If you live in a townhouse, you may think you can’t really enjoy gardening and landscaping. This is not true at all! You can have fun with a townhouse patio garden that is lush and beautiful. You’ll be the envy of your neighbors as you sit on your patio and enjoy your landscaping efforts.
Planning a Townhouse Patio Garden
The first consideration you must keep in mind when planning your [patio garden] is whether you own the townhouse and associated property or whether you rent the property. Also, if you own your townhouse but it is part of a neighborhood association or is a condominium townhouse, you must determine what rules must be followed when changing the landscape. Even if your townhouse association has the strictest rules about planting shrubs or removing existing plants, you can still create a beautiful patio garden by container gardening. Just be sure to know what you can plan to include before you begin.
Because the patio space of your townhouse is limited and you may well have a balcony that extends over the patio, creating a “roof”, you must consider what size the plants you include in your landscaping and gardening, whether planted in the ground or in containers, will be once they reach maturity. You will need to select plants that will fit into the space limitations, allowing the plant to thrive while not growing to the point it knocks down a fence or grows through the balcony!
Watering your townhouse patio is another consideration. Is there easy access to water or will you need to carry cans of water from inside the townhouse? While many townhouses have outdoor water spigots, not all of them have them located where you want to place your plants. You can, however, use an attachment that connects to a nearby sink or wet bar that allows a self-recoiling hose to be used for watering patio container plants if an outdoor water source is not available.
Plants to Consider
Crotons make beautiful low-maintenance shrubbery that can be planted or grown in containers along the edge of a patio garden. These plants are perfect for sun-filled areas as their leaves reach the height of color in full sun, but they also do very well in partial or even full shade. They are easy enough the novice can enjoy lush plants. When kept in containers or pruned, they will never reach a size that is a problem for the patio gardener. Crotons also can survive all but the very harshest winters very nicely.
If you live in a sunny area, or if you want a lush, tropical atmosphere, palms are perfect for container gardening on your patio. Plant a large palm in a suitable container and place the container on a plant dolly with wheels so you can move it easily and move it indoor during freezing weather.
Depending on your how far south you live, patio gardens can be perfect for growing orchids. The orchid pots can easily be attached to the privacy fencing commonly seen around townhouse patios. Orchids like partial shade and lots of humidity. If you can provide these needs, you can have a fantastic show of blooms for a large portion of the year. Many townhouses have patios that include privacy fencing to separate one patio from another. If you love humming birds, this fence is a wonderful place to grow vines that humming birds love. The cypress vine, butterfly vine or any flowering vine that has pink or red blossoms can make a great attractant for hummingbirds and make a lovely landscape feature for your townhouse patio garden.
Townhouse patio gardens can be fun and just because you do not live in a free-standing residential house, you do not have to miss the joy of gardening. These are just a few ideas you can use to make your townhouse patio appealing and a place to enjoy.
crotons houseplants orchids palm tree patio gardens plant containers Townhouse patio gardens
