10 Unexpected Spots for Growing Fruits, Veggies and Herbs at Home
Look beyond the kitchen garden or backyard raised bed for growing your favorite edible plants
Lauren Dunec Hoang
June 2, 2019
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and in-house designer for Sunset's Editorial Test Garden. Her garden designs have been featured in the Sunset Western Garden Book of Landscaping, Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy-Care Plantings (cover), Inhabitat, and POPSUGAR.
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and... More
If your home doesn’t offer much traditional growing space, or if you’re looking to squeeze in just a few more herbs or tomato plants this season, bookmark this list of creative growing spots. From front yard veggie beds to balcony-grown lettuces and edible living walls, the bounty of ideas featured in the following gardens will help you grow more fruits, greens, veggies and herbs at home.
1. Front Yard
Though the idea is gaining in popularity, front yards are still not the first place we consider when growing vegetables. But, depending on the orientation of your house, front yards can offer a sunny growing area where edible plants can thrive. Here, landscape designer Amy Whitworth of Plan-it Earth Design took advantage of a sunny, sloped front yard in Portland, Oregon, to plant a terraced edible garden bursting with peas, lettuces and other edible greens.
Tip: Check with your municipality before planting, as some neighborhoods don’t allow crops in the front yard.
Though the idea is gaining in popularity, front yards are still not the first place we consider when growing vegetables. But, depending on the orientation of your house, front yards can offer a sunny growing area where edible plants can thrive. Here, landscape designer Amy Whitworth of Plan-it Earth Design took advantage of a sunny, sloped front yard in Portland, Oregon, to plant a terraced edible garden bursting with peas, lettuces and other edible greens.
Tip: Check with your municipality before planting, as some neighborhoods don’t allow crops in the front yard.
2. Built Into a Bench Seat
In this backyard in Seattle’s Madison Park neighborhood, landscape designer Scot Eckley constructed this bench seat along the rear edge of the patio to double as a raised bed that provides bonus planting room for as many — or as few — edible plants as the owners choose to grow.
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In this backyard in Seattle’s Madison Park neighborhood, landscape designer Scot Eckley constructed this bench seat along the rear edge of the patio to double as a raised bed that provides bonus planting room for as many — or as few — edible plants as the owners choose to grow.
Work with a landscape contractor on Houzz
Floating bench seats can be swapped in and out of the raised bed as needed.
3. Garden Screen
This planted screen does double duty in the garden. Wood boards set at an angle are filled with soil to create planting pockets for growing strawberries, creating an attractive garden screen and space-saving planter. Harvesting is easy, as berries are positioned to dangle over the boards. One could use multiple strawberry towers to screen a shed in a sunny side yard or one tower to divide a narrow balcony into two seating areas.
This planted screen does double duty in the garden. Wood boards set at an angle are filled with soil to create planting pockets for growing strawberries, creating an attractive garden screen and space-saving planter. Harvesting is easy, as berries are positioned to dangle over the boards. One could use multiple strawberry towers to screen a shed in a sunny side yard or one tower to divide a narrow balcony into two seating areas.
This yard features a similar slatted design, except the architects at CplusC Architectural Workshop used metal shelves instead of wood ones. The clear synthetic roof creates a greenhouse-like environment for growing lettuces and other tender greens.
Read more about this earth-friendly home in Sydney
Read more about this earth-friendly home in Sydney
4. Wall-Mounted Indoors
Wall-mounted containers may be the perfect spot to grow edible herbs if you have an interior wall that receives at least four hours of bright sunlight.
These chic containers mounted on a brightly lit wall keep counter space clear. The growing space is deep enough to support shallow-rooting edibles like strawberries and annual herbs like chives, parsley and basil.
Containers: ‘The Bloomer,’ designed by Zoe Umholtz for Revolution Design House
Wall-mounted containers may be the perfect spot to grow edible herbs if you have an interior wall that receives at least four hours of bright sunlight.
These chic containers mounted on a brightly lit wall keep counter space clear. The growing space is deep enough to support shallow-rooting edibles like strawberries and annual herbs like chives, parsley and basil.
Containers: ‘The Bloomer,’ designed by Zoe Umholtz for Revolution Design House
5. Living Wall
This kitchen garden designed by Patricia Fox of Aralia is a feast for the eyes and the plate. Living walls overflowing with lettuces and edible greens, and built-in planters housing citrus trees and culinary herbs, provide abundant ingredients for a backyard feast.
This kitchen garden designed by Patricia Fox of Aralia is a feast for the eyes and the plate. Living walls overflowing with lettuces and edible greens, and built-in planters housing citrus trees and culinary herbs, provide abundant ingredients for a backyard feast.
While installing and maintaining a living wall of this size is unrealistic for most of us, use vertical space to your advantage when planning an edible garden. Try planting a smaller living wall with seasonal herbs, or plant a grape or kiwi vine to cover a sunny vertical surface.
Shop for living wall planters on Houzz
Shop for living wall planters on Houzz
6. City Balcony
Don’t let a narrow outdoor space stop you from growing edibles. This full-sun Parisian balcony, lovingly planted by a father for his two kids, is fully stocked with lettuce, tomatoes, celery, basil, radishes, strawberries, peppers, mint and other herbs. The space is long and narrow — measuring 20 feet long by 3¼ feet (6 meters by 1 meter).
Don’t let a narrow outdoor space stop you from growing edibles. This full-sun Parisian balcony, lovingly planted by a father for his two kids, is fully stocked with lettuce, tomatoes, celery, basil, radishes, strawberries, peppers, mint and other herbs. The space is long and narrow — measuring 20 feet long by 3¼ feet (6 meters by 1 meter).
Planters are subirrigated by a trough of water below the soil, allowing the father and his kids to leave for a two-week stretch without worrying about watering. Here, tomatoes are thriving by midsummer.
Read more about this balcony garden
Read more about this balcony garden
7. Window Boxes
We’d argue that window boxes filled to the brim with ruffled lettuces in shades of green and bronze are just as pretty as a planter filled with flowers. Organic gardening consultant Steve Masley often reserves window boxes for growing shallow-rooting lettuces, saving floor space of small balconies and porches for larger-rooting crops like tomatoes or eggplant, which are better suited in large containers.
We’d argue that window boxes filled to the brim with ruffled lettuces in shades of green and bronze are just as pretty as a planter filled with flowers. Organic gardening consultant Steve Masley often reserves window boxes for growing shallow-rooting lettuces, saving floor space of small balconies and porches for larger-rooting crops like tomatoes or eggplant, which are better suited in large containers.
Here, Masley grows ‘Jade’ green beans from window boxes mounted on deck railings.
Given their shallow soil reservoirs, window boxes can dry out quickly, so it’s best to set up drip irrigation or stick to a daily hand-watering schedule.
Find watering and irrigation tools in the Houzz Shop
Given their shallow soil reservoirs, window boxes can dry out quickly, so it’s best to set up drip irrigation or stick to a daily hand-watering schedule.
Find watering and irrigation tools in the Houzz Shop
8. Pocket Garden
Often-overlooked areas like side yards can provide extra growing room for edibles, as long as they receive full sun. In this suburban garden outside of Sydney, landscape designer Steve Warner of OUTHOUSE design used planting pockets alongside a side yard walkway to grow cherry tomatoes on attractive metal trellises.
Often-overlooked areas like side yards can provide extra growing room for edibles, as long as they receive full sun. In this suburban garden outside of Sydney, landscape designer Steve Warner of OUTHOUSE design used planting pockets alongside a side yard walkway to grow cherry tomatoes on attractive metal trellises.
9. With a Tree or Shrub
If you have a potted tree or evergreen shrub with extra room around the base, try planting that space with edible strawberries, leaf lettuces or herbs. In this container design by Karen K. Ma, strawberries form a pretty and delicious lower layer for a standard trained evergreen shrub.
Find an outdoor pot
If you have a potted tree or evergreen shrub with extra room around the base, try planting that space with edible strawberries, leaf lettuces or herbs. In this container design by Karen K. Ma, strawberries form a pretty and delicious lower layer for a standard trained evergreen shrub.
Find an outdoor pot
10. Sidewalk Strip
If your sunny sidewalk strip isn’t being used, consider adding a few edible plants. Raised beds, like the ones in this Seattle sidewalk garden by Erin Lau, provide plants with nutrient-rich soil and set them above passing dogs.
Fruit trees can also work well, so long as you don’t mind sharing the fruit with neighbors and are willing to be responsible for sidewalk cleanup of any fruits that drop.
If your sunny sidewalk strip isn’t being used, consider adding a few edible plants. Raised beds, like the ones in this Seattle sidewalk garden by Erin Lau, provide plants with nutrient-rich soil and set them above passing dogs.
Fruit trees can also work well, so long as you don’t mind sharing the fruit with neighbors and are willing to be responsible for sidewalk cleanup of any fruits that drop.
Tell us: Have you grown veggies, fruits, and herbs in unusual places? Upload your photos in the Comments.
More on Houzz
How to Plan Your Edible Garden
Browse more edible-garden ideas
Work with an edible-gardening professional near you
Shop for gardening tools
More on Houzz
How to Plan Your Edible Garden
Browse more edible-garden ideas
Work with an edible-gardening professional near you
Shop for gardening tools
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I love all the living wall gardens! But #5 in the kitchen they are beautiful!
How do you take advantage of a slope to grow a garden
Fantastic, beautiful ideas except for the first front yard garden. All I thought about was male dogs lifting their legs to pee on your veggies! The raised bed front yard was a much better idea, but even though was not dog proof