Best plants for small outdoor spaces

Plants sold for small spaces are often just small plants, which is not the same thing. What matters in a container is whether a plant stays in proportion, tolerates a root system that hits a wall, and forgives you the week you forget it. These twelve do.

Herbs that earn their place

Rosemary. Woody, drought-tolerant, evergreen. Wants sun and sharp drainage — the one plant that suffers more from kindness than neglect. A 25 cm pot will hold it for years.

Thyme. Low, spreading, happy in shallow soil. Good along the front edge of a planter where it spills over. Cut it back hard after flowering.

Mint. Vigorous to the point of thuggish, which is exactly why it belongs in a container. Never plant it in a shared pot; it will take the whole thing.

Chives. Tolerates part shade, comes back every year, and the flowers are worth having on their own. Divide the clump every third spring.

Leaves you can keep cutting

Loose-leaf lettuce. Sow a short row every three weeks from March and you will have leaves until the heat stops them. Cut the outer leaves, leave the centre.

Chard. Handsome enough to plant for looks alone, and it keeps producing through a mild winter. Needs a deeper pot than lettuce — 25 cm or more.

Rocket. Fast, peppery, bolts the moment it dries out. Best in spring and again in September rather than through midsummer.

Fruit, if you have the light

Bush tomatoes. Determinate varieties stop at a manageable height and crop over a few weeks. Six hours of sun minimum, a 30 cm pot, and consistent water — irregular watering is what splits the fruit.

Strawberries. Shallow-rooted, so they suit wide, low containers. Replace the plants every three years when cropping falls off.

Structure and green

Ferns. For the shaded corner nothing else wants. Keep them damp and out of wind.

Olive. Slow, evergreen, and entirely at home in a pot on a sunny terrace. Wants gritty compost and a dry winter more than it wants feeding.

Climbing jasmine. Takes a vertical support and turns a bare wall into something. Prune straight after flowering, not before, or you cut off next year's display.

The rule that covers all of them

Match the pot to the plant, not the shelf it is sitting on. Roots that hit the side of a pot in June will spend the rest of the season struggling, and no amount of feeding fixes it. When in doubt, go one size up.