limited space in suburban lot

16 years ago

A year ago, my husband and I bought pretty much our dream home - with all the sprawl that the Puget Sound has gotten lately, our dream home unfortunately came with a small lot. Our back yard initially was about 35 X 30 or so but we entertain ALOT so a deck was a needed investment to us cutting our yard down even more.

I wonder how others have dealt with our changes in suburban lots that the nw has experienced. I went from .2 acre to this lot and I am feeling frustrated with not being able to take advantage of native plants like the rodies and azaleas. Any ideas for me?

I would post this in small spaces but I wanted the expertise of those dealing with our climate up here and those that know our native plants or plants that do well up here.

i added my myspace gallery - hope its accessible.

Here is a link that might be useful: myspace garden gallery for nwgardengirl

Comments (8)

nwgardengirl
Original Author
16 years ago
oops - I decided to post this in this forum as well. LOL!
wolfe15136
16 years ago
I garden on a similarly small lot: 100x35 ft, which includes the house, garage and back patio. I have about 30x20 usable garden space. I cram things in. I've had to give up on azaleas, but I do have one Rhodie. It serves as a sort of boundary between the vegies and the rest of the garden.
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paulallen
16 years ago
Have you tried any of the dwarf azaleas? I have a smaller lot and two are doing well in partial shade, one near a buddleia and the other mixed in with mums and near a ROS trimmed in to a tree shape. Have you tried heuchera? Some have excellent foliage. Good luck.
sinfonian
16 years ago
Wow, I was going to post to this thread but noticed how old it was... and it's still in the top ten. Not a well utilized forum. Anyway, I decided because of the Puget Sound reference. I'm 15 min. north of Seattle with a suburban lot myself. Well, the back yard is, the front is a sweeping useless easement to mow (I live on a corner). Check out what I did in roughly 250 SF of space (look at the link).

I spruced it up and built 120 SF of raised beds and will be planting tons and tons of veggies for my family. It can be done and it looks great when you plan it out ahead of time. I hope you've done something or do something with your space. It's great to garden in your back yard, regardless of the space you've got to do it in.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden in progress...
wolfe15136
16 years ago
No, we're not well-utilized. I wonder if its because we're out of alphabetical order on the forums list? I can't believe there are so few of us trying to grow some nice plants in small gardens.
User
16 years ago
The raised beds for your veggies look great!
My garden is small also.
I don't have room for raised beds, unless I want to give up on a little bit of grass.
Thanks for posting a pic!
I check in to this forum about once a week, and it isn't real busy in here at all. very few posts.
Can't wait til spring...............
petpalikali
16 years ago
O.K., I've got you all beat on small! I live in an apartment with an 16x24 foot fenced in yard, and a large dog. My flower garden is the 3 feet or so inside and along the fence. Luckily, my neighbors let me plant veggies in their yard, and we share them. Now, I'm looking for a small, bird-attracting tree that will survive in a whiskey barrel. It was free, and I am poor. Anyone have an idea? I'm a pretty good pruner, if that helps with suggestions.
grovespirit
16 years ago
Hi petpalikali! Seems you and I do really know what a small growing space truly is. :)

A good bird-friendly candidate for growing in a whiskey barrel in your zone would be Chokecherry. Another would be Juneberry (amalanchier) and another would be Hawthorn. You'd need to keep it pruned small so it doesn't outgrow its barrel and also wrap that barrel really well in some insulation in winter so the roots don't freeze.

Or, perhaps attract birds with something different, such as purple millet? Or Solanum melanocerasum (wonderberry), or Strawberry Spinach (Chenopodium capitatum) which produce an oodle of berries for the birds, as well as edible leaves for the gardener.

My "yard" is 15x15, about 10x10 of which gets sunlight. And it's paved, so I have to grow in pots.

That is nice that your neighbors are sharing some space with you. I live in a condo complex and they have rules out the wazoo about what can be planted where, so I haven't yet been able to convince anyone to share space with me.