For so many people, gardening is a joy.”¦a way to connect with nature, to get outdoors, and to play in the dirt. But, if you live in an apartment or have a tiny townhouse backyard, your ability to garden is limited. Even in tiny spaces, however, it is possible to grow a garden. It may be diminutive, but there are some tricks and products you can use to turn your small outdoor space into a lavish garden area.

Choose Small Plants

An obvious solution is to avoid growing anything too big. Trees and shrubs are not the best options, for instance””unless you’ll be practicing the art of bonsai. Spreading groundcovers or anything that tends to take over a space are also poor choices. Stick with the types of plants that are great for container gardening because these are the plants that will thrive and grow in a small space.

Try a succulent garden, for example. These fleshy little plants are great in rock gardens and beds as well as containers, and don’t require a lot of attention. If you do have a little more space for something like a tree, choose a dwarf variety. There are plenty of diminutive trees, including fruiting and flowering dwarfs.

Try Vertical Gardening

If your garden can’t grow outwards, let it grow up. Vertical gardening simply means taking advantage of the vertical dimension in your yard or on your patio or balcony. Choose climbing plants, like ivy, clematis, and jasmine, and let them climb the wall, a fence, a trellis, or any other vertical structure you have in your space.

Another way to go up with your garden is with a vertical planter. The seven-pocket vertical hanging planter from GearBest is a sturdy and affordable example. You can hang it on any wall or other vertical surface and put any kind of potted plant in the pockets. This is a great way to go vertical without doing a major construction project to add pots or other containers to a wall. It also allows you to use any kind of plant in a vertical space, not just vines and climbers. Even a number of vegetables can be easily grown in them.

Use Overlooked Spaces

A hanging garden on the wall is an example of using a space you might otherwise overlook for gardening, but there are some other options as well. The top ledge of a fence or barrier wall between balconies can hold a few pots of flowers. A small Juliet balcony can’t hold a person, but it can hold containers with herbs. Use windowsills and corners of rooms inside that could hold a pot or two. Wherever you can squeeze in a container, you can have a small garden.

Small-space gardening may have some challenges, but they are also great opportunities for creativity. Use your imagination to plan your mini-garden and use helpful tools like the GearBest vertical planter, and you’ll never miss a large yard.