Pathway through front yard to vertical garden area- can see the pallet just to the top right

An advantage of having limited gardening space is that it forces you to be very efficient and creative in how you use what you have. The opposite can also be true.  In my case I have a lot of neglected or unresolved areas that don’t get enough care or attention, and every time I walk by these spaces I cringe and think hopefully, “hmmm, maybe next year”. (Okay, enough about me and my garden). One of my inspirations this year has been my friend Megan, who recently sent photos of her fabulously well organized garden. Here are three things that she’s done to make me think differently about my own space.

(1) Choosing plants wisely 

In the picture above, you can see that Megan has used a variety of plants make a nice transition between vertical walls (houses, hedges and trees) and the horizontal grass. This is super important if people are going to be walking right beside your building. She has added an intimate seating space in the corner and has used trees and hedges to create shade, has play space for the kids and still managed to add in lots of gorgeous flowers.

Everything filling in nicely. View from front gate

(2) Going vertical

Megan converted her sunny fence space on the side of her house into a green wall. I love how she used this for both food and flowers.

View of Megan’s green wall from her kitchen door. There is a pallet garden to the far left, tomato plants and a gutter garden near the top of the fence.

One of the things that I am super excited about is Megan’s pallet garden. Instead of covering it with landscape fabric and filling it with dirt, Megan used the pallet to make shelves, which she planted with flowers and herbs. Gorgeous!

Close up of the garden pallet/ living wall

3) Getting super creative with a gutter garden

And my favorite: Megan’s “gutter garden”. How cute is this?  She purchased gutter materials from the hardware store, mounted them on the fence and filled them with dirt. She has two gutter gardens; the top one is a lettuce nursury and the bottom is for herbs. The herbs are being crowded out by the tomatoes but she will swap them next year.

Megan’s herb garden in the gutters.

I should mention that Megan doesn’t just confine her gardening activities to small spaces: she currently coordinates an elementary school’s gardening activities, which include 15 large raised beds.

Finally, Megan asked me to mention her fabulous husband, Rob, who has instrumental in supporting her gardening efforts this year. Thanks Rob! And thanks Megan for all the inspiration and for sending the pictures!