• You can garden in tiny spaces!Cozy Corner image by john parli from Fotolia.com
  
  Don't let lack of space prevent you from exercising your green thumb. One of the advantages of tiny gardens is the minimal time and work required for installation and maintenance. Small spaces can accommodate only a few plants or shrubs, so they are less expensive than gardens in larger spaces. Gardeners can get inspiration, information and ideas about plants and garden design from gardening books, gardens in the neighborhood and by visiting community gardens and botanic gardens. Gardens can be just as creative in tiny spaces as in large, conventional garden areas.
  
  

Use Graph Paper

• Before you plant anything, make a plan. Measure the area, plot it on graph paper, and sketch in different plants and flowers. Try different plants and effects until you have a good design. Cut out magazine or newspaper pictures of the plants you are thinking of using and place them in the outlined space on the graph paper, to better visualize the finished garden.
  
  

Grow Roses

• With only a small area in which to garden, you can grow roses there if it's a sunny location. Using just one kind of plant will allow you to give it your full attention, and roses flourish with special care. Bring in the richest soil, use the most attractive mulch, have the best fertilizer on hand, and select your favorite color of roses. Even two or three rose bushes make an impressive display.
  
  

Use Climbing Plants

• Climbing plants add interest in small spaces and, if flowering, color and fragrance. Two large containers on either side of a door will accommodate trellises and morning glory vines. A couple of feet of soil on both sides of an entryway will fit climbing roses or clematis. If flowers are not desired, climbing ivy or grapes are interesting vining plants.
  
  

Use Color

• Use color for dramatic effect at front entryways or other small areas. Red flowers are an appealing choice. Tulips, geraniums, roses and poppies are flowers with red varieties that are attractive and easy to grow. Yellow roses make a bright and eye-catching statement. A white garden with baby's breath, white roses and white sweet alyssum is an elegant garden, even in tiny spaces with a few plants. Multi-colored blooms of the kaleidoscope variety of four o'clocks or the hummingbird mix variety of ipomopsis create a happy chaos of colorful flowers.
  
  

Containers

• For tiny balconies, miniature patios, and small porches and stoops where there is no soil to plant, containers enable you to have portable gardens. Large plastic, ceramic or cement planters, hanging baskets and wooden planter boxes are perfect for the tiniest gardens in spaces without soil or ground. Container plants can be rearranged easily and used for green plants, flowers, fruits or vegetables.
  
  

Tiny Water Gardens

• Create a tiny water garden in a corner of the yard or just outside your back door. A half whiskey barrel with a plastic liner and an aerating fountain holds one or two water lilies or other aquatic plants. A cement trough is easy to make in a weekend and fill with plastic tub, water, pump, goldfish and plants for a mini-pond. Scavenged containers like old wash tubs can be converted into mini-ponds or water gardens for an enjoyable water feature in tiny spaces.