7 Productive Plants to Grow in Small Spaces

Keen to grow your own fruit and veggies but restricted by space? Here are seven productive plants you can grow in small spaces.

7 productive plants to grow in small spaces

Micro greens

If you want something tiny, nutritious and delicious, try micro greens. Long revered by chefs for their subtle flavours and delicate textures, they are very easy to grow and will add some extra street cred to any kitchen.

Because plants are not grown to full maturity, we don’t have to worry about a lot of common challenges like spacing, light, pests and disease.

Instead, growing is an all-out sprint with a high-density of seeds placed in a tray and watered daily. Only a little bit of light is necessary, which makes these a popular option for people who want to grow indoors.

productive plants

Lettuce

Lettuce is the Golden Retriever of the vegetable world: simple, loyal and easy to satisfy.

Throw any season at a lettuce and you’re bound to get some produce in return. It seems to thrive best in early autumn and spring conditions, but like your Retriever, will be happy with most seasons.

Lettuces are not especially hungry for nutrients, but do require a steady supply of nitrogen, and are great productive plants for small spaces.

Tomatoes

There is no more important fruit anywhere in the world, so despite the challenging nature of the tomato, anyone who’s anyone will rush out and plant one in spring.

All styles differ, whether that’s the variety you choose (cherry, staking, bush), the infrastructure or maintenance. There are so many variables you won’t find the same two set-ups anywhere.

silverbeet

Silverbeet (swiss chard)

Silverbeet is a robust and diplomatic leafy green that is decisively neutral to the seasons. It can be planted all year round, provided the environment isn’t extremely hot or cold, so it’s a ready tenant whenever new garden real estate becomes available.

For us however, we like to use all our available space for summer veggies during the hot months, so silverbeet has become a de facto winter crop. A single plant should steadily produce for 12 months or more. It’s so safe and reliable…so Swiss.

Dwarf citrus

Planting a dwarf citrus tree is all about knowing your limits. With space at a premium, these smaller trees are made for small space gardening, but they also produce a more manageable yield of fruit, which doesn’t end up fermenting on the ground of hot concrete laneways.

It also means that rather than limiting yourself to one large tree and a lot of the same fruit, you can diversify your tree stock and the fruit they grow.

Peas

There are few tastier times in the patch than when peas are in season and those sweet, crunchy snacks litter the foliage. Their bounty aside, peas also provide benefit to the garden as a whole, injecting the soil with nitrogen as they grow.

The difference between a tiny bite-size pod or a proper mouthful is about two weeks and a lot of willpower.

strawberries

Strawberries

Strawberries are a great small space variety and prime candidate for growing in a pot or wall garden unit.

Although we are all very familiar with the summer-bearing supermarket strawberry, few people realise that there are hundreds of weird and wonderful varieties that you can grow yourself.

There are red, white, blue, black, green and even purple straw- berries. Consider the pineberry: a white strawberry with red seeds and a pineapple-like taste.

You can find the full version of this article in issue #10 of Pip Magazine, available here.

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