Green thumbs don’t have to disappear once you move into city life. With a little bit of space and a healthy amount of creativity, you can create a thriving apartment garden.
You might be thinking that you’d love to have a little herb garden, or some of your favourite flowers, or even just a few pots that can grow tomatoes, but you don’t have any outdoor space.
That’s ok. Of course, in an ideal world, a little deck or patio makes an apartment garden a piece of cake. But not to worry, all you need to get your garden going is a little bit of space, a window and a healthy dose of organization.
So let’s get started!
Find Your Containers
This is the fun part. Show off your style and creativity here. You don’t have to grow your container garden in those boring old plastic pots, add in some color and patterns; you can design your garden in any way you’d like.
What’s also important here is that you make sure any containers you use have drainage holes. Now, if you buy something that is pre-potted this won’t be an issue. If you don’t have a watering tray, or want to carry your plants back and forth to your sink, then consider placing each potted plant into a larger pot that has no drainage. This way, any extra water won’t spill out over your clean countertops!
When you start buying your containers consider sizes and heights to give your garden a bit of variety.
Pick Your Plants
Your only limitation here is determined by sunlight. If you don’t get more than an hour or two of direct sunlight through the window that is going to be the base of your garden outpost, then you probably won’t be able to grow certain things.
Some of the easier things to get started with are herbs. Not only are they relatively simple to tend to and grow, but they also provide an automatic set of ingredients for the kitchen. Many people also tend to grow a mix of things that bloom throughout the year, yielding some extra fruit, or just providing a nice pop of color to an otherwise dreary winter day.
Do a bit of research and understand what flowers, herbs or edibles will be able to work with the climate in your apartment and the amount of daily sunlight. Once you get going, you will be able to figure out what plants will work best for your area, and you can get growing.
Start Planting
Once you have your pots set, the next priority is getting good soil. Check your local gardening shop (or even contact a local farm) for quality potting soil. This is the best thing you can do right off the bat to ensure that your plants will start growing.
Many who are just getting into gardening might try getting pre-potted seeds that have already started sprouting; this is a great place to start. Once you take your sprouted plant home, make sure to transfer it to a bigger pot that will allow its roots to grow.
For those more adventurous souls, you can buy a few seed varieties at your local shop and start them growing on your own. For this, you don’t need many pots right away; in fact you can start growing pretty much anything with a roasting pan and an egg carton. Simply put the seeds and dirt in each space, water and in a few weeks you will have some tiny sprouts. Anything that has successfully started growing, you can transfer into larger pots.
Sit Back and Enjoy Your Garden
Now that everything is planted and set up in your little window garden, all there is to do now is wait. Once you garden starts blooming and growing you will love having a few fresh herbs, some of your favorite flowers or even a couple of veggies to serve on your dinner table.
