If you’re someone who dreams of growing your own food but feels limited by space, converting your deck into a container garden is a fantastic solution. Earlier on into our journey, we transformed our deck into a lush, food producing haven, and it’s been one of the most rewarding projects we’ve undertaken. Whether you’re working with a small balcony, a sprawling deck, or even backyard stairs, a container garden can help you maximize every inch of available space.

For anyone looking to grow their own food, a container garden offers countless benefits. Here’s why this idea is so appealing:

• Space efficiency: Even if you don’t have a yard, a deck offers a flat, sunny surface where you can grow plants in containers.
• Flexibility: Containers can be moved around based on the amount of sunlight or shade needed.
• Productivity: You can turn even small spaces, like stairs or railings, into areas for growing food.
• Control: With containers, you have total control over the soil quality, watering, and placement, which means healthier plants.
• Pest: We find that they are less pest on our deck than our actual garden.

For us, the most exciting part of this project was seeing how much food we could grow in even the tiniest containers. My stairs became an unexpected favourite spot for growing plants.

Step 1: Planning your container garden

Before you start hauling pots and soil onto your deck, spend some time planning your garden. Here’s what to consider:

Assess space

Take a good look at your deck. How much usable space do you have? Consider every area, from the ground surface to the railings and even the stairs. In our case, the stairs became a key growing space for small containers.

Sunlight

Most food crops need 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily. Observe how the sun moves across your deck to determine the best spots for your plants. If certain sections receive less light, you can grow shade tolerant crops like lettuce, spinach, or herbs.

Choose your containers

One of the joys of container gardening is the variety of options. You can use traditional pots, buckets, grow bags, or even repurposed items like old crates. For our deck, I used a mix of pots, plastic containers, and diy raised beds that we made. On the stairs, I opted for smaller containers to fit the narrow steps.

Step 2: Set up the garden

Once you’ve planned your space, it’s time to set up your garden. Here’s how to get started:

Soil

Good quality soil is key to a thriving container garden. We like to use a mix of compost, coco coir/peat moss and perlite/vermiculite. It really depends on what you have available in your area.

Arrange Your Containers

Start by placing larger containers in the corners or along the edges of the deck. Smaller containers can go on railings, shelves, or stairs. 

Here’s how we made the most of my deck:

• Stairs: We lined each step with small pots growing herbs, strawberries, and dwarf peppers. The stairs not only saved space but also gave me easy access to these plants.
• Railings: We used our railing for hanging planters for plants like cherry tomatoes.
• Vertical space: We hung small hanging planters on our deck canopy for herbs.

Proper drainage

Make sure every container has drainage holes to prevent water logging. If you’re worried about water dripping onto the deck, place saucers or trays under the pots.

Step 3: Choosing what to grow

One of the most exciting parts of container gardening is deciding what to grow. The possibilities are endless, but here are some of my recommendations for productive, space efficient crops:

Herbs

Herbs are perfect for containers and thrive in smaller spaces. I grew basil, parsley, mint, and thyme in small pots on the stairs and railings.

Leafy Greens

Lettuce, spinach, kale, and arugula grow quickly and don’t need deep containers. I planted these in shallow trays and tucked them into sunny corners.

Compact Vegetables

Look for dwarf or bush varieties of vegetables like cherry tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and eggplants. These plants produce well in containers and require minimal space.

Root Vegetables

You can grow carrots, radishes, and even potatoes in deep containers. I used a large bucket to grow potatoes, and it was incredibly satisfying to harvest them.

Fruits

Strawberries are a great choice for containers. I planted mine in small pots on the stairs, and they produced sweet, juicy berries all season long.

Step 4: Care

Once your garden is set up, it’s important to provide consistent care. Here’s how to keep your plants healthy and productive:

Water regularly

Containers dry out more quickly than garden beds, so it’s essential to water your plants regularly. During hot weather, you may need to water them daily. To make things easier, we installed a drip irrigation system that waters our plants automatically.

2. Feed your plants

Container plants rely on you for nutrients, so fertilize them regularly. We used an organic liquid nutrients every two weeks to keep my plants thriving.

3. Prune and harvest

Keep an eye on your plants and prune any dead or yellowing leaves. Harvest crops frequently to encourage new growth. I found that regularly picking herbs and vegetables not only kept the plants healthy but also ensured I had fresh produce on hand.

4. Monitor for pests and diseases

Inspect your plants regularly for signs of pests or diseases. If you spot any issues, address them promptly with organic pest control methods like neem oil or insecticidal soap.

Step 5: Making the most of small spaces

One of the biggest lessons we learned from this project was how to maximize small spaces. Here are some creative strategies:

Use vertical gardening

Vertical gardening is a game changer when it comes to saving space. Install trellises for climbing plants like beans and cucumbers. Hang pots or planters on walls and railings.

Stackable planters

Stackable planters are perfect for growing strawberries, herbs, or leafy greens in a small footprint. We haven’t used this method yet, but would love to try it out someday. You can grow so much more in the same space!

Grow on the stairs

The stairs is one of our favourite parts of the garden. Even though we were growing in tiny containers, the plants thrived and produced plenty of food. If you have stairs in your backyard or deck, don’t overlook them as potential growing areas.

Companion planting

Group plants together that benefit each other. For example, we grew basil near tomatoes to repel pests and improve the tomatoes’ flavour.

Converting  our deck into a container garden has been an incredibly rewarding experience. Every time we step outside, we are greeted by the vibrant colours of my plants and the delicious aroma of fresh herbs. There’s nothing quite like picking your own food right before a meal, it’s fresh, flavourful, and packed with nutrients. It’s also really nice to take a peek every morning through our sliding doors, just to see how everything is growing! 

What we love most about this project is how it’s allowed us to make the most of every inch of our backyard. From the largest container on the deck to the smallest pot on the stairs, every space has become a productive area for growing food.

Have you converted your deck into a flourishing garden too? Would love to hear from you!