One of the biggest downsides to living in an apartment is not having a backyard. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still fulfil your passion for gardening. There are many plants that can be grown in an apartment. Below are a few gardening solutions for those that live in an apartment.
Create a balcony garden
Does your apartment have a balcony? If so, you could consider setting up your own mini-garden here.
Balconies are ideal for growing all kinds of potted plants. This could include fruit-producing plants like strawberries and tomatoes, or decorative plants like geraniums and jasmine.
Of course, balconies come in various different sizes and may be exposed to all kinds of different climates. It’s important to consider what plants are best suited to the conditions of your balcony:
- If your balcony is south or west facing and sunny for most of the day, consider sun-loving plants like pelargoniums, stachys and petunias.
- If your balcony is north or east facing and shady for long periods of the day, consider shade-loving plants like begonias, ferns and hostas.
- If your balcony is very windy, consider plants like agave and geraniums that are very wind-resistant. Using weighted pots, securing pots down or using a windbreak is also recommended.
- For small balconies with little to no space, consider flowers you can grow in baskets that can be hung from walls or railings. Fuschias and tomatoes are good examples.
For the best selection of plants, it’s worth shopping online. You can then find plants specifically catered to the conditions of your balcony.
Before growing plants on your balcony, check with your landlord to make sure that there are no restrictions prohibiting ‘excessive plants’. Most landlords should be happy with you growing plants here, but others have strict rules in place as to what can be placed on the balcony.
Identify indoor suntraps
If you don’t have a balcony, indoor plants may be your only option. Most plants need to be grown near a window to get a good amount of sunlight. However, different houseplants may have different demands when it comes to how much sunlight they need.
The most sunny windows are likely to be on the south and west side of your home. Any large windows on this side of your home are likely to be particularly sunny. When choosing plants for these windowsills, consider sun-loving options like aloe vera, jade and hibiscus.
Small potted trees may be possible in some larger rooms. These will often need a lot of sunlight and should be placed by large windows that receive a lot of sun throughout the day. Examples include kentia palms, olive trees and money trees.
Is your kitchen windowsill a suntrap? This could be the ideal location for growing many fruit-producing plants such as peppers, lemons, apricots and figs. Herbs like basil, chives, oregano and cilantro also thrive in the sun. You may be able to incorporate these fruits and herbs into your cooking.
Embrace shade-loving plants
Not all plants need direct sunlight to thrive. Some plants actually prefer to grow in dappled shade or indirect sun. This includes ZZ plants, snake plants and peace lillies.
These plants are ideal for windowsills on the east and north side of your apartment. They may also be a good choice for windows that are obscured by trees. Some plants may even be possible to place away from windows such as on coffee tables or next to sofas - so long as they get some sun, they should be able to grow.
Bathrooms can often be very shady parts of the home due to often having few windows. Their high humidity levels combined with their low levels of light can actually make them well-suited to many tropical plants usually found on the floor of rainforests. This includes ferns, orchids and rubber plants.
Got a shady kitchen? The shade is generally not suited to fruit-producing plants. However, some herb plants like mint and lemon balm can grow well in partial shade. Choose these plants for a shady kitchen windowsill.
Use indoor grow lights
Indoor grow lights can be a solution for growing plants in any room - no matter how little sunlight it gets. These lights convert electrical energy into photons, which is the best light for photosynthesis.
When choosing plants to grow under indoor grow lights, you will need to consider how much light they need throughout the day and the intensity of the light they prefer. This will determine which type of bulb is best suited and how long to keep it on for.
Herbs like basil, chives and rosemary are popular options for growing under indoor grow lights. Citrus fruits and strawberries can also be grown under grow lights. A benefit of using artificial light is that you can grow these plants at any time of the year without worrying about sun levels (fancy growing strawberries over winter? Use grow lights!).
You can buy hydroponic kits online that include grow lights. Make sure to buy good quality grow lights for the best outcome.
Rent garden space
If you feel that your apartment is too limiting, there could be another solution for allowing you to pursue your gardening dreams. This solution is to rent garden space.
Community gardens are popular in many towns and cities and often rented out by those with apartments and condos. You get to rent out a small plot of land that you can privately use to grow whichever plants you desire. This is ideal for growing many types of fruit and vegetables that can’t be grown in pots such as pumpkins, squashes and sweetcorn.
A drawback of community gardens is that they often have a long waiting list and some can be quite expensive. There is another solution, which is to look for people advertising yard space to rent. In many cities, this has become a popular alternative to going on a community garden waiting list.
In order to motivate you to regularly visit your rented garden, try to look for a plot that is fairly local. It may also be worth considering security - fenced off community gardens are less likely to be accessed by wild animals or vandals.