9 Creative Ways With Plants, No Yard Required
See how designers and homeowners cleverly incorporate container gardens into their home designs
Many of us, especially those who live in apartments and condos, know what it’s like to feel limited by our square footage and lack of outdoor space. But that doesn’t mean plants can’t be part of our lives. In fact, in a small space they can even be more of a focus. These container gardens featured previously on Houzz utilize creativity and style where soil and space are lacking.
2. Set the stage. When architect and interior designer Stephane Chamard moved into a loft in a converted candy factory in Toronto with his husband, he decided it needed an update. After painting every surface white, the couple filled the loft space out, including adding an abundance of potted plants.
The ragged jumble of plants against the stark white backdrop shows a tension, and was also designed by Chamard to represent a winter garden. The plants frame the sitting area and provide a backdrop for the electric-blue vintage Djinn chairs by Olivier Mourgue.
See more of this modern Toronto loft
The ragged jumble of plants against the stark white backdrop shows a tension, and was also designed by Chamard to represent a winter garden. The plants frame the sitting area and provide a backdrop for the electric-blue vintage Djinn chairs by Olivier Mourgue.
See more of this modern Toronto loft
3. Surround a tub. In a converted wool factory in Brisbane, Australia, the designers of this luxe master bathroom used translucent glass and a row of tropical foliage to create distinct zones for the tub and the rest of the bathroom. Both features also create privacy in the open space.
The plants provide textural contrast in the minimalist room filled with sleek, modern materials, while their linear planting still fits the bathroom’s style.
See more of this industrial apartment in Brisbane
The plants provide textural contrast in the minimalist room filled with sleek, modern materials, while their linear planting still fits the bathroom’s style.
See more of this industrial apartment in Brisbane
4. Plant an adjacent exterior wall. What was once a run-down workshop in East London is now architect Fiona Kirkwood’s three-story home. As part of the renovation, she sunk the first level to below street level, but she wanted to make sure this new basement still had a pleasing view and received plenty of natural light.
A tiered indoor-outdoor entry courtyard got some greenery with a vertical garden. Kirkwood planted the wall using Woolly Pocket living wall planters and filled them with flowers, herbs and evergreens from the New Covent Garden flower market. The wall, which receives direct sunlight, softens the patio, enhances the view from the sunken living area and provides the kitchen with fresh herbs.
See more of this renovated London home | How to Add a Living Wall
A tiered indoor-outdoor entry courtyard got some greenery with a vertical garden. Kirkwood planted the wall using Woolly Pocket living wall planters and filled them with flowers, herbs and evergreens from the New Covent Garden flower market. The wall, which receives direct sunlight, softens the patio, enhances the view from the sunken living area and provides the kitchen with fresh herbs.
See more of this renovated London home | How to Add a Living Wall
5. Line a basic entry. Justine Savage has packed every square inch of her apartment in Mornington Peninsula, Australia, with personality-filled decor and furniture. A floral designer, Savage also included a lot of hanging and potted plants to give the apartment life and color.
Instead of starting inside the house, Savage used her front entry as a launchpad for her home’s decor. What could have been a set of bare concrete steps leading to the front door features cheery containers filled with dahlias and succulents. Not only does this arrangement soften the concrete, but it also gives visitors a taste of her personality early on.
See more of this sunny, flower-filled apartment in Australia
Instead of starting inside the house, Savage used her front entry as a launchpad for her home’s decor. What could have been a set of bare concrete steps leading to the front door features cheery containers filled with dahlias and succulents. Not only does this arrangement soften the concrete, but it also gives visitors a taste of her personality early on.
See more of this sunny, flower-filled apartment in Australia
6. Add living wallpaper. In contrast to the electronic devices below, this swath of golden pothos adds a solid plane of living foliage. “I used living plants because it has positive impact on my health and psyche,” architect and homeowner Rudolf Lesňák says. “Moreover, it creates a natural opposite to the modern materials and all the technology.”
Occasional watering keeps the plants happy in their hydroponic inserts (pots filled with clay granules). At night, they’re bathed in a spectrum of LED lights.
See more of this minimalist Slovakian apartment
Occasional watering keeps the plants happy in their hydroponic inserts (pots filled with clay granules). At night, they’re bathed in a spectrum of LED lights.
See more of this minimalist Slovakian apartment
7. Bring the view in close. Living at the beach means the water is just a short walk away, but it also usually means your neighbors are even closer.
Kris Crenwelge and John Bellemy, who live in Redondo Beach, California, decided to solve the issue of nearby neighbors in a way that also brings a bit of the coastal view inside. Window boxes filled with mounding grasses screen the windows while still providing the homeowners with an attractive view.
See more of this updated home in Los Angeles | See how to build a modern window box
Kris Crenwelge and John Bellemy, who live in Redondo Beach, California, decided to solve the issue of nearby neighbors in a way that also brings a bit of the coastal view inside. Window boxes filled with mounding grasses screen the windows while still providing the homeowners with an attractive view.
See more of this updated home in Los Angeles | See how to build a modern window box
8. Shrink the concrete patio. Matt Walters and Liz Hamer didn’t have an open yard around their Melbourne, Australia, rental house, but they did have a cracked concrete patio.
What started as a few potted-plant gifts from Hamer’s mother has evolved into a lush container garden oasis. The plants in a variety of sizes, shapes and textures soften the edges of the patio, increase its perceived size and create a dynamic patio landscape.
See more of this eclectic house and garden in Melbourne
What started as a few potted-plant gifts from Hamer’s mother has evolved into a lush container garden oasis. The plants in a variety of sizes, shapes and textures soften the edges of the patio, increase its perceived size and create a dynamic patio landscape.
See more of this eclectic house and garden in Melbourne
9. Add a rooftop Zen garden. High above a bustling commercial area in Los Angeles, on the top floor of an industrial building, a Japanese penthouse offers a retreat from the busy world below.
A built-in raised bed filled with gravel and a specimen pine tree provides the wraparound deck — as well as the adjacent living area — with a focal point and a bit of green.
See more of this Pasadena penthouse
More: The Perfect Houseplant for People Who Kill Houseplants
A built-in raised bed filled with gravel and a specimen pine tree provides the wraparound deck — as well as the adjacent living area — with a focal point and a bit of green.
See more of this Pasadena penthouse
More: The Perfect Houseplant for People Who Kill Houseplants
On her apartment’s balcony, both of these passions are combined in a vertical garden made with repurposed wood window shutters. Succulents, which can sometimes grow in the crevices between rocks, sit comfortably in a little bed of soil between each louver.
See more of this nature-filled San Francisco apartment