As city gardens become ever smaller, garden space becomes more and more precious.
Once the norm, space for growing vegetables may seem just a dream. Yet salads, tomatoes, and other vegetables are so much better straight from the garden. Young, tender vegetables are prized, and so much better when there are only minutes between the garden and the pot or salad bowl. The process, from garden to table, is enjoyable and one of anticipation.
There are lots of ways to introduce vegetables into the garden, especially as we can become more innovative in how we grow our veges.
Tips for Small Space Vegetables
Concentrate on growing only those vegetables that benefit the most from being picked fresh and take up a small space. Don't grow plants that take up lots of space, have a long growing season or you don't love to eat!
Grow vegetables that are hard to find and not usually on the supermarket shelves, and select varieties for superior taste rather than crop size. Small is definitely beautiful in a tiny vegetable garden. The largest tomatoes are not necessarily the best tasting.
Vegetables suitable for small spaces are generally harvested when young and tender. Thus the growing season is shorter and plants can be cycled through faster. Baby cauliflower, finger carrots, cherry tomatoes, spring onions, there are loads of suitable seeds on the market today.
Grow fewer vegetables of each type. In a large garden we can grow 20 celery plants, in a small space garden you may want to grow only half a dozen, and in a balcony garden two or three plants will provide fresh stalks for cutting.
In courtyards and against a warm wall you can often get planting long before the soil in a traditional garden has warmed enough for planting out and seed sowing.
Succession planting - a few at a time, avoids gluts of produce and ensures that three is always something ready to eat in the garden. Instant salads, carrot snacks, anything is possible.
Growing a few seeds in a propagator or on a windowsill means that you can jump-start the season. Also sow successively, a few seeds at a time, to avoid them all coming ready at once. Fold over the top of the seed packet and store in a cool, dry, dark place, the back of a kitchen cabinet is just fine. The seedling plants can then be introduced into the garden when they are a few inches high to grow to maturity.
Decorative Vegetables
Vegetables can become part of the decorative garden. Celery has decorative foliage and can grow in a relatively tiny space, ruby chard is tremendously decorative, and there are many, many other vegetables that are great to look at as well as eat.
Lettuces come in a range of colours and have fascinating foliage - there are many varieties that you can 'cut-and-come-again' without leaving a gap in the border. 'Little Gem' cos (or romaine) and 'Tom Thumb' lettuce are great small space plants, The loose leaf 'Lollo Rosso' and similar varieties provide salad vegetables over a long period.
Integrating vegetables into your borders is surprisingly easy, there are so many wonderful foliage shapes and colours and the red flowers on beans, and the yellow and purple pods that follow make an interesting addition you a planting plan. You do need to plan to fill gaps when you have harvested crops, however, and you also need to ensure that growing vegetables get enough sunshine to do well. There is nothing decorative about spindly or struggling vegetables.
Potager gardens, an idea drawn from French kitchen gardens, have become remarkably popular in recent years. Planting your vegetables in a pattern edged by brick paths or box hedges is certainly decorative and the framework provides structure when the garden is less than full. However this is a style of gardening that you either enjoy or you don't. It's all a matter of taste.
Growing in containers is a great option. Even if you don't have any soil you can still grow a few choice vegetables. There are many striking plants that make attractive and productive container plants.
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Vegetables are immensely decorative
Become more innovative in how you grow your veges
In courtyards or against a warm wall you can plant early
Good Husbandry
 Good husbandry is as important in a small vegetable garden as a large one. Water regularly, weed and feed your garden for the best results.
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Grow a few seeds on a windowsill to jump-start the season
Site and Soil
Most vegetables need at least six or more hours of sunlight a day. Soils should be rich with plenty of well-rotted compost and organic matter added.
Light sandy soils that drain quickly will not hold moisture and thus require frequent watering or poor crops result. Adding organic matter will improve moisture retention.
Clay soils are very fertile but are reluctant to give up that fertility. Adding grit, well-rotted compost and organic matter helps to break up clay soils and enables plants to establish well.
In small space gardens where vegetables are grown intensively, crop rotation to avoid the build-up of soil-borne diseases and the depletion of soil fertility is even more important.
A three-year rotation may be more practical in a small space. Divide your garden into three to four areas or beds (the fourth for decorative plants and longer-term plantings such as strawberries) makes managing rotation easier. |
A potager framework provides structure | |
