Are you looking for something a bit more lively with a “wow factor” when it comes to adding some greenery to your apartment? Here’s a newsflash for apartment residents: indoor apartment gardening is not just possible — it’s getting more and more popular each day!
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Apartment Gardening Made Easy
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Just because you live in an apartment doesn’t mean you can’t sink your hands into a pot of potting soil or enjoy the beauty that plants provide. Gardening in an apartment isn’t as hard as you think.
Plants add a certain organic element to an otherwise bleak environment without access to the outdoors. This may be especially true if you happen to live in a highrise in a big city. Concrete jungles (big cities) seem to cut us off from finding that connection to the earth.
Did you know that connecting with nature through gardening (outdoors or in your home) improves your overall health benefits? A research study titled “Gardening is beneficial for health: A meta-analysis” mentions that gardening reduces depression, helps to reduce obesity, and contributes to a better quality of life. By not communing with nature, our emotional well-being suffers. Gardening is considered preventative medicine.
So, let’s see how you can get that green thumb out and bring some of the outdoors into your apartment.
Two Options For Creating a Garden In an Apartment
Apartments typically provide tenants with access to the outside either by windows, balcony, or, if you are lucky, a walk-out patio setup. Depending on how your apartment building is designed, you may have a large enough balcony to have an outdoor living area or one just big enough for a bistro table and chairs.
You can also find apartments without balconies, but with windows that have ledges or no ledges. Lastly, you have the apartment building that has neither a balcony nor windows that open. Some highrises in large cities feature this type of window for safety reasons.
Each living situation presents unique gardening options, which we are going to dive into now.
Window Garden
If you have ledges outside your window, you can have an apartment window garden. There are some creative ways to have a window garden in an apartment, whether you have an outdoor window ledge or a fixture to attach a window box to.
Outside window ledges are typically in the older, brick apartment buildings. Some of these ledges jut out far enough to accommodate a slimline window box without securing it. The window box should fit onto the ledge allowing it to safely sit back far enough (at least 2″ or more) from the ledge’s edge. The last thing you want is for your window box garden to fall and cause damage below or, worse, hurt or kill someone walking by.
Now, if you don’t have a window ledge, there are innovative ways to have your window garden. The hanging garden is mounted on a window rod as if it were a curtain rod. The plant containers hang from the rod. Most of these window rod hanging gardens accommodate up to four plants for a normal size window.
For those of you who really want to get your green thumb going with a window garden, try window shelves and plant trays that have strong suction cups that attach to the inside of your window. Not only are these are beautiful room decorations, but also highly functional in an apartment situation.
Indoor Apartment Garden
You can also enjoy gardening in an apartment without a balcony. Indoor gardening is something many apartment dwellers do these days, especially those who like to grow their own herbs and veggies.
Most of those who reside in apartments generally don’t have a ton of space indoors to have plant containers everywhere. When space is at a premium, think “vertical.” Instead of taking space horizontally, we are going to reach for more vertical gardening options. I myself was very surprised to discover hundreds of ways to do indoor vertical gardening.
Hydroponic growing systems are a fun way to grow things like veggies. There are many different options and sizes to fit your budget, space, and goals. If you prefer a small herb garden or something more large-scale that provides you with a source of produce, hydroponics might be the best solution.
I love this form of indoor gardening because you can get an all-in-one system that includes everything you need (including lighting.) Many systems are also portable and can be easily relocated.
So, what can I grow inside my apartment?
With the right conditions, indoor gardening tools, potting soil, light, and care, you can grow many different species of plants in an apartment. Succulents, herbs, various houseplants, veggies, and flowers are just a few plants that can be grown in an apartment.
Tower gardens and “Vardens” are perfect for growing a veggie garden! Just imagine having access to a fresh supply of lettuce, tomatoes, or cucumbers in the dead of winter. Best of all, you never have to step outside your apartment to get them.
If you are more of a flower gardener, you can have those beautiful blooms inside. I have a great article on growing indoor tulips any time of year. Whatever catches your fancy, whether it’s tulips, roses, or lavender, it can be grown in an apartment!
Plants That Do Well Inside An Apartment
Now that we’ve covered all the possibilities in different ways to have an indoor apartment garden, we’ll get down to the nitty-gritty of just a few plants you can confidently grow inside your apartment.
Hard To Kill Plants
- Snake Plant
- Cast Iron
- Aloe Vera
- Chinese Evergreen
- Pothos
- Succulents
Plants That Require Little To No Sunlight
- Cracenia
- Bromeliad
- Philodendron
- Spider Plant
- Aloe Vera
Air Purifying Plants
D = Direct Sunlight
D/PS = Direct Sunlight to Partial Shade
IND = Indirect Sun
IND/PS = Indirect Sun to Partial Shade
- Spider Plant – IND/PS
- Boston Fern – IND
- Areca Palm – IND
- Snake Plant – IND
- Peace Lily – IND
- Weeping Fig – IND
Apartment Size Trees
D = Direct Sunlight
D/PS = Direct Sunlight to Partial Shade
IND = Indirect Sun
IND/PS = Indirect Sun to Partial Shade
- Fiddle Fig Leaf – IND
- Parlor Palm – IND
- Dieffenbachia – IND
- Weeping Fig – IND
- Guiana Chestnut – D/PS
- Umbrella Tree – D
- Yucca – D
- Rubber Plant – IND
- Calamondin Orange Tree – D
- Jade – D
Edible Plants
D = Direct Sunlight
D/PS = Direct Sunlight to Partial Shade
IND = Indirect Sun
IND/PS = Indirect Sun to Partial Shade
- Herbs
- Lavender – D
- Mint – D
- Parsley – D
- Sage – D
- Rosemary – D
- Chives – D
- Basil – D
- Tomatoes – D
- Potatoes – D
- Beets – D
- Mushrooms – IND (or grow light)
- Green Beans – D
- Avocadoes – D
- Strawberries – D
- Chili Peppers – D
- Green Peppers – D
- Lettuce – D
- Arugula – D
Blooming Plants
D = Direct Sunlight
D/PS = Direct Sunlight to Partial Shade
IND = Indirect Sun
IND/PS = Indirect Sun to Partial Shade
- Tulips – D/PS
- Daffodils – D/PS
- Hyacinths – D/PS
- Roses – D
- Amaryllis – D
- Magnolia – D/PS
- Orchids – IND
- Kalanchoe – D
- Begonia – D
- Bromeliad – IND
- African Violet – IND
- Geranium – D
- Poinsettia – IND
- Lipstick Vine – D/PS
- Peace Lily – IND
- Jasmine – D
- Christmas Cactus – IND
- Hydrangea – D
- Bird of Paradise – D
- Pink Anthurium – IND
- Gerber Daisy – D
- Pitcher Plant – D
Hanging Plants
- String of Pearls – D
- Ivy – IND
- Boston Fern – IND
- Bird’s Nest Fern – IND
- Pothos – D/PS
- Donkey’s Tail – IND
- Chain of Hearts – D
- Maidenhair Fern – IND
- Spider Plant – IND/PS
- Wandering Jew – IND
- Pitcher Plant – D/PS
- Chenille Plant – D/PS
- Goldfish Plant – IND
- Little Pickles – D
- Asparagus Fern – D/PS
Indoor Apartment Gardening: It’s That Simple!
You, too, can have that place of respite to escape the world with the serenity an indoor apartment garden provides. And the best part is that you now know how to set up a garden in a no-balcony apartment!
