Easy Gardens for Small Spaces

A Salad Garden

What to plant: Here, a Better Bush tomato and a Spacemaster cucumber share a four-foot-square plot with three kinds of bell peppers (yellow, orange, and red), four varieties of red and green lettuce, and a thriving nasturtium.

Other options: If your best planting spot gets only four hours or so of direct sun, forget the tomatoes and try leafy vegetables, like spinach, lettuce, and Swiss chard. Root vegetables, such as beets, carrots, and radishes, also require less light.

How to maintain: Till in plenty of organic compost at planting time for maximum output. Be aware that as plants put out more foliage and start to bear fruit, they require more water.