How to Start a Low-Cost Patio Garden

This is second post this month about gardening in the patio. earlier I wrote about winter care for potted plants. In this article I’ll tell you how to start a patio garden with minimal cost. We didn’t spend more than $10 when we started living in this country.

Are you currently without a yard? Maybe you live in New York City and you’re lucky enough to have a patio. Or, for the rest of us, perhaps we do have a yard, but don’t want to take the time to develop a large garden. Then a patio garden might be perfect for all of us! Let’s take a look at some cheap ways to start and maintain our garden on the patio.

1) Plant with a pallet – I’m sure you all know what a pallet is. If you ever drive past a company that has high-lows travelling in and out, they are most likely carrying pallet, which is just a skid that’s used to put things on and to keep product off of the floor. It also makes for easy moving.

Well, if you can find one of these for your own personal use, it can actually make for a great place to start a garden! Since most patios are very limited for space, you could tip the pallet up on its side, pile some dirt into the holes, plant your seedlings, and voila – you’ve got your garden.

There’s enough space in each hole to get some sunlight and it can actually brighten up your stone wall considerably.

2) Shoe Container Plants – You might have some shoe organizers that would typically hang inside of a closet door (you know, the fabric/vinyl ones), but for most of us, this was a great idea, but we just don’t use it like we’re supposed to.

Perhaps you can put it to better use by growing some plants in there! Just load up those holes with dirt (yes, this is my solution to everything, haha!), plant your seeds, and watch your garden grow!

3) Use Those Glass Jars – another great way to grow a garden while saving space on your patio is by using glass jars. Just attach your jars to a board and secure each board to the wall and you’ve got yourself some more space for your patio garden!

4) Use Rain Gutters – Sometimes attaching rain gutters to your wall can look pretty cool too. They are perfect for planting a long line of plants and if you pick the right ones, they could even look pretty fashionable.

If you really want to brighten up your space (since most rain gutters are a neutral color), bust out the spray paint! You can make those gutters any color you want. After all, your plants won’t know the difference.

5) Use cuttings from your neighborhood – Many plants can be easily propagated from cuttings. I planted succulents, hibiscus and Bougainvillea from cutting obtained from various sources, including a cut from our local super mart landscape. Do take permission though before you attempt to cut a shoot or a branch off. To get 100% chance of propagation, you’ll need to buy a rooting hormone. There are plenty of videos that can teach you how to propagate plants from their cuttings. This way you can save on plant purchases.

6) Container gardening with old chest of drawers – Your old chest of drawers that you are planning to trash, can be great container for raised bed gardening. You’ll need to polish the sides though to make it durable in moist condition.

7) Planting from seeds – This summer we had tomatoes, peppers, basil and egg plants, all grew from their seeds. We bought $1 per packet seeds from Amazon. Instead of buying a $3 single tomato seedling at Home Depot or for $2.5 at local nursery. You can use some seeds and keep the rest for coming years.

Hopefully, these ideas can get you started on your very first patio garden, or may I’ve just given you some ideas that you can use in your already-existing patio garden! Whatever the case may be, having plants can be quite beneficial for a multitude of reasons.

The biggest three that come to mind immediately are self-sufficiency, reduced cost, and personal happiness. If you are able to grow some vegetables on your patio, then you are on your way to self-sufficiency my friend! If the store closed down tomorrow, you could still survive for a while with your plants.

By growing some veggies from a tiny seedling, you are certainly saving money over the cost of what you would pay at the store.

And finally, plants just give us an overall sense of happiness. Think about it. If you enter a building that has white walls and a very sterile feel, but then soon after experience a room with plants and trees, you just become a much happier person don’t you? Start your patio garden and you’ll know exactly what I mean.

These are just a few tried-and-tested-by-us ideas. There are many more fabulous low-cost options for patio gardening, if you have a sunny balcony, go for it start your healthy and beautiful patio garden today.