Do you wish to get more yields in a small garden space?
If you have a small garden you might find it challenging to find enough space to grow the amount of food that you want. Often our backyards or a sunny balcony can limit how much we can grow. However, even balconies can be used for unique growing opportunities like gutter gardens. There are many ways you can increase yields or grow crops that are easier to produce yields. You can also grow an ornamental garden with plants like the colocasia mojito in a small space.
10 Tips for Increasing Yields in a Small Garden Space
Grow Vertically
This is one of the best ways to add growing space, grow upwards! Using bamboo poles, wooden sticks, beautiful trellises you can increase growing space and add beautiful architecture to your small garden. Here I have lots of vertical gardening ideas or vertical garden beds. We also made a bean teepee for our kids to play in which was fun.
Use Containers
If you only have 1 or 2 garden beds you can add further yield by adding a couple (or a lot!) of containers. You can easily grow herbs in containers or even indoors to space outdoor space. You can use containers in ways you haven’t thought of like growing strawberries in hanging containers or tomatoes in containers. Build a potato bin or use potato containers. Container garden ideas are plentiful!
Start with Good Soil
The healthier your soil is the faster and better plants can grow. If your soil is poor and space limited you need your crops to have get the benefit of soil nutrients or organic fertilizers to grow fast. Learn some easy compost methods and build up soil microorganisms. Consider mulching too!
High-Yield Crops
Certain crops like cabbage you harvest one head of and it’s done. Others like kale, zucchini or pole beans the harvests are far more plentiful for the given space.
Grow Fast Growing Crops
Some crops take a long time to grow before you can harvest them, others grow quickly and are ready in less than 50 days. By growing the crops that are fast in the same bed you can increase yields. You can even sow fast growing veggies mid-summer for a fast fall garden.
Grow Easy Crops
Nurturing a heavy feeding crop like cauliflower or a crop that bolts fast like broccoli can be a waste of valuable space. This is especially true if you end up with little to no yields. Grow the easy growing crops instead of the finicky ones to get more from that garden bed. Here’s a list of the easiest to hardest crops to grow so you can choose wisely for your limited space.
Interplanting
This is one my favorite tips for increasing yields for any sized garden. By growing fast growing crops that are harvested quickly you can really increase your harvests. You sow these crops around, in between or under larger ones. Some examples are lettuce around tomato plants, spinach around kale plants, radishes and baby greens around squash. Growing spinach indoors along with other plants is also another tip for increasing yields.
Grow a Fall (or Winter) Garden
You can gain months more harvests by growing crops that can handle frosts and snow past the usual gardening season. Some crops don’t even need season extenders depending on your winters. You can grow a year-round garden for more harvests.
Smart Garden Planning
Staying organized for the season and creating a great sowing and transplanting schedule can make your garden more functional. Check out my 23-page printable garden planner or read more in my gardening book.
Head Start on Early Spring
Early spring gardening can mean harvests before anyone else is sowing theirs! How? Overwintering crops for early harvests and using hoop tunnels to warm up the soil can mean early sowing. Use indoor mini greenhouses to start seeds and learn more about growing your own seedlings.
Conclusion
Although having a small garden space is challenging I hope some of these tips help to increase yields in your small garden space.
Would you add anything to the list?
