Choosing the Most Rewarding Plants for your Container Garden

What do you need to consider when you are choosing what to grow on your balcony, patio or other small space?  Here are 12 questions you can ask to help you choose, together with my thoughts. I do hope this will give you some ideas and inspiration for the year ahead. 

Small Spaces ARE Different

Mainstream edible gardening - at least here in the UK - revolves mainly around traditional staples like leeks, potatoes and carrots. These are productive choices in larger spaces like allotments, enabling a significant degree of self sufficiency in vegetables. These staples also grow perfectly well in containers, but I’d argue that they are not the most rewarding or best use of a limited space. For a start, it’s only possible to grow a tiny proportion of the carrots or onions that most of us eat in a year on a balcony or patio.

However…. it is possible to use our small space gardening to make a big impact on what we eat nearly every day and most of the year round. We can grow ingredients like herbs to add flavour to nearly every meal. We can diversify our diet by growing veg and fruit that are rarely, if ever, available in our supermarkets, like sorrel, tomatillos and Chiliean guavas. And we can grow salad leaves and edible flowers that make it possible to eat a delicious fresh salad every day.

So, what makes a rewarding and worthwhile edible plant to grow in containers? It’s an unscientific and subjective process - and of course each of us will come up with different answers. When choosing what to grow, I share some of the questions that I find helpful to consider below. It turns out there are quite a few - and it’s the first time I’ve tried to articulate or share them in this way, so do let me know if they are helpful.

But first, perhaps the two most important questions you need to consider before deciding to growing anything are:

• Are you excited to grow it? This is so important but occasionally overlooked. If you are excited to grow carrots, grow them!
• Is your climate suitable and does your space get enough sun? Some plants, like chillies, really do need lots of sun and are almost impossible to grow in a shady back yard. I’ll address this point in more detail in another post shortly.

Things to consider when choosing what to grow

1) How much impact will it have on the food you eat?

Homegrown potatoes, onions and carrots are fun to grow and often taste better than shop bought. But they are widely available in the shops, relatively low cost, and you probably eat plenty of them anyway. Also, in a small space, you’ll only be able to grow a fraction of what you need.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with growing potatoes, carrots or onions. I sometimes do, and I know experienced container gardeners who count carrots as an essential crop every year - or who grow multiple tubs of potatoes. However, devoting the same space to growing herbs and salad has the potential to have a lot more impact on what you eat day to day.

For example, with space for just a few containers you can grow enough herbs to pick a small handful every day, adding flavour and diversity to all your meals. In roughly a metre / yard square of space, you can grow enough microgreens to eat homegrown salad every day for much of the year. And a few containers full of chillies, tomatoes and heritage beans will offer a taste experience that supermarkets can’t offer.

In just a little space you can grow enough microgreens to eat homegrown salad every day.

2) How easy is it to grow?

Most edible plants grow well in containers and few are that difficult. But some, like chillies, are more fussy about climate, and others need caring for over longer periods before they can be harvested. One of the easiest is radish microgreens - as they only need an hour or two of sun each day and will give you a delicious harvest in just 7 - 10 days. Chillies, on the other hand, need shelter and at least six hours of sun a day and take 4 - 6 months to start producing fruit (16 times longer than radish shoots!). Chillies still make a great choice to grow in small spaces - so it’s really just a case of taking these factors into account and working out what best suits you.

‘Easier’ plants to grow (obviously this is subjective - and most of us have at least one ‘easy’ plant we struggle to grow) include: mint, chives, most Mediterranean herbs, runner and French beans, and most salad leaves like rocket, pea shoots and nasturtiums.

Harder plants to grow include chillies, peppers, aubergines / eggplant, coriander / cilantro, basil, and dill. Also some of the root crops like beetroot - and even radishes (often, and misleadingly in my view, classified as ‘very easy’ in some gardening books) - are not very reliable at plumping up when grown in containers.

Mint is generally one of the easier plants to grow in containers. I grew this one by simply moving a supermarket mint into a larger pot.

3) Does it have great flavour?

One of the most valuable contributions a small container garden can make to your everyday meals is flavour. For example, a small handful of herbs can lift a simple bean, rice or egg dish into something delicious. A few homegrown pea shoots, radish shoots and sunflower shoots can transform a shop bought lettuce into a gourmet salad.

The good news is that any home grown vegetable or fruit will usually taste better than shop bought. (I say ‘usually’ because occasionally, if plants get stressed from eg a lack of water, they can start to taste a bit tough and bitter - so it’s good to be aware of this.) However, some stand out flavour-wise when compared to their supermarket cousins. These include heritage varieties of tomatoes, chillies, beans and cucumbers. Homegrown cucumbers, for example, actually taste of something! Many microgreens also deliver flavour it is hard to buy, and herbs, of course, are the classic way to add flavour with just a few leaves.

Herbs are probably the best way to grow maximum flavour in small spaces. Here we have some purple basil, Thai basil, chives, tarragon, fennel and mint.

4) How much work is it to grow?

Plants like Mediterranean herbs need little attention apart from watering and repotting every two to three years. Tomatoes, on the other hand, need sowing from seed each year inside, transplanting outside, then tying up as they grow, pinching out, feeding and more regular watering. Tomatoes are a still fantastic container crop, just more time consuming to grow. Likewise, microgreens are wonderful to eat, easy to grow and incredibly productive - but they involve more work because they need sowing every couple of weeks if you want to keep up a constant supply.

Some of the most productive crops for small spaces are also the highest maintenance. One strategy that I find can give you the best of both worlds is to balance a mix of high maintenance, highly productive crops like microgreens, with low maintenance herbs. But, if you are short on time and want the lowest maintenance garden possible, low maintenance perennial herbs and fruits are a good way to go.

Lower maintenance plants for containers include perennial herbs, fruit bushes and fruit trees. Also, the slower growing leafy vegetables like chard, kale and sorrel.

Higher maintenance plants include most annual vegetables, particularly those that need to be started inside in small pots early in the season like tomatoes, chillies, cucumbers and French / string beans. Also microgreens and salad.

Tomatoes have to be started from seed inside and regularly transplanted - worth it, but significantly more work than growing perennial herbs!

5) How productive is it?

It’s generally more rewarding, in my experience, to grow things that give you plenty to pick and eat. And, when grown in containers, some plants will give you a lot more to eat than others!

For example, conventional onions take 3- 5 months to grow from seed, and you’ll usually get just five or six medium sized specimens from one 10 litre / 2 gallon container. On the other hand, spring onions / scallions grow twice as fast (in just 6 - 8 weeks). By sowing spring onions thickly, and thinning them as they grow, I can pick several bunches from one container every week for six to eight weeks or more - and around 100 spring onions in total.

Likewise, a 50 litre / 10 gallon container of broad beans typically yields 0.5kg / 1 lb of shelled broad beans / fava beans. In contrast, the same container with French / string / snap beans typically yields five to ten times as much. I can grow all the runner beans my family can eat in one 50 litre container.

Productive container crops, relative to the space they take up include: microgreens, tomatoes, runner beans, French / snap / string beans, spring onions / scallions and lettuces.

Less productive ones include onions, beetroot, broad beans, leeks. Sweetcorn is also hard to get a good yield from as it is wind pollinated and easier to grow in larger spaces.

You can grow multiple bunches of spring onions / scallions like this in one 10 litre / 2 gallon pot.

6) Can it be harvested over an extended period of time?

Some plants are very generous and can be picked over many weeks - tomatoes for example. Others like rosemary and bay will even give you a supply all year round. Peas on the other hand fruit for shorter periods, as do most microgreens. And, most root crops, like carrots, can only be picked once - as harvesting removes the whole plant.

Some of the plants with the short harvest windows are amongst the most productive in small spaces and make fantastic choices. But those with longer harvest windows will give you more variety for less work.

Plants with long harvest windows (two months or more) include: tomatoes and chillies; kale, chard, and sorrel (if harvested by picking the outer leaves, leaving the inner ones to regrow); and all the perennial herbs.

Plants with shorter harvest windows include: microgreens, coriander (except when sown in August), broad / fava beans, most pea varieties, most root crops.

7) How expensive is it to buy?

Salads, soft fruit, and herbs are generally amongst the most expensive fresh produce to buy in the shops. The good news is that these are also amongst the plants that grow best and most productively in containers!

For example, herbs and salad can be grown at a fraction of the supermarket price. A 100g / 4oz bag of rocket / arugula that typically costs around £1 in the shops can be grown for just a few pence / cents. More dramatically, my rosemary plant, grown for free from a cutting, has given us fresh rosemary sprigs nearly every week for ten years. If I’d bought a pack of rosemary (at 70p a pack) every week instead (which, incidentally, I never would), I’d have spent £364!

Unusual or exotic plants also tend to be sold a premium price and many, like Vietnamese coriander and edible flowers, will grow well in containers.

Staple crops like potatoes, carrots and onions, on the other hand, are difficult to grow at home for much less than shop prices. From a purely financial perspective, this is another argument to grow more herbs, salads, chillies and less staples.

8) Is it available in the shops?

One of the joys and privileges of growing your own is that a whole new world of edible plants opens up before you. There are many herbs, vegetables, salad leaves and even fruits that are easy to grow but that you rarely if ever see in the shops. And there are hundreds - in some cases thousands - of rare heritage varieties of vegetables like tomatoes, chillies, lettuces, and beans. Many of these taste far superior to the supermarket varieties, which tend to be selected more for high yield and uniformity rather than flavour.

In addition to the pleasure of adding different flavours to your daily meals, there is increasing evidence of the health benefits of eating a wider diversity of plants. Depending on where you live, eating 30 different plants a week is not always easy or affordable. Growing some more unusual plants at home is often a more convenient, affordable - and fun - way to regularly eat 30 plants a week.

Unusual plants that grow well in containers include:

• Herbs like Vietnamese coriander, garlic chives, three cornered leek (but don’t grow this near open ground - it’s invasive), savory, chervil and Scot’s lovage.
• Salad leaves like sorrel, mustards, orach, New Zealand spinach, nasturtiums, tatsoi, and land cress.
• Vegetables like Jerusalem artichokes (yes, they grow well in containers!), tomatillo, fat baby achocha - as well as many unusual varieities of chicory, kale, tomatoes, beans, peas, lettuces and chillies.
• Fruits like Chilean guavas and Japanese wineberries.

Japanese wineberries grow well in containers and are rarely, if ever, seen in the shops in the UK.

9) Can you preserve a surplus easily?

Although, it’s less common to have a surplus when growing in a small space, it is still worth bearing this in mind in case you do - or in case you want to try to create one. For example, chillies dry and freeze superbly and taste as good as fresh. Tomatoes can be frozen as passata, a real a treat in mid winter. Herbs are a bit more fiddly but can be dried or frozen in cubes of olive oil.

But I must confess my heart sinks slightly at a glut of runner beans or courgettes. Both can be frozen or pickled - and although these taste OK, I much prefer to eat them fresh and squeaky off the plant.

Thin skinned chillies dry really well - the flavour often becomes warmer and fruitier, but still just as good. They are great to have in the kitchen!

10) Does it taste better freshly picked?

We’ve all had that disappointing experience of buying a punnet of raspberries or a bag of salad, only to find the contents are mushy or wilting when we get home. Some plants, particularly soft herbs, salad leaves and soft fruit, don’t travel well and simply taste better when freshly picked.

Studies like this also show how nutrients, like Vitamin C, in leafy veg decline rapidly after picking.

It therefore makes sense to grow salad and soft fruit on your doorstep, where it is easy to pick just before you eat. Not only does it taste better (I am now officially addicted to fresh homegrown salad), it is more nutritious, too.

Another reason to grow some plants at home is when you only need small amounts. For example, is it worth buying a whole pack of thyme or rosemary, when you only need a few sprigs? If you use a herb regularly, you might want to consider growing it.

A small herb garden at home also makes it easier and more affordable to cook recipes from those chefs that are like recipes with long lists of fresh herbs, like the wonderful Yotam Ottolenghi.

The flavours of freshly picked salad sing. Studies show they are more nutritious, too.

11) Is it attractive?

Even if your primary aim is to grow food, it is likely that you also want your container gardens to give you visual pleasure, too. While almost any healthy vegetable growing in summer will dramatically improve the look and feel of a concrete space, some are more attractive than others.

Particularly attractive edibles include: cavelo nero, kale, bright lights chard (or any other coloured variety), nasturtiums and other edible flowers, French / pole and runner beans, orach scarlet emperor, and mixed colour lettuces. For winter greenery, bay and rosemary are good.

Nasturtiums are a classic container crop - pretty leaves, pretty flowers, and tasty too.

12) Fragrance and Feel

When thinking about what to grow in and edible garden, it’s easy to overlook fragrance and touch. There are, of course, classic aromatherapy herbs like rosemary or lavender that are almost essential for every container garden. But even tomato leaves have an idiosyncratic and oddly compelling aroma, home grown spring onions / scallions have a pleasing gloss and squeak to them, and broad beans have a gloriously soft inner lining to their pods.

It’s this three dimensional sensory experience of food growing that contributes to it being such a rich and rewarding pass time for so many people. These experiences help us feel more connected to our food, delivering more to our senses than the clinical, aroma-less experience of choosing vacuum packed plastic bags in the supermarket.

What do YOU want to Grow?

What you decide to grow is, of course, a completely personal choice and will be different for each of us. Dreaming about it, considering the different options and trying different things is all part of the fun. And, as I said at the start, the key thing when choosing any plant is that you are excited to grow it and you have the right conditions for it to flourish.

I do also urge you to consider what you can grow to make the most difference to what you eat. My hope is that, like me, you will find it incredibly rewarding to be able to pick your own home grown food regularly and - even if it is just a few herb leaves - that you will enjoy the flavour boost and the increased variety that home growing offers.