Around the House: Welcome Spring by Planting Creative Micro-Gardens

By Yehudit Garmaise

Every home can find tiny corners of space: whether inside or outside, to bring in spring with small gardens that add natural pops of fresh color.

Flowers and plants provide a relaxing and cheerful atmosphere, and plants purify the toxins in the air, and the care and tending of greenery can be fun and exciting as everything starts coming up roses.

In addition, herb gardens can provide fresh spices for cooks. 

The following are ideas for bringing blooms, greenery, vegetables, and herbs into your yard or home.

Create the Perfect Urban Escape: Designer Christina Nielsen suggested on housebeautiful.com that urban residents set flat stones outside into gravel to place a small metal table, comfortable chairs, and an umbrella to transform a regular backyard into “a sitting garden.” To landscape, one designer surrounded the table and chairs with trees that bear fruit, potted sunflowers and plants, flowering bushes, and fern-like greenery that scales a fence behind the sitting area.

Mix Different Size Plants on a Small Balcony, Porch, or Deck: To create a little relaxing corner that radiates calm and quiet, you only need a tiny space to set out plants of varying sizes and heights. Choose tall potted trees, low potted voluminous plants, small pots of colorful flowers, and tiny containers of fragrant herbs to alternate placing on the ground, on small tables, and garden benches with throw pillows or cushions. Add a rocking chair, a book, and coffee for your own secret garden.

Till the soil and plant some seeds in a tiny vegetable garden to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and fresh herbs that will emerge later in the summer for your family’s salads and stir-fries. 

Use your fence as a trellis to hang and support plants and flowers:  Install freestanding trellises painted in neutral colors to showcase the plants and flowers.

Place colorful potted flowers on the stairs leading up to your front or back door.

Hang window boxes, just as the British do, to place small pots and plants to beautify your home and your whole street. 

Make a terrarium, which is a glass container that holds tiny miniature gardens, just as an aquarium holds fish and water, is another fun option. Plants in terrariums mostly sustain themselves by watering themselves through transpiration and condensation.

Use your wall space: by hanging a small modular or geometric shelving unit on which to place tiny plants that do not need much care, such as cacti and succulents: 

Hang plants vertically: by attaching a few hooks to your ceiling or your home’s entryway. Buy sleek modern plant hangers in different shapes or macrame plant hangers if you like a crafty, old-school vibe.

Tend to Flowers or Herbs on a Kitchen Shelf or on a Window Sill: Paint a small shelf a bright color, and use it to create a tiny indoor garden in a light-filled kitchen. Fresh herbs in small vases also look great on window sills, which both benefit from the sunlight and will be ready for snipping when you need some spice in your cooking.  

Photo Credit: Flickr