GPOD Vignettes: Small Gardens with Big Impacts

26.07.2024 - 04:47 / finegardening.com / GPOD Contributor

Happy Friday GPODers, and welcome to our second installment of GPOD Vignettes! In case you missed it, check out our first installment of this series here: GPOD Vignette #1.

When I was assembling this collection of submissions, I didn’t realize at first that all of these photos and gardens fit into a common theme: small spaces. Whether a small garden or a small section of a larger landscape, all these GPOD contributors wanted to share how their small space was making a big impact.

I know the GPOD community at large appreciates seeing gardens of all size, but many particularly love seeing the smaller, more “relatable” garden spaces and I have to admit that I’m in that camp. Though this shouldn’t come to a surprise to anyone who has read my posts about living and traveling in a camper van for months out of the year, I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of my love and appreciation for those smaller spaces.

Whether it’s an indoor plant collection, raised vegetable garden beds, or beautiful ornamental borders, more is always more. More space allows for more plants that create more flowers, fruit, foliage, or all of the above. When someone catches the gardening bug, in whatever form it manifests, one of the most common sentiment is “if only I had a little more space for X.” This is, I think, a completely normal and logical reaction to something we love and brings us joy. However, the idea that more = better is where I draw the line; because more space is also more work, more time, and more money. Yes, more space is more, but less space does not equal less opportunity. If you’re ever feeling defeated by your lack of “more”, fall down a tiny home rabbit hole on YouTube (Tiny Home Tours is one of my personal favorites).