Topsy-Turvy Apartment: The Decorative Appeal of an Upside Down Garden

An upside down garden is an ingenious way to make gardening in the confines of a small apartment space not only possible, but attractive as well. Gardening upside down takes only a little extra planning, but isn’t especially difficult.

What Kind of Garden is Upside Down

An upside down garden is just that—a garden that grows upside down. What this means is that the soil that houses the roots is at the top (in your container) and the plant then grows downward. This doesn’t work with all kinds of plants, but works incredibly well with vine and ivy plants and flowers.

What Kind of Plants to Grow

Knowing what kinds of plants not only work with an upside down garden but also flourish into an attractive array is essential to the success of your garden. Tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, eggplants, peppers, most herbs, and perennial and ivy flowers such as English ivy, geraniums, petunias, impatiens, orchids, fuschia and some ferns are the best choices for a garden that’s upside down.

Where to Place the Garden

In an apartment, you won’t have much space to spare, but that’s actually what makes these kinds of gardens ideal for your environment. You can hang them from the ceiling or walls, which is otherwise wasted space, or get a shelf designed to hang the plants for you that you can tuck away into an unused corner. Just remember that your plants will need plenty of sun, so make sure that sun beams from a nearby window or sliding glass door will hit your plants throughout the day. A kitchen window makes a popular spot for the garden. If you can, you can even grow them outside on a deck or patio.

Choosing the Best Containers

Choosing the right container for your garden depends on where in your apartment you have the space. You can purchase a corner shelf-like system for a garden that’s upside down in you hope to keep it in the corner and don’t want to make holes for hooks on which to hang the garden. This system will keep the garden tall and steady without causing damage to apartment walls.

Otherwise, look for a container specially designed for upside down gardening. Some of the best containers have additional space on top where you can add another flower or vegetable that might not do so well upside down, such as lettuce.

Making the Garden Look Attractive

While an upside down garden has a natural beauty of its own, you can’t just water the plant and hope for the best. If you don’t give the garden the perfect amount of water, you can have sickly, unattractive plants, which defeats the purpose of decorating your apartment with the garden. You might choose to use a container or a stick-in accessory designed to keep the soil at just the right level of moisture.

On the other hand, it’s quite possible that your upside down plant will grow too much too quickly. To keep the garden from looking like an overgrown mess, trim the plant regularly. You want to display the beauty of the plant but not have it look like the plant ate a whole corner of your room.

Growing an upside down garden in an apartment is a smart way for the apartment dweller with a green thumb to save space and still have an attractive display of plants. You may also enjoy growing your own vegetables and herbs to use for cooking, right over the kitchen sink.