IKEA Has A Space-Saving Solution For More Planters On Your Small Patio

While there are plenty of tips and tricks to maximize your small patio space, if you love to garden and grow things like herbs, flowers, salad vegetables, and even ornamental plants, IKEA has a planter solution to allow you to use the space you have more effectively. The STJÄRNANIS flower box is made from acacia wood and is fairly compact, measuring only 17 inches long and 6 inches wide. It comes complete with two brackets that allow you to attach the planter to a wall.

It's no secret that when space is limited, vertical gardening is the way to go. With a few of these planter boxes (they're only $19.99 each), you can create a vertical plant wall that will allow you to enjoy beautiful blooms even in the city with your patio garden. You could either arrange the boxes lined up vertically for maximum space-saving, or you could stagger them to create a more visually pleasing display. This is the perfect way to add a lot more planters than you would be able to if you were just using the ground space. Just be aware that you can't fill the boxes with soil, as they're designed to house individual pots. There's also a plastic insert in the base, which will catch and hold the water from the pots. So, if you want the excess water to drain away, you may want to poke a few holes in the plastic rather than leaving it intact. Depending on what you're growing, this will prevent fungal problems in plants that don't like their roots sitting in water.

As these planter boxes are stackable, you can even make clever use of the floor space on a portion of your patio. You could place two or more boxes next to each other and stack one or more on top in a pyramid or staggered formation. However, this will reduce the planting area of each box, although it would make quite an attractive display if you want to grow herbs or strawberries in the planters.

If there's a fence surrounding your patio, you could easily use this area to attach a few of the boxes, once again making good use of the vertical space. Then, you could create your own kitchen garden and grow salad vegetables like lettuce and spinach, and a variety of herbs, such as parsley, mint, oregano, thyme, and chives. If you're even more ambitious, consider placing a couple of the planter boxes on the ground around the perimeter of your patio and use them for growing micro dwarf tomatoes and even mini cucumbers with the help of a trellis.

Because the planters are quite compact, the pots in them will need to be watered frequently, as the soil will dry out fairly quickly. The advantage of having them mounted vertically on a wall is that when you water the top one, the excess should drip through onto the plants below. However, you do want to make sure that each pot has been amply watered each time. And if you need even more inspiration, there are plenty of ornamental plants that will work in a vertical garden.