Renting a place with a patch of concrete out the back can feel like a consolation prize. There is no lawn to mow, no border to dig, and no chance of sinking a spade into the landlord's paving. The good news is that a patio, balcony or yard is a brilliant blank canvas. Everything a garden needs — roots, water, light and a bit of patience — can be provided above ground, in containers you can take with you when the tenancy ends. You simply have to think upwards and outwards rather than downwards.

Start by Reading the Space Before You Buy Anything

Before you fall for a trolley full of plants, spend ten minutes working out what you are dealing with. Note which way the space faces: a south-facing patio will bake and dry out fast, while a north-facing yard stays cool and damp. Watch where the sun lands at midday and again in the early evening, because that determines nearly everything you can grow.

Also check what you can and cannot fix to. Most tenancy agreements stop you drilling into walls, rendering or fences, so plan for freestanding structures only. Look at the floor surface too — slabs, decking, gravel or tarmac all behave differently. Pots sitting directly on decking can leave damp rings, so lift them onto feet or pot stands, which cost very little and prevent the staining that eats into your deposit.

• Measure the footprint in metres, including the walkway you need to keep clear for bins and back doors.
• Check weight limits if you are on a balcony — large pots filled with wet compost are surprisingly heavy.
• Find your water source before you site anything, because hauling a watering can through the kitchen gets old by July.

Big Pots Do the Heavy Lifting

Small pots are the single most common mistake. A 20cm pot dries out in a morning, cooks its roots in the afternoon and leaves you a slave to the watering can. Go bigger than feels sensible: 35–45cm diameter for herbs and salads, and 50cm or more for shrubs, small trees and climbing roses. Larger volumes of compost hold moisture longer, buffer temperature swings and give roots room to spread.

Use a decent peat-free multi-purpose compost for most things, and mix in a handful of loam-based compost for anything woody that will live in the same pot for years. Always check drainage holes, add a layer of crocks or broken polystyrene at the base and raise pots slightly on feet so water escapes freely rather than pooling under the base.

On windy sites, weight matters. Terracotta is handsome but heavy and frost-prone; glazed stoneware and recycled plastic are more practical and survive a British winter far better. Group pots together — clustering them creates a microclimate, shades the compost and makes a small space look far more generous than it is.

Raised Planters That Move With You

A raised planter is the closest thing to a vegetable bed a renter can own. Choose one at least 30cm deep, and look for models that bolt together rather than needing to be set into the ground. Troughs on castors are a revelation on a patio: you can wheel them into the sun in March and out of the worst of the wind in November.

Height is your friend here. A planter standing 60–80cm tall saves your back, keeps slugs and cats at bay and doubles as a screen. Line the inside with a permeable membrane to stop compost washing out of the drainage gaps, then fill with a mix of multi-purpose compost and a little grit for drainage. Good crops for a rented plot include cut-and-come-again salad leaves, rainbow chard, dwarf French beans, courgettes in a large trough, and strawberries, which look lovely trailing over the edge.

Trellis, Obelisks and Climbing Without Drilling

Vertical growing is how you double your square metres. Freestanding trellis panels in weighted feet, willow obelisks pushed into a large pot, and bamboo cane wigwams all give climbers somewhere to go without a single screw in the wall. Tension poles that grip between floor and ceiling are excellent on balconies, and a simple expandable trellis leaning back against a fence looks intentional rather than improvised.

Annual climbers are ideal for renters because they are cheap, fast and gone by autumn: sweet peas for scent, nasturtiums for edible flowers, and black-eyed Susan for a hit of sunshine yellow. For something permanent, try star jasmine, honeysuckle or a compact clematis in a generous pot, keeping the roots shaded with a low-growing companion plant.

Flowers and Herbs That Earn Their Keep

The trick to a small rented garden is choosing plants that work hard. Herbs give you scent, foliage and dinner. Rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano and winter savoury all enjoy a sunny, well-drained pot and cope with neglect. Mint must have its own container or it will colonise everything, and bay makes a handsome upright specimen for a doorway.

For colour, mix reliable performers with the slightly unusual. Cosmos, calendula, salvias, pelargoniums and dwarf dahlias will flower from June to the first frost, and a single shrub — a small olive, a Japanese maple or a standard rose — gives the whole arrangement a focal point. Underplant with trailing nasturtium or lobelia to soften the rims of the pots.

Watering, Feeding and Leaving It As You Found It

Container plants rely entirely on you, so set a routine rather than reacting when leaves droop. Water thoroughly until it runs out of the base, ideally in the early morning, and use saucers in hot spells to catch the overflow. A liquid feed every fortnight from late spring to late summer keeps flowers coming, and a mulch of gravel or bark on the surface cuts evaporation and stops weeds.

Before you move out, sweep the slabs, scrub any green algae, lift the pot feet and check for rings and stains. Take your pots, planters and trellis with you if you can — a well-grown shrub is worth keeping — or offer them to the next tenant. Damage the plot as little as possible, leave it tidy, and your landlord will rarely mind a garden that has been quietly improved rather than altered.