I often hear apartment dwellers talk about wanting to have a garden but they say they feel frustrated or unhappy because they feel as though this is something beyond the reach of the average apartment dweller. As someone who has been living in apartments in various places for over 30 years, I can tell you that this isn't entirely true. Granted, it depends a lot on where you live and whether your apartment consists solely of a building or if you have several buildings.

If you live in a place like the one I currently live in, the apartment door opens onto a patio. There isn't a huge grassy space beyond the patio, but there is some grass. We have serious drainage and flooding problems here, so the management was reluctant to plant grass or anything else for the longest time. I ceased the opportunity to start planting things there. I planted cosmos in the ground because I knew that it could grow well in even the worst soil. When pipes were installed in the hope of containing water so that our apartments wouldn't flood, they installed drainage grates near the sidewalk, hoping that the run off of water would drain into that. I didn't want to look out onto an area of emptiness or look at that drain grate, so I began to plant flowers around it to conceal it.

Apartment dwellers can do a lot with containers. If you live on an upper floor and have a balcony, use window boxes and get the metal hanging supports that will allow you to put the window box on the support. You can grow vegetables in window boxes provided they are deep enough. Window boxes work wonderfully for lettuces, spinach, short carrots, smaller radishes, herbs, cascading flowers or shorter flowers. If you want to grow other vegetables in pots, look for bush varieties of things that normally grow on vines. That will take up less space. You can grow tomatoes in containers provided you use a large enough pot. Just remember that growing tomatoes in pots will mean that you'll have to water them more often. They will also need to be fertilized more often because frequent watering will leech nutrients out of the soil. Don't fertilize them with a fertilizer that's high in nitrogen. That will encourage a lot of leaf growth rather than fruit growth. You do, however, want to provide some additional calcium because container growing can lead to blossom end rot - a calcium deficiency caused by inconsistent watering - watering a lot and allowing the container to dry out too much, or not watering enough so that the entire plant is nourished. I like to add bone meal to my soil mix when I first plant tomatoes.

I grow perennial flowers in pots. I have several types of hibiscus, Rose of Sharon, Elephant Ears, Brugmansia, and a host of other tropical plants and flowers that I grow in pots. With the tropical stuff, I know that I need to bring it inside over the winter. That means taking the time to clean all the pots before bringing them into the house. Ideally, I would have some of those plant stand things on wheels, but unfortunately, I don't have any. Still, I wouldn't want to give up the opportunity to grow some amazing tropical things, so I deal with the situation, as I must.

I have grown things up the side of the building. I grew cypress vine and cardinal climber up one wall last year. It attracted many hummingbirds and I put a feeder in that area because it looks out my office bedroom window and affords me the chance to see hummingbirds while I am working. Since then, I've planted other things there to lure hummingbirds. This is an area where grass doesn't grow. A long gutter pipe goes from the gutters on the roof to the ground. In an attempt to control drainage problems here, my landlord had people install pipes from underground to the point where the gutters touch the ground so that the water would rain through the pipes under ground and into the drain basin that sits near the sidewalk. They never replaced the sod so I took the opportunity to plant some cannas there. They may have to be moved if they get too large. I also planted many other kinds of seeds to lure hummingbirds. I have several varieties of Agastache, Pentstemon, and several types of salvia, columbine, and a couple of different types of mixes for hummingbirds.

Over the years, I've learned that you can plant things in border areas if they don't interfere with other plantings. One of my all time favorite flowers that spreads like crazy and grows well in containers is portulaca. Hanging baskets will go a long way to add color. If you are able to plant vines that grow up walls - especially when you can see the flowers if you look out the window, that's also nice. I like to plant things that will grow tall outside my bedroom windows. Even if I have to use pots, I don't mind. I live on the ground floor, and since the sidewalk isn't that far from my windows, anyone walking by can see in if I open the blinds or pull them up. I keep hoping that things will grow tall enough - especially outside my actual bedroom window so that I have more privacy than I can get from curtains or blinds.

Another advantage to planting things in pots if you live in an apartment is that you can move your plants around when you need to give them more or less sun. You can cover your plants much more easily if you need to protect them from frost. I use tall kitchen garbage bags with the draw string handles. If the plant is too tall, I simply use two bags.

If you are just starting a garden as an apartment dweller, I would recommend starting out small. Remember, you will probably have to hand water everything you plant. Once you get a hang for what does well and you feel confident about growing things in containers, then you can start adding more plants. You can also grow fruits. There are dwarf citrus trees that are made to be grown in containers or on patios. There are bush blueberries that do well in containers, and strawberries can be grown in containers. Be sure to consider your climate and how long a food crop will take to mature. If you live in a place like the one I do where very hot weather can set in quickly, you wouldn't want to grow a cool weather crop that would take 45 to 60 days to mature.

Container planting is great for anyone who isn't sure how long he or she may stay in a place. You can easily take pots with you, but digging plants up in attempt to move them is not only difficult, but sometimes it isn't always successful - especially when you are moving a long distance.

Don't be afraid to have a garden just because you live in an apartment. Experiment with things that will grow well in pots, window boxes or hanging baskets. Look for ways to beautify your area. In the process, you may inspire your neighbors, and if you're lucky, you may discover that you started a new trend. I know that since I started planting things both in the ground and in pots, many of my neighbors have decided to do the same. It's brought a lot of color to our community and it brings people out of their homes because they like to walk around seeing what their neighbors have growing. I've met more neighbors this way than through anything else either the apartment community or I have done. I've made friends and had loads of fun in the process!