In Container Gardening, Small Yields Big Wins

No yard? No problem. When it comes to container gardening, well-chosen native plants provide significant benefits for pollinators and other wildlife.

By Callie Rhoades
Habitat Gardening
Mar 26, 2025

Even a fire escape (above) or balcony (below) offers an opportunity to help wildlife.

FEELING LEFT OUT OF THE WILDLIFE GARDENING MOVEMENT because you don’t have a yard? Ignore that sentiment, says Mary Phillips, head of Native Plant Habitat Impact & Certifications for the National Wildlife Federation. With just a few pots or other containers on a deck, porch or balcony, “the exact same elements for supporting wildlife apply, just at a smaller scale,” she says. Whether planting for birds, mammals or insect pollinators, such diminutive habitats can pack a big punch.

Take it from conservation biologist Isis Howard of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, who nurtures a diversity of pollinators and other insects on an 8-by-10-foot patio outside her Santa Rosa, California, apartment. Brimming with buckwheat, milkweed and other native plants, Howard’s patio garden is “full of all these pollinators,” she says, including hoverflies, ladybugs, hummingbirds and skippers. “No matter the size of someone’s yard or garden, anyone who incorporates pollinator plants is playing a role in supporting pollinators,” Howard says.

Research backs her up. Published in 2023 in Urban Ecosystems, a review of 20 publications evaluating 241 parks and other urban green spaces found that the more connected these spaces are—with small, wildlife-friendly gardens, for example—the greater the overall richness and abundance of pollinators.

According to Phillips, small urban gardens can have a particularly powerful impact on insects and birds migrating long distances and searching for places to refuel on pollen and nectar. One example is the monarch butterfly, recently proposed for listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Traveling across large swaths of the United States, Canada and Mexico each spring and fall, this tiny butterfly may cover up to 3,000 miles on its journey.

People also benefit from small city gardens, says Manja Holland-Smith, NWF’s former senior director of community engagement for the Great Lakes region. Her team works in neighborhoods in Detroit, Toledo, Grand Rapids and Cleveland that have limited access to green space, collaborating with local groups to create native plant gardens. “Even the smallest of gardens can have a tremendous impact” on the sense of well-being among people in the communities, she says.

A collage containing an image of a yellow-faced bumble bee on Helenium bolanderi and an image of a monarch caterpillar crawling up the stem of a swamp milkweed plant.

Pollinator-friendly container garden options might include coastal sneezeweed, a California native (above left with yellow-faced bumble bee), or native swamp milkweed (above right with monarch caterpillar).

Are you ready to get started? Here are some tips from Phillips, Howard and other experts.

Pick your plants. When working with small spaces, select plants that will give you the most bang for your buck—which means native species if you want to help wildlife. See NWF’s zip code–based Native Plant Finder™ to learn what’s native to your specific area. Phillips recommends having at least three species that bloom in different seasons. Not all plants can be potted side by side, however, as they may compete for resources. Instead, opt for “companion plants”—butterfly weed, echinacea and columbine, for example—that do grow well together. Choose plants that won’t grow too quickly or spread too far to keep the garden manageable. And make sure your plants have not been treated with any kind of pesticides.

Choose containers. You generally want a container that is 1 or 2 inches bigger than the plant’s starting root-mass diameter; gradually size up as the plant grows. Many natives have deep root structures, requiring a deep container a foot or more high. But others, such as columbine or coral bells, do well in shallow pots or even windowsill planters. Containers made of porous wood or terra-cotta hold less water and dry more evenly, while plastic will hold on to moisture longer; check the moisture preferences of the plants you’ve chosen. If you’re planning to plant on a balcony, take note of wind levels. Having sturdier containers made of heavier materials may be better for balcony gardens with high winds.

Add soil or potting mix. Based on the moisture needs of your plants, decide whether to use potting soil or potting mix, which doesn’t contain any soil so is lighter and has better drainage. The lightest potting mixes include particulates such as vermiculite or coarse sand to create space within the soil, making it less dense and helping balance moisture levels. For most native plants, fertilizer additives to soil mixes are unnecessary.

Go vertical. Using vertical structures such as trellises is a great way to boost habitat in a small space and to support a more diverse range of wildlife. Layering habitats with climbing vines or stacked pots mimics the plant canopies found in nature. You can also boost vertical habitat with tall species such as native oxeye sunflower.

Water mindfully. Container plants can require stricter watering regimens than in-ground gardens and may benefit from devices such as timed watering systems. Keep track of drainage by checking beneath your pot and dumping any excess liquid. Depending on plant species, your local climate and sun and wind exposure, watering once a day may not be enough. You can check moisture by putting a finger into the soil and feeling past the initial layer for how wet or dry the mixture is. Avoid either extreme.

The need for such special care can make container gardening seem intimidating, but even just a few pots—native milkweed for monarchs or mountain larkspur for hummingbirds, for example—could make a difference, Howard says. With many pollinator species sharply declining, she adds, “we really need every person to find some way to engage in pollinator conservation.”

Callie Rhoades is a California-based multimedia journalist currently working as a reporter for The Oaklandside.