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"  Small-Space Gardening Whether you&amp;#039;re a city dweller or you just have a small yard, space can be a major factor in whether you can start a vegetable garden and how much you can produce. Space restraints have led to innovative techniques that allow gardeners to grow more food regardless of their outdoor square footage. If your yard is small, vertical gardens such as potato towers could be your answer. They require minimal space, can be constructed with simple materials, and can grow a variety vegetables and produce high yields. The simplified version of tower gardening is container gardening, which is as straightforward as buying or building several large containers, filling them with soil and fertilizer, and planting seeds or starts. Bear in mind: You won&amp;#039;t get as much from containers as you will from towers. Go Native If you want a great ground cover for your flower beds, native grasses and plants are the way to go. Planting species that exist naturally where you live will not only make your garden look better but also improve the soil and save you time and money. Plants growing in their familiar habitat will stay healthy with little or no maintenance. Native species also need less hands-on supplemental watering because they can survive pretty well on rain alone; they also don&amp;#039;t require fertilizers or pesticides. Finally, it&amp;#039;s free and easy to collect seeds and clippings from native plants in your area. Just watch out for invasive species. Plant Succulents If you&amp;#039;re looking to spruce up your garden with something that looks cool and doesn&amp;#039;t need a ton of maintenance, plant succulents. Succulents are members of the cactus family; they&amp;#039;re adapted to conserve water and survive in harsh, desertlike conditions. Plant them in nearly any soil condition and they&amp;#039;ll thrive, even if you forget to water them for weeks at a time. Succulents come in thousands of varieties, in every shape, size, color, and texture imaginable, which makes them a smart option for adding visual interest to flower beds or pretty much any space in your yard. Reuse Creatively Got a pile of scrap lumber or some old logs sitting around your yard, waiting for your attention? Improve the look of your yard using these recycled materials in creative ways. Try using old wood planks as edging for raised beds, or random scraps of wood to create a recycled fence for a garden barrier. Take an old screen door and use it as a trellis, or use old window frames as part of a greenhouse. Ditch Your Lawn If you&amp;#039;re tired of mowing and watering all the time, climb aboard with one of the hottest new gardening trends and get rid of your lawn\u2014or at least most of it. Many people these days are trading their Kentucky bluegrass for large flower beds, gravel walkways, and rock gardens. Revamping your traditional yard this way requires an initial investment of time and money, but you&amp;#039;ll have the coolest garden on the block, as well as more freedom (significantly less maintenance) and more money in your wallet, thanks to savings on water bills. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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