Even if stretched for space or or soil, there are almost infinite ways to bring plants into your outdoor spaces.  I love tall raised garden beds for keeping weeds and pets out of my vegetable and flower gardens, but there are so many more options than just building a square box!  We’ve put together a few of our favorite creative container garden ideas and ways you can draw inspiration from them in your own yard.

Go Vertical

Vertical garden beds and planters used to be for commercial installations, but now the home gardener can take advantage of vertical spaces too.  Whether tight on space and looking to expand your vegetable crops, or interested in creating living walls or adding decorative touches with plants, vertical gardens are a creative container garden idea whose day has come. You can build your own vertical garden, or for the less handy, buy a vertical garden kit and get started right away.  For quick and easy, consider using window boxes, which can actually be installed on almost any vertical surface.  Buy them in sets of three or five to create a small, vertical herb or flower garden.

Hang Them High

Hanging Baskets aren’t just for flowers any more!  Many vegetables, herbs, and even strawberries grow extremely well in hanging baskets because they provide great drainage and airflow, naturally deter weeds and soil-based pests, and allow vining plants to sprawl.  Tomatoes and strawberry plants are a natural fit for hanging baskets, but herbs, lettuce, cucumbers, and squash can all be grown in them as well.  Topsy Turvy makes a great hanging basket for pepper plants that is foolproof for experimenting with growing veggies in hanging baskets. And if you’re like me and only have sunlight in the front-yard, hanging baskets are a great creative container garden idea for growing more food with limited space (plus they look pretty cool).

Grow Some Grub

Containers have been traditionally used for planting annuals seasonally; they add a quick pop of color and can be changed out easily as weather changes (pansies for early spring, petunia summer, mums for fall, and evergreens for winter).  More and more, we see containers used to make creative vegetable gardens when space, soil, or ambitions are limited. We love the idea of using containers to grow vegetables like carrots and lettuce, or using a strawberry pot as an herb garden, or growing tomatoes in a patio planter.

ReDuce, ReUse & ReCycle

Up-cycling, or reusing a product or packaging instead of sending it to the landfill or recycling plant, is a hot trend right now.  And gardening and up-cycling is a natural match.  What better way to help the environment, than find a way for a tire, shipping pallet, or old bathtub to grow food or plants?  If you like formal gardens, these creative container gardens ideas might not be right for you, but if you are interested in adding quirky or rustic touches to your space, up-cycling might be the ticket.

Make them Do Double Duty

For quick privacy that allows for both flower and vegetable gardening, tall, narrow, raised and vertical container gardens are a perfect solution. These planters can do double-duty; privacy and more places to grow plants!  You can grow many larger sized plants in these deep beds, like bamboo or even small trees.  Want to grow vegetables and herbs and create a private oasis? Add a trellis to your raised bed garden.

It’s pretty clear that container gardens are versatile, useful, and can be great for the environment.  To create your own container garden, even in the tiniest of spaces, all you really need is a container that holds good potting soil, and has a hole for drainage.  Share your own creative container garden ideas with us, or link to your Pinterest board and we’ll follow you back. Happy (container) gardening!