Where To Squeeze More Plants Into A Busy Garden

In gardens of all sizes, avid gardeners can complain that there is not much room left for new plants.

Carving more plants into crowded flower beds or garden borders will not allow those plants to thrive. While relatively dense planting is often a good idea, too much competition and a crowded environment can do more harm than good.

But even when flower beds and borders look full, you may still have room for plants you haven't thought of.

Thinking outside the box allows you to grow more food and other resources and get higher yields. You can increase biodiversity and do more for wildlife. And you can make your garden more impressive in various ways.

Break up lawns and paved areas with planters

First, an obvious way to get more plants into your garden is to think about areas where there are few plants or where there is a lack of plant diversity.

For example, if you have an area of grass, you can break it up by adding new islands or peninsulas to the area. You can even get rid of that sod entirely and replace it with native grassland or a field planting program, food forest, or other food production area. There are many ways to replace boring lawns.

If your property has large paved areas for driveways and patios, consider dividing them where excessive or unnecessary and creating new planting areas whenever possible. But even where this is not possible, you can consider creating new raised beds and planting plants on them to expand your planting area.

Consider the vertical plane

Another idea to increase the number and variety of plants in your garden is vertical gardening. Vertical gardening is an idea typically used in small spaces and can work well in gardens of all sizes.

Look at vertical space and think about the growth potential on vertical surfaces as well as horizontal surfaces. This can really make a big difference in how many plants you can grow where you live.

Use hanging containers above

Thinking about the space above our heads and utilizing it can be an effective strategy for getting more plants into the garden.

For example, there can be plenty of useful hanging space under cornices, a balcony or a pergola structure. Even if you already have an unusual hanging basket, it is possible to grow more plants in a hanging structure or some type of hanging container.

Plant trees on streets

Even in the most lush, crowded, and densely planted gardens, walkways often represent unplanted spaces. An interesting point is that it's not required. If you have a paving or stone path, you can easily fill in the gap with rows of low-growing ground cover.

Even low-traffic areas can have streets made entirely of trees. For example, I have white clover paths for easy access to certain areas of my wood garden.

Use the border area

Whether you're planting in the ground or in containers or planters, there are plenty of small spaces perfect for your overlooked plants.

By choosing the right plants, you can often find the right species for the most problematic spots that appear to be sidewalks and curb areas - the front step, the edge of the driveway, the side of the garden or the back.

Of course, more is not always more. But there are benefits to planting as densely and diversified as possible in a garden.

Remember that it is better to let nature plant border areas than to plant trees next to you. Sprouting out more plants isn't always about making your own decisions; Let nature take over sometimes. There are times when we simply need to step back and embrace the diversity of plant life.