
I love my allotment but I get just as much joy out of my small garden. I’ve enjoyed every morning going outside barefoot with my coffee to see how it has been developing over the past five months.
Whatever space you have make sure you try growing your own, even if it’s just a windowsill in your house, try growing some herbs or microgreens, I’m sure that you will soon get the growing your own bug.

Kirsty Ward
My Little Allotment