Garden Ideas for Your Apartment
Living in a group of rooms a few floors high inside a concrete building need not be constricting and stressful. With a little guidance and abundant creativity, even the smallest cramped spaces can be turned into the haven each home ought to be. The same goes for apartment homeowners who have dreamt of their own backyards when they were kids. Here are some directional tips and landscape supply options to create that sky-high garden you’ve always wanted.
Stretch your garden beyond the balcony. When browsing the local landscape supply store, instead of limiting yourself to items that would fit inside your balcony, select structures that would fit inside your apartment. This goes for condo units that do not have balconies at all. With enough fresh air and sunlight entering the room, whether from a window or skylight, certain plants can be sustained indoors.
Look up. A traditional garden is on the ground, for obvious reasons. Apartment gardens, in order to contain various flora, should have small plants that are displayed vertically on a wall or stacked in shelves. Keep an eye out for landscape supplies that can be hung or are taller than they are wider. You can even use an old skid or dresser to store your plants.
Match what’s to the left and right of your garden. Select a landscape theme that would complement the rest of the condominium. Whether you make it the highlight or not, the garden should harmonize with everything else in your home and agree with your central theme. Coordinate colors, shapes, sizes and textures.
Make it go a long way. Creeping and crawling vines make for a good backdrop against a vintage table and chair set. Check out your local landscape supply shop for trellises and cyclone wires that could fit your needs. Remember that these vines require a lot of maintenance before and even after you’ve reached the desired wall of leaves.
“SEN” it down. While you want the garden bright and lively, avoid cramming in too many things into that tiny space. Organize your landscape theme into patterns or sizes. Color-code them to make it more aesthetically pleasing. Use the Zen gardening principles of keeping things Serene, Enjoyable and Natural.
An apartment may have a lot of limitations in terms of what you can and cannot do and this can even make picking out a good theme, a daunting task. Take all these limitations in stride, think of them as a challenge to your imagination and determination.
