How to garden with annual flowers while renting

This year I decided to fill the garden in my rented home with annual flowers. Here is what I learned — and my recommended plant list.

Growing cosmos from seed in a rented garden

I’ve been gardening while renting since I started gardening, living in five different homes and gardening in every single one. I don’t think renting should ever stop you from growing plants.

But what is the best way to garden in a rental? This year, I had the idea to only grow annual flowers for my garden. Here is what I learned with a plant list for next year!

Should you grow annuals or perennials in a rented home?

I love perennials because they come back year after year, making a long-term impact in a garden. But they take a long time to establish. In contrast, planting annuals means you see the whole lifecycle of the plant in one season. They are a great option if you are going to be in your garden from spring until early Autumn.

Growing from seed is also a lot cheaper than buying mature perennial or biennial plants. At the end of the season, you can collect seeds from your plants and take them to your next home.

Finally, planting annuals is a great way to boost pollinator-friendly plants in a short space of time. You will be able to see the impact of your gardening, as more bees and butterflies buzz around the garden.

How to choose annual flowers to fill your flowerbeds

Planting out seedlings into the flower bed

Firstly, ask friends and family if they have any seeds they don’t want.

Then look at reliable seed websites like Thompson and Morgan or Mr. Fothergils. You can filter the plants by colour and when they flower.

When choosing plants, think about:

• Pick a variety as some will thrive and others won’t.
• Double-check if your seed is annual or biennial.
• When do they flower? It’s a good idea to pick plants that will flower at different times in the season, but be aware that if you don’t have a greenhouse or perfect growing conditions, seeds may take longer to establish than it says on the packet. It can be harder to get flowers that bloom early in the season.
• Look out for “easy to grow” varieties, as you are more likely to have success with these.
• Think about choosing plants with different heights so you fill the bed. The soil will look quite bare if you are only growing from seed, so consider using groundcover plants or mulch to make a tidy look.
• Because annual seeds can take a while to establish, planting bulbs is a great way to get flowers in Spring. You can plant these in Autumn or Winter.

A mixture of bulbs and annuals fill the garden in Spring

Plant Lists

10 Easy Annual Flowers to Grow from Seed

Sunflowers

Nasturtium

Sweetpea

Cosmos

Stock

Scabious

Poppies

Gypsophila

Alyssum

Poached Egg Plants

5 Easy plants to grow from bulbs

Bulbs are a reliable way to get flowers in Spring

Crocus

Muscari

Daffodils

Tulips

Alliums

5 good value plants to grow from cuttings or 9cm pots

Hardy geraniums

Chamomile lawn

Herbs like rosemary, oregano, chives, salvia etc

Erigeron

Passiflora

Conclusion

Gardening in a rented home comes with its own challenges, but using annual plants means you can benefit from the joys of gardening in a short time frame.

Many of these plants will self seed meaning that even when you move out, you will have contributed to a long-term improvement in your garden space.

Which plants did I miss off the list?

Would you recommend annuals over perennials?

Let me know!