5 Spots to Start a Garden

My yard is pretty small and the amount of space I have to grow vegetables is not very large. This keeps me on the lookout for more spots to grow food and start gardening. Maximizing growing space in a small yard takes a bit of creativity and a keen eye. If you’re on the lookout for more areas to start a garden so that you can grow more of your own food, these 5 spots are ready to be discovered.

5 Spots to Start a Garden

1. Look up: “Sky gardening” as I like to call it. Green beans love to climb and a ladder may be necessary for harvesting. You don’t need much ground space but climbers like to go up. Staking the plants is key so find a source for inexpensive materials. Ask a neighbor who has bamboo growing in their yard when harvest time is!
2. South side and sunny: Any spot that faces south and gets afternoon sun is a good location. Look for walkways or driveways where you can line up pots. Pots can be inexpensive or free plastic ones. My neighbor gave me his plastic ones when he planted small trees.
3. Replace hedges with vegetables or fruit trees: Slowly replacing non-edible plants with edible ones is my gardening goal and this keeps the project easy. By not taking on too much – I’m ripping out a huge laurel bush today – it’s more a manageable job and it can be a process.
4. Raised beds: Adding raised beds to a grassy area takes a morning of work but results in a summer of fresh vegetables. Make sure to use non-pressure treated wood (no chemical leaching) for your building project.
5. Flowers need greens: Add a spinach plant to your flower pots! Every pot of flowers needs a little greenery. Add spinach or arugula and those pretty pots of flowers can have something edible in them, too.

A tour of my garden with additional space…

This a walkway along a porch that faces south. Plastic pots were given to me by my neighbors and would have otherwise been recycled.

And by the end of summer they filled in nicely. It was a great spot for peppers and tomatoes.

“Sky gardening” works for green beans in this spot that used to be a hedge.

By the end of the season, my husband had to use a ladder to pick the green beans.

This was an unused spot on the south side of our house.

It produced so many tomatoes last year that my regular staking methods tipped over and I ended up with a tangled – but delicious – tomato mess! Start saving your eggshells for planting with your tomatoes, too.

All of my flower pots get a little greenery. Lettuce and flowers look pretty together.

Whether your yard is large or small, look around for places to maximize your vegetable growing space. It takes a bit of creativity and a keen eye but if your goal is to grow more food, be on the lookout! These 5 spots to start a garden are probably in your yard. Go look! You’ll be eating fresh vegetables from your “farm” this summer.

What’s growing in your garden right now? Inspired to find new spots to grow food?

Go Gingham related links:

I also like to save seeds and re-use those in my garden!
How to stake tomato plants – a very stylishly frugal method!
Why my tomato plants are happy – what I plant with them
My non-gardener-gardening-strategy – yes, non gardeners can fake it
Three easy herbs to grow – you won’t be able to kill these, I promise!
Easy grids for your garden – get square foot gardening!
Composting tips – add richness to your soil with scraps from the kitchen

More related links:

Amy from “Frugal Mama” has a list of edible flowers you’ll want to check out. Flowers that you can eat – a win-win in the garden!

Rita from “This Sorta Old Life” is sharing her “lawn to garden” conversion. She claims she doesn’t know what she’s doing but it looks professional to me.