If you are one of the many who live in an apartment or condo and you do not have a garden (or if you have a very small garden) you can experience the wonderful world of gardening by indulging in some container gardening.

Container gardening is extremely popular at the moment, especially with younger folk who find that they do not have the time required to maintain a large garden. One of the most rewarding types of gardening is growing your own herbs and, luckily, it is very common these days to see potted herbs in the vegetable section of your local shop. Herbs are perfect for container gardening because, as they grow, you can continually harvest fresh herbs for your cooking. Fresh herbs are far nicer than dried herbs and by constantly trimming your herbs you will encourage new growth while keeping their size to a minimum. Containers of herbs can be placed on the window sill where you can keep a close eye on them and where they will recieve most sunlight. If you find that you enjoy this type of gardening there are various other ways in which you can enjoy indoor gardening which only requires a little research before starting.

For those of us who only have a small backyard for a garden will find ourselves severely restricted in our garden designs. Often the only option available to us is to plant upwards (on shelves on walls or fences) or to opt for container gardening. One of the truly wonderful things about this type of gardening is that you really can be as adventurous as you want as virtually any container can be adapted for the growing of plants and even vegetables. Old wheelbarrows, given a quick lick of paint and planted out with a selection of colorful bedding plants, can suddenly be transformed into an exciting element of your garden design. Old chimney pots are great items for creating unusual structural designs of varying heights, grouped together they can look great with a few trailers and a selection of flowering annuals.

Container gardening is not restricted to flower gardening. One of the best ways in which to grow your own organic potatoes in a small area is to arrange a small number of building bricks into a square, fill with some soil or compost, add your seed potato and cover with a little more soil. When the leaves have grown a little add a further row of bricks and again fill with soil leaving only some of the leaves above soil level. Continue this process until your tower reaches a reasonable height or until it is reaching the end of the growing period (whichever the earliest). Amazingly as you dismantle the structure you will discover that potatoes have developed from the very top right down to the bottom.

There is an enormous selection of vegetables which are highly suited to container gardening and, by creating a clever mix of both vegetables and flowers you will be able to create a beautiful garden with benefits.

Eric Johnstone has been a landscape gardener for over 15 years and writes for a small number of landscape gardening sites in his spare time.