22 Stunning Container Vegetable Garden Design Ideas & Tips (2024)

Follow these Container Vegetable Garden Design Ideas to maximize harvest and make your edible garden less boring.

Growing a vegetable garden doesn’t mean it has to be boring, dull, and less interesting. On the contrary, it can be very enjoyable and attractive. If you want to know how? Just follow the tips below!

Table of contents

Look at the Container Garden Design Tips

1. Grow Climbers and Vines

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Support climbing vegetables and vines and direct them upward with the help of a trellis or a cage or in any other way.

Such plants use vertical space and are abundant in production. Bitter melon (a unique tropical gourd known for its health benefits), gourds,cucumber, pole beans and other beans, Malabar spinach, vine tomatoes, squashes, peas, if you want to try– pumpkin and melons.

2. Choose Colorful Containers

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You can brighten up your container vegetable garden by choosing colorful containers to grow your favorite vegetables and herbs.

3. Use Hanging Baskets

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Don’t cast out the idea of growing herbs and vegetables in hanging baskets. Tomatoes, strawberries, many other vegetables, and herbs can be grown in hanging baskets successfully. It also creates space!

4. Start One Pot Vegetable Garden

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This one-pot vegetable garden idea is perfect if you don’t have space to set up a container garden. It is also useful for those who have a small balcony or open window that receives full sun. We picked up this idea from the Sunset; readmore there!

5. Try this Vertical Lettuce Planter Idea

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We love this project done by Bonnie Plants, and why not? You can grow fresh herbs and greens easily in a limited space by following this idea. They have a DIY article on this for you to look at, check out!

6. Grow Edible Flowers

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To add some interest, color, and beauty, it’s a good idea to grow some edible flowers. You can use them in salads to garnish your meal or make sharbat.

Flowers like marigolds, calendula, viola, and nasturtiums can be tried. The list is long, and you can discover more names here.

7. Give Space to Herbs

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Your container vegetable garden may look incomplete if you don’t grow some herbs. Fresh herbs can enhance the taste of your meal always, so it’s a great idea.

You don’t need to grow all the herbs. Consider adding 2-3 plants that you like most and suit your location: Parsley, thyme, mint, sage, oregano, cilantro, and much more to choose from. A window box, a few small containers, and hanging baskets can also be used.

8. Tomatoes are Must!

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Tomatoes are a wonderful and the most important addition to a container vegetable garden. They look beautiful too. Choose 2-3 varieties and grow a few plants to get a bountiful harvest of homegrown tomatoes. Learn about the besttomato varieties for thecontainer in this post.

9. Add Colorful Varieties22 Stunning Container Vegetable Garden Design Ideas & Tips (9)

Vegetables and herbs with different textures, attractive foliage, and colors can be an excellent addition to your container vegetable garden; they can add visual interest to it.

Red hot pepper, red-stemmed swiss chard, round midnight basil, fine leaf rosemary with other herbs like lemongrass or thyme can make it look appealing. Here’s an interesting post on colorful vegetables for you to see!

10. Use Unique Planters

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Use unique planters to provide virtual interest to your container vegetable garden. You can recycle and DIY your own planters or buy a few in unusual shapes and sizes. There are a lot of DIY ideas available on our website for help.

Check out Contemporary Garden Design Ideas

11. Play with the Height

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If you don’t want your vegetable garden to look boring, play with the height. Don’t use planters of similar size and height. Instead, group large and small containers together; this will create a visual appeal.

Tip: Group plants according to their height to create a garden-like surrounding effect. To do this, place tall plants in the back and short and low-growing plants like herbs and greens in front.

12. Grow a Citrus Tree

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Growing a lemon tree in a pot is not difficult and is probably an intelligent addition to your container vegetable garden. Here’s our step-by-step post on it!

13. Take the Help of Vertical Gardening

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The biggest challenge of limited space gardening is limited space itself. To beat this, take the help of Vertical Gardening. Use shoe racks, bookshelves, and plant holders to keep more pots.

If you’re a balcony gardener, railing plantersand hanging planters are amust. Besides, there are many other unique vertical gardening ideas available here.

14. Start with the Productive Container Vegetables

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Try succession planting for continuous harvest and grow the most productive and easiest container vegetables for a successful harvest. Here’s our article on it.

15. Try this One Pot Herb Garden Idea

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Growing herbs is easy to grow along with other vegetables you’re growing. We found this One-pot herb garden idea on Southern Living fascinating for urban gardeners. See the full post here!

16. Stake them Up!

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Staking and caging are also good ways to grow vegetables like tomatoes easily in containers in a compact spot. You can train the plant to grow vertically, saving a lot of space.

If you have a sunny balcony, patio, or rooftop, you only need a large container to grow multiple plants together and enjoy a fresh, homegrown harvest.

17. Make a Salad Table Garden

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A Salad Table is an ingenious way to grow plants like spinach and lettuce. Just find a sunny spot and keep the table there, simple! You can easily get them ready-made from the market or make one for yourself at home.

Check out some impressive Salad Table Ideas

18. Try Raised Beds

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Instead of growing veggies on the ground, you can grow them in raised beds instead. They are easy to maintain this way, compared to a traditional garden–If you have a back problem, want to control the quality of the soil, or are looking to improve the drainage.

19. Go the Hydroponic Way

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Want to grow vegetables hydroponically? Check out some of the best DIYs here. You can also use PVC pipes for this purpose. One similar DIY is here to watch on YouTube.

20. Grow Exotic Vegetables

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Finding fresh, exotic veggies like Black tomatoes, Romanesco Broccoli, Mexican Sour Gherkin, Dragon Carrot, Red Perilla, and Thai Basil can be a tough job at the supermarket–so why not grow them at your home?

21. Make a Movable Garden

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If your garden doesn’t get all the sunlight it needs, DIY a movable garden, which is basically a raised bed on wheels. This way, you can grow vegetables and move them around accordingly, where they get the right sun exposure to thrive well.

22. Save Space by Making a Herb Tower

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Yes! You read that right! You can grow not just herbs but some leafy greens as well in a tower form to save space and plant multiple of them together.

22 Stunning Container Vegetable Garden Design Ideas & Tips (2024)

FAQs

What is the best layout for a vegetable garden? ›

As a general rule, put tall veggies toward the back of the bed, mid-sized ones in the middle, and smaller plants in the front or as a border. Consider adding pollinator plants to attract beneficial insects that can not only help you get a better harvest, but will also prey on garden pests.

How can I make my container garden look good? ›

How to Grow Beautiful Container Gardens
  1. #1 Use the proper soil. ...
  2. #2 Ensure that pots have proper drainage. ...
  3. #3 Use a Thriller a Filler and a Spiller. ...
  4. #4 Combine plants of varying heights, colors and textures. ...
  5. #5 Tie in the architecture and or color of your home. ...
  6. #6 Choose interesting pots. ...
  7. #7 Fertilize Often. ...
  8. #8 Water often.
Jun 23, 2022

What is the best vegetable to grow in a container? ›

Among the most versatile vegetables for container gardening, tomatoes are a sure bet for beginners and seasoned gardeners alike.
  • Spinach. ...
  • Zucchini. ...
  • Herbs (Basil, Parsley, etc.) ...
  • Scallions and Green Onions. ...
  • Beets. ...
  • Swiss Chard. ...
  • Kale. ...
  • Strawberries.
Mar 25, 2024

How deep should a container vegetable garden be? ›

Some types of plants, such as lettuce and herbs, have shallow roots. So, they can thrive in a gardening container that's only 6 inches deep. Other plants like tomatoes, carrots, and potatoes require more rooting depth. They need a planting box that's at least 12 inches deep.

What veggies grow well together? ›

Which Vegetables Grow Well Together?
VegetableCompanion PlantDon't Plant Together
OnionsBeets, carrots, Swiss chard, lettuce, peppersAll beans and peas
PeasBeans, carrots, corn, cucumbers, radish, turnipGarlic, onions
PotatoesBeans, corn, peasTomatoes
SquashCorn, melons, pumpkinsNone
11 more rows
Jun 26, 2021

What do you put in the bottom of a container garden? ›

One of the best things to put at the bottom of a planter for drainage is broken pieces of pot. You can use any unwanted plant pots or chipped crockery for this – simply smash them up into small to medium-sized pieces. Adding a layer of broken pieces of pot like this will prevent compost loss out of the drainage holes.

How do I arrange my garden containers? ›

As plants mature and fill in, spread pots apart. Keep your container garden looking its best by moving plants in peak bloom to the forefront of the garden or elevating them above their neighbors. Likewise, slip plants past their prime to less prominent positions.

What is the easiest vegetable to grow in a container? ›

Here are a few of our all-time favorite container veggies:
  1. Spinach. Spinach is delicious, highly nutritious, and one of the few veggies that grows like a champ in either full sunlight or partial shade. ...
  2. Bush Beans. ...
  3. Carrots. ...
  4. Eggplants. ...
  5. Lettuce. ...
  6. Tomatoes. ...
  7. Garlic. ...
  8. Radishes.

Can I plant tomatoes and cucumbers next to each other? ›

According to garden experts, cucumbers and tomatoes share similar growing habits and grow well when planted in proximity. Since both are vining plants, space them at least 18 inches apart and install stakes to train them vertically as they grow.

How often should I water my container vegetable garden? ›

Once plant roots have filled their pots and the weather gets hot in summer, you can plan on watering on a daily basis. Remember that fluctuations in soil moisture can worsen blossom-end rot in tomatoes. It is better to have constant moisture than to alternate wet and dry conditions.

How many cucumber plants per 5 gallon bucket? ›

Two or three plants will fit in a five-gallon bucket or grow one cucumber in a 10-inch-wide container. Mix soil with equal parts of compost, potting soil, perlite and peat moss. The compost or rotted manure will get plants off to a good start, or blend in granules of a balanced fertilizer, such as 10-10-10.

What is the cheapest container to grow vegetables in? ›

Food-grade buckets, grower's pots, and plastic dishpans are all good to use as cheap gardening containers for growing plants. Just remember to add drainage holes. Containers can often be found at yard sales, thrift stores, and other secondhand vendors.

What is the traditional row vegetable garden layout? ›

The traditional method of vegetable gardening is to plant in narrow rows, lining up single plants in long rows separated by 1 to 2 feet of bare soil to provide access for weeding and other maintenance tasks.

Should vegetable gardens be east or west facing? ›

Beware that west facing gardens often get the brunt of intense afternoon sun which can be deadly for certain plants. North and East facing gardens, as well as gardens that have structures that inhibit direct sunlight, tend to be more shady.

What is the best direction for rows in a garden? ›

Many gardeners prefer to plant their rows in a north to south direction. This planting orientation maximizes the light reaching all the plants in the garden by minimizing shade cast by one row of plants onto the next.

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