My Priorities with a patio garden
Before we lived on our farm, we had a suburban townhouse with a tiny patio. I was feeling the drive to fill the patio space with plants each spring and summer, and that’s exactly what I did!
I loved choosing my hanging baskets to hang on the shepherd’s crook I had out front. I also planted numerous seeds each year - veggies, herbs, and also flowers.
As someone who was used to growing up with an in-ground garden, patio gardening was really challenging for me. I found my veggie pots dried out really quickly and during the hottest days of the summer, I often would water them 2 times per day. I learned so much from my summers with my patio garden!
Knowing what I now know, here’s what I would prioritize in a patio garden:
Herbs! The plant that keeps on giving, herbs are relatively easy to keep on a patio. In my patio garden, basil was a non-negotiable, but also experimented with other herbs including cilantro and rosemary. I love that most herbs will keep growing all season long, and they won’t take up too much space in a patio environment. Medium sized pots (I love the one gallon size!) are perfect for your patio herbs.
Cherry Tomatoes - No patio garden is complete without a cherry tomato plant! Though you can easily plant more than one cherry tomato, a plant that is well taken care of will produce all season long. A tomato root ball is going to grow quite large, so you’ll want to use some big pots for these plants. When I had my own patio garden, I used a few 3-5 gallon tree pots for my tomato plants.
Determinate Tomato - Tomatoes are either determinate - meaning they will stop growing at a certain point, or indeterminate - meaning they will keep growing until the end of the season. Determinate tomato plants are great for a small patio garden. I always planted a determinate Roma tomato plant in my own patio garden. Again - make sure you have a large pot for your tomatoes! A large pot will help to not have to water as often, and will help the plant to thrive.
Leaf Lettuce or Spinach - These days, my favorite lettuces are head lettuce plants, however they only will grow one head per plant. In a patio setting, leaf lettuce is a great option. You can harvest the lettuce or spinach and it will continue to grow back, until it bolts (goes to seed). I’d put lettuce in a nice shady spot on a patio where the temperatures won’t get too outrageously hot. Lettuce have shallow roots so won’t need a very large pot or container.
Snack Peppers - I love the sweet snacking peppers that we grow each year, and if I was to plan another patio garden, I would plant at least 3 of these plants! They are tasty right off the plant, and are great for lunches, afternoon snacks, and using them on your kabobs in the summer.
Bush Cucumber - I love vining plants, however the bush cucumber varieties are perfect for a small space on a patio! These plants grow to around 2-3 feet in diameter, and are prolific producers. In my own patio garden years ago, I’d grow vining cucumbers with a trellis, and it really didn’t work very well. The bush varieties are wonderful options for those with limited space.
Bell Pepper - I use bell peppers fresh from the garden in many recipes during the summer. These compact plants are small enough where you could plant multiple plants, but prolific enough where you would get a decent harvest from each plant for the season. If I was planning a patio garden, I’d likely plant at least 4 plants, one of each color.
Annual Flowers - Every year, in the spring spring I go to the local nurseries and choose my annuals for my hanging baskets and containers. I don’t know nearly as much about flowers as I do veggies, so I always go into it with an open mind. I simply choose the plants and flowers I like best. Sometimes I’ll try to chose a “thriller, filler, and spiller” to add some interest to the pots, but I also give myself permission to throw the “rules” out the window and plant what I like. I always seem to be drawn to begonias, impatiens (especially double impatiens!), petunias, lantana, and dahlias.
A patio garden has unique needs compared to an in-ground garden. Here are some hard lessons I learned with my own townhouse patio gardens:
Watering is key! I watered at least once a day, more if it was a hot, dry day.
Choose the biggest pot you can fit on your patio. A larger pot will retain moisture for a longer period of time. Many veggie plants have extensive root systems, so a larger pot will allow them to fill out the space and grow even larger.
There are farmers markets everywhere, and you don’t have to grow all your veggies from a patio garden! One of my favorite things each week was to visit the local farmers market when we lived in our townhome. I would regularly buy everything from deliciously flavorful lettuce heads, onions, zucchini, winter squash, pumpkins, and more! Farmers market days were so fun for me to explore what was in season during those years when I didn’t have the space to grow all the things like I do now!
If you’d like to order some plants for your own patio garden, our plant sale is live!
Below you’ll see a few pictures from the years in our townhouse. I was so proud of these plant adventures!
