Here are some things to keep in mind to help you choose the right plants for your small garden.

Tip one:
Your budget is one of the biggest concerns you need to keep in mind. A small garden is not going to be as expensive as a large garden, but it is still going to have some expenses. You want to keep in mind all of the areas that will cost money when planning your garden, such as soil you need to buy, fertilizer, weed control products, shovels, etc. The more expensive plants will require richer soils, which can cost more money.

Tip two:
Even with a small garden space, you will still need to have balance. The rule of thumb to follow for an even garden space is that the width should be no less than 1/3 the length. With small gardens, though the small borders tend to look better if you are using a 1 to 2 ratio. For example, a 6-foot border that is only 2 feet wide does not give you much space to play around with depth. Changing it to 3 or even 4 feet makes the border look less like an edge. You can also make other changes, such as using irregular shapes with curving lines. The more interesting you make the space, the more the size diminishes in importance.

Tip three:
You also want to keep the USDA Zone and sun exposure in mind. When choosing plants you will want to choose plants that will thrive in the conditions that your garden has. To determine the conditions of your garden, such as sun exposure, you will need to do a site analysis of the space you will be using for gardening. If you choose the wrong plants, they can suffer from a lot of problems due to too much sun or too little sun.

Tip four:
Maintenance is something else that you need to keep in mind. With a small garden space, the amount of maintenance is going to be less, but it is still going to be work. You need to be honest with yourself and figure out how much work you will put into your garden. Then choose plants based on how much maintenance they require or their growing time. With most plants, the work comes later after the plants have started blooming, but you will still have weed control and watering before then.

Tip five:
The actual size of the garden space you are using is going to come into play. The reason for this is that the smaller your garden space the fewer plants that you can have inside the garden. What you want to keep in mind is that smaller spaces will look cluttered faster, and they will limit what you can grow. For example, if you plan to plant squash these plants take up a lot of room and other plants too close will not get enough growing space. You also need to take into consideration if you need to put cages or stakes in with the plants. Tomato plants require cages, and even though they grow tall, they still get bushy which takes up space. Green beans might need to be staked, which cuts back on the room that you have to work with.