Herbs from the window farm, strawberries from the balcony and lettuce on the wall: even without your own garden, you can grow many things at home.
Spring is a good time to sow seeds and plant beds. You can literally watch some plants grow now. Don’t have a garden? That doesn’t matter. Even with a little windowsill space, you can get started. And if there’s a corner or a wall in the yard that’s free, you can turn that into a mini-garden, too!
There you can grow anything that doesn’t take up much space and doesn’t have deep roots. Besides flowers and herbs, you can plant lettuce, for example! Also radishes, kohlrabi, zucchini or pumpkins grow in pots and boxes. If you prefer to harvest something sweet, you can also use strawberries.
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For the curious: Sowing herbs on the windowsill
Herbs are especially good to start gardening. Many are uncomplicated and grow quickly. And there is always something to harvest. Cress is great for those in a hurry and for trying out. You can grow them all year round on a bright windowsill in the apartment. You can get seeds in many organic markets, hardware stores or nurseries.
Fill a small container with a thin layer of potting soil. It only needs to be very little. Cress can do without soil if necessary, because the seeds already contain almost everything the plants need to germinate. Spread the seeds on the soil and tap them lightly. Moisten the soil with a little water. This works well with a spray bottle. Cover the container with a glass lid or cling film. Now you can watch what happens inside every day! Moisten the cress regularly. After ten to twelve days you can harvest the cress. It tastes good on bread with cream cheese or in a salad.
On the windowsill in the apartment, for example, also grow basil, dill, parsley or marjoram. You can grow them from seed, just like cress. But once the seeds have become small plants, they first have to move into larger pots. The so-called seedlings need space to grow well.
Many herbs and other plants can also be bought as seedlings in pots and cultivated at home. Especially in the spring, they are often available in the supermarket – take a look around!
Have you acquired a taste for them? With a little tinkering and imagination, you can create a hanging garden at the window and grow several varieties of herbs! It’s a real eye-catcher. You can build it yourself from empty plastic drink bottles.
Caution: Everything must be well fastened! The planters must not be able to fall down. For example, special suspensions for flower boxes are suitable for fastening. Cable ties from the hardware store can also be a good solution.
When they are already somewhat larger, most plants develop best outside. This can be the windowsill outside or the balcony. If there is little space on the balcony, you can also hang boxes on the railing.
Boxes, boxes or bottles: Mini beets on the balcony
As planters, of course, you can use ordinary flower boxes. More fun are old boxes or tubs! Anything that is sturdy and has at least as much space as a flower box is possible. Many people use buckets or tubs. With all containers, it’s important that water can drain to the bottom. This is because if the soil is too wet, the contents can mold. Vessels that have holes in the bottom are good.
A layer of gravel or stones at the bottom of the container also helps against too much wetness. Potting soil or compost is placed on top.
Wooden crates as planters often look particularly chic, for example old wine crates. It is important that the wooden parts do not become permanently damp. You can line the inside of the container with sturdy foil. You can get it at the hardware store, for example. Here too, of course, the water must be able to drain off at the bottom – so it’s best to cut a few holes in the foil at the bottom of the container!
For advanced: salad trees & green walls
Real tinkerers can also build in height with simple materials. You can make a lettuce tree out of plastic tubes! To do this, you can either insert parts with openings into each other. Or you can saw holes in a long tube. The photo in the picture gallery shows how this can look. You can get the parts at the hardware store.
If there is space on a sunny wall, you can also create a hanging garden here. Connect several containers with ropes or chains. For example, you can use empty plastic drink bottles as containers! You can also make a small garden out of a lattice fence. You can attach lightweight containers such as plastic flower pots to it with zip ties.
