Our country, Singapore, measures 50 km (31 miles) from east to west and only 27 km (17 miles) north to south but supports over 5 million multinational people.
Due to lack of landmass, most people lived in high rise apartments, and have no private outdoor gardens.
But as I discovered after creating my gardening group, “SG Farming in Apartments“, gardeners in Singapore had carved whatever space at disposal for green sanctuaries that fed the souls and stomachs!
EDIBLES CORRIDORS
Living in high rise apartments, corridors became the ideal spots for a garden, especially when there is ample sun.
Although sunlit space is valuable, gardeners grow what they love on minimum space that does not obstruct the walkway for their neighbors.
AMY CHOONG’s CORRIDOR GARDENS
Disposable cups and bottles were recycled to grow edibles in 90% sand and 10% compost with homemade soil conditioner.
Her edibles include okras, herbs, tomatoes, and a broad selection of leafy vegetables.
AMRAN A. HASSAN’s CORRIDOR EDIBLES WALL
An amazing suspended herbs garden in recycled cups and hooked along a corridor’s wall.
Every space, even the wall along a corridor, is precious when there is no ground for a garden in urban cities.
GUAT LIAN PEH’s HANGING VEGETABLES BASKETS
One of the first posts of corridor gardening left a deep impression in 2015.
She was one of the first to teach me how to grow a vegetable garden along a corridor using normal household baskets.
Where there is no space, these corridor railings are very useful to hook racks to hang pots.
Gardeners can safely grow plants without the risk of their pots falling from high rise apartments and caused harm to people on the ground.
EVELYN SAW’s HANGING GARDEN
URIKA SIA ‘s FLOWERS & EDIBLES
Climbing edibles formed a green cover.
For safety reasons, there are by-laws over-seeing corridor gardens in high rise apartments in Singapore.
Minimum 1.2-meter clearance space is needed, in case of fire or other emergency evacuation.
Breeding grounds should be dry and gardeners must ensure there is no stagnant water to breed mosquitoes, as dengue cases here are always a concern.
CHEF DNY
Turned an old bed frame into a new raised bed garden along his corridors to grow herbs and other food.
Consideration for neighbors is a good policy when corridors are shared.
Fewer frictions living in close proximity with each other made life easier for all.
And gardening became a shared joy and create opportunities for closer bonding.
ALAN TONG, DIY MASTER
Other gardeners like Tong Alan, who are skilled with tools, experimented with many types of pots.
In the earlier days of 2015 when this post was written, this was his first all-in-one tower pot out of huge drums.
It included a central composting tower to feed the soil with organic matter while they grew vegetables in one single pot.
These heavy drums sat on hand- made trolleys to access the sun whenever needed.
They are simply too heavy to cart around otherwise.
According to Alan, one drum required about 150 kg of soil to fill.
Besides edibles gardens, there are spaces created for the beauty that soothe gardeners’ souls in our high rise living quarters as well!
The world outside these gardens may be a hub of activity and newspapers filled with alarming developments around the world.
However, in gardeners’ secret sanctuary, there was peace.
Looking at these pictures of quiet solace, I understood what they meant for gardeners tending to these beauties.
MINNIE LEE’s QUIET CORNER
A sense of peace in this cosy corridor garden.
Quiet enjoyment and sense of pride for these flowers and edibles garden.
SAODAH HASBOLLA’s FLOWERS
Her flower corridor brightened her day, every day.
FAREEDA BAGAM MSSM
She grew papayas, herbs, and flowers along her corridor without obstructing the path for her neighbors.
An avid cook, she used fruits from her labor in her kitchen.
This garden was featured in a documentary about private gardens in June 2016.
MOHD SANNY FERNS GARDEN
Mohd Sanny is known in our gardening community for his lush and fragrant flower and ferns corridor’s garden.
LUSH BOSTEN FERNS
Plants that clean the air.
CAROLINE LEE ORCHIDS GALORE
A handmade rack made by her spouse to tuck into this corner for her orchids.
All over the world, gardeners shared this passion, to filled space with beauty and where possible, grow food, and harvest fresh.
In urban crowded cities like Singapore, gardening is a growing trend.
People crave fresh harvest at their doorstep and sought beauty in green private corners wherever they can.