Despite my earlier post about wanting to just plant everything, I do have a method for narrowing it down. I would be very curious to know what your criteria are, and what we do differently! I strongly believe that there are very few right or wrong decisions in the garden, especially when it comes to what you choose to plant. This is how I choose what our garden will look like, if you are curious to know.

As I mentioned before, I am gardening in the city. We are incredibly fortunate to have the space that we have, as well as permission to garden at all since we are renters! Some other places we have lived have been much more restrictive, so I definitely don’t take for granted the opportunity we have here to grow some of our own food. (I’m looking at you apartment building that wouldn’t even allow flowers on the balcony.) That being said, there are obviously restrictions.

Plant Size and Spacing

If garden space is precious, think carefully about how big what you want to plant gets. One squash plant can take up as much space as an entire salad garden. Some plants, such as tomatoes or cucumbers, may not look like they are huge plants but may need more space between them than you would think for a really healthy root system. Some need quite a few of the same plant in order to pollinate (I’m looking at you corn!).

Grow What You Eat (Just be strategic about it)

I started gardening with a strong emphasis on “grow what you eat” and just planted anything we liked at first. Over time I have chosen to prioritize certain plants over others.

For example, I used to plant a bunch of potatoes. The plants would take up a lot of space, they never really did that well, and potatoes are one of the cheapest vegetables in my local grocery store. I have replaced most of that garden with two different varieties of raspberries. They grow beautifully there. In fact I can barely keep up with the amount of berries they produce, a stark contrast to my sad little potato harvests. To top it all off, one tiny little handful of berries costs as much in the store as an entire bag of potatoes.

One day I hope to have long rows of potato plants (and the root cellar to keep them in!), but for now I am pretty darn pleased with my raspberries. So keep in mind what you can easily or cheaply buy where you live, and prioritize anything rarer or more expensive that will grow in your climate.

Renting/Being a Good Neighbor

This is a more day to day concern than the last, and one I keep in mind while choosing each year’s plants and where to put them. If you rent you have the added layers of what your landlord is ok with and whether it is worth your time and money to invest in a certain project.

There is obviously more to consider than your investment though. Whether you own or rent, if you live in the city you probably have neighbors. We have fewer garden beds than we would if we owned our property. We are careful to choose attractive shapes, and try to keep them looking at least presentable. The lawn is mowed more often than we would care about. The shrubs are trimmed even though my only use for them is as a good place to put Christmas lights. The most important part of this though, and how my yearly plant selection relates, is where you put the weedy things.

I grow a couple of plants that could make me an absolute menace to some people. Those raspberries I mentioned? Grown along the fence line. Why is this not a declaration of war on my neighbors? There is concrete on the other side of that fence. No dangers of a raspberry infestation. Mint? A scourge. You will never get rid of it. My solution? Pots. The native plum tree that I have been sighing over for years? Still a dream for another day. They are notorious for spreading and it would be incredibly inconsiderate of me to make my landlords and neighbors deal with it when there are so many other things I could grow.

There are always other minor considerations when choosing what to plant in a small garden, and of course every site will have it’s own quirks. This should help get you started though and give you an idea of where to cut down if you still have every page of the seed catalogue floating through your head. Happy gardening!