How To Grow Vegetables In A Limited Space
For anyone accustomed to the notion that a vegetable garden must be a fairly large affair – its rows stretching fifteen or twenty feet at a minimum, the concept of crops pushing up from a small container or appearing to burst the bonds of a tiny patch of ground only a few feet square – it is almost unsettling.
Yet growing vegetables in cramped spaces is not only possible but highly rewarding. One can grow tomatoes in tubs at the edge of a patio, strawberries in empty milk cartons on a windowsill, lettuce in a modest window box, watermelons along a strip beside a driveway or beans on a trellis on a small apartment balcony.
A space the size of a card table can provide an ample supply of vegetables. The trick is creating a garden that has the right conditions to thrive, and choosing seeds that are suited to being grown in a smaller area.
Luckily a number of seed companies have responded to the newly recognized demand for miniature or compact plants, and more new strains are being offered to the public every year, often grouped together under such headings as “space savers,” “space misers” or “midgets.”
Growing vegetables in a smaller space is different from growing other things in the same space. Plants like rhododendrons, heathers or miniature bulbs are grown mainly for their appearance. They’re merely decorative.
Vegetables are grown not to reward the eye so much as the taste buds. So while you might find corn stalks and bean bushes in the average vegetable garden, they’re not a common sight in a well designed landscape garden.
The biggest challenge with a small vegetable garden is practicality. Some vegetables such as lettuce will grow fine with only 4 hours of sunlight a day, but anything that produces a fruit (tomatoes, corn, beans, etc.) needs a solid 8 hours of direct sunlight or they aren’t going to be very productive. That sunlight isn’t necessary for dwarf azaleas, however.
A good mix of soil, with the proper fertilizer, is necessary for growing vegetables but may be too much for some dwarf plants that are supposed to stay small. The main problem however is the need to turn over the soil in a vegetable garden every year. This kind of heavy tilling just can’t be done in some small garden areas, which is why a small scale vegetable garden usually needs to be separate from the average garden.
In spite of the challenges, growing vegetables in a small space is worth the effort. You’ll need to decide whether you want miniature fruit or just miniature plants. Small vegetables are cute, but often not so practical. There are some that are widely used though – cherry tomatoes and radishes are two perfect examples.
