Small space
A Small-Space Garden: Big Impact on a Balcony or Tiny Yard
No yard, no problem. The best compact plants, climbers, and container picks for a balcony or a tiny garden.
A small space is not a small garden, it is a garden where every plant has to earn its place. A balcony, a patio, or a pocket-sized yard can be just as lush and full as a big border if you choose compact plants that flower for months, use the walls and railings as growing space, and let well-planted pots do the heavy lifting.
The secret is to think vertically and pick hard-working plants. Below are compact perennials and shrubs, climbers for going up, container stars, and a couple of narrow trees for privacy. For the pots themselves, see our guide to container plants.
Compact plants that flower for months
These stay small but bloom long, exactly what you want where there is no room for anything that earns its keep for only a week.
Nepeta racemosa 'Little Titch'
A tidy little cushion of lavender-blue that flowers for months and never flops or sprawls.
Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro'
The famous dwarf daylily, throwing out gold trumpets all summer in the smallest of spaces.
Spiraea japonica 'Little Princess'
A neat mound smothered in pink in early summer, with fresh foliage that stays compact in a pot.
Buddleia 'Pugster Blue'
Full-sized blue flowers on a dwarf, pot-friendly shrub that still pulls in the butterflies.
Lavandula angustifolia 'Nana Alba'
A dwarf white lavender, fragrant and silver-leaved, ideal for a sunny step or windowsill.
Astilbe simplicifolia 'Sprite'
A miniature astilbe with shell-pink plumes, bringing color to a small, shady corner.
Go vertical: climbers for walls and railings
Walls, fences, and railings are the most underused space in a small garden. Clothe them in climbers and the garden doubles.
Clematis
The queen of climbers, scrambling up a trellis or railing in a cloud of big, starry flowers.
Rosa
Trained up a wall, a climbing rose turns a few square feet of brick into a curtain of bloom.
Hydrangea petiolaris
The answer for a shady wall, clinging by itself and lacing it with white summer flowers.
Mandevilla
A tender climber for a hot, sunny spot, flowering nonstop in a pot up a small obelisk.
Lonicera
Fragrant tubular flowers that scent a patio in the evening and bring in the hummingbirds.
A pot is a garden
When there is no ground at all, containers are everything. A few good ones give color from spring to frost.
Angelonia angustifolia
Upright spires that flower all summer in the heat, a perfect thriller for the middle of a pot.
Calibrachoa
A nonstop waterfall of tiny flowers that spills over the edge of a railing planter for months.
Coleus scutellarioides
Foliage in every color for instant impact in sun or shade, no flowers required.
Chaenostoma cordatum
A soft trailing veil of small flowers that softens the edge of any container or window box.
A narrow tree or evergreen for privacy
Even a tiny space has room for one vertical accent: a narrow evergreen for screening, or a small tree for a touch of height.
Juniperus scopulorum 'Skyrocket'
A pencil-thin column of silver-blue, screening a balcony corner without stealing any floor space.
Cupressus sempervirens
The classic narrow exclamation point, lending instant Mediterranean height in a large pot.
Acer palmatum
A small, slow tree with exquisite foliage, the perfect living centerpiece for a courtyard or patio.
Think up, not just out
In a small space, the floor is the least of your growing room. Use the vertical: train climbers up walls and railings, hang baskets, stack pots on tiered stands, and choose tall, narrow plants over wide ones. Grouping your pots together also looks fuller and makes watering far easier.
What are the best plants for a balcony?
Compact long-bloomers like dwarf daylilies and catmint, climbers such as clematis on a railing, container stars like calibrachoa and coleus, and a narrow evergreen or small Japanese maple for height.
How do I get privacy on a balcony?
Use tall, narrow evergreens like Skyrocket juniper or Italian cypress in large pots, or train a climber up a trellis fixed to the railing, to screen a corner without taking floor space.
Can you have a garden without a yard?
Absolutely. Containers, window boxes, railing planters, and climbers on walls turn a balcony or patio into a full garden. Choose compact, long-blooming plants and make use of vertical space.
Design a garden with these plants
Open BloomsEye Studio with this guide's plants ready to drop onto a plan, then watch the whole bed bloom across the year.