During the recent restrictions, one big and green retailer has had vehicles queuing to get a car park. You may have guessed it, Bunnings! It would seem, aside form the usual DIY, a lot of Australians have taken up gardening.

Whether your aim is to grow your own cut flowers, have fresh herbs for cooking or create a full-blown backyard mini farm, you have plenty of options to make your garden space a bit more productive, even if it’s just a sunny windowsill.

Take a look at the following ideas, which range from starting new plants with cuttings to growing vegetables in containers or setting up a rainwater harvesting system. Tell us, could you put any of these ideas into practice in your garden this season?

1. Build Healthy Soil

The key to any productive garden starts with the soil. Plants grown in healthy, fertile soil that is rich in nutrients and able to retain water will be far more productive during their lifecycle and need less care.

For gardening in containers, always start with fresh potting soil. Potting soil often has ingredients such as perlite (those little white specs) or vermiculite (the shiny specs), which both help regulate soil moisture.

You can mix the potting soil with organic compost or add other amendments before planting to boost soil nutrient levels.

To boost your soil health in garden beds this season, work 3 to 4 inches of organic compost into the soil before planting. During the growing season, lay off synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which can be harmful to beneficial soil organisms.

Try no-dig gardening. If compacted soil or persistent weeds have been an issue, consider a no-dig method of improving soil structure and suppressing weeds.

Layer carbon-rich materials, such as small twigs and dried leaves, and nitrogen-rich materials, such as plant and grass clippings, between sheets of cardboard.

Allow the whole mixture to rest for 4 to 6 months, during which time worms and soil microbes will help break down the layers, turning them into loose, nutrient-rich topsoil.

2. Choose the Right Plants for Your Garden

The right plants for the location are just as important as building healthy soil for creating a productive garden. Know your climate zone and take note of the sun exposure different beds receive in your garden.

Choose plants that naturally thrive in these conditions and you’ll have more flowers, better fruit set and healthy vegetables.

3. Start a Kitchen Garden or Grow Culinary Herbs

Even if you only have the room to grow a few pots of herbs on a sunny windowsill, grow at least one thing you can eat.

In general, if you have limited planting space, choose highly productive crops like cut-and-come-again lettuces, cherry tomatoes, green beans, culinary herbs or radishes, which can be planted tightly and are quick to grow to maturity.

In contrast, plants like sweet corn often only produce two to three ears per plant, making them less productive for small-space kitchen gardens.

4. Ditch the Lawn

Traditional turf is perhaps the least productive planted area of a typical residential garden and often requires some of the most work.

If you don’t need your lawn, consider replacing it with plantings that have benefits to native pollinators, birds and other wildlife or that produce tasty fruits and vegetables.

5. Collect Rainwater

Turn your roof into a productive area for catching rainwater with the help of a rain barrel set under a downpipe. Use the stored rainwater to keep a kitchen garden or potted containers watered during drier months.

6. Multiply Existing Plants

You may be surprised at how easy it is to grow new plants from existing ones — and how much you’ll save by not having to purchase new ones. Plants, such as iris, can be dug up and divided after a few years to replant in new areas of the garden. Save the seeds of beans, squash or tomatoes to plant the following season.

7. Build Raised Beds

Raised beds can help those with poor soil or drainage issues expand the growing space for fruits, veggies, herbs and flowers — and also save your back.

For long-lasting raised beds, choose timber such as cedar, pine that is naturally rot-resistant or get a colorbond tin planter.

Fill completed beds with a mixture of fully decomposed compost, native topsoil (as long as it isn’t contaminated) and some added grit, such as sand or a succulent potting mix, to help with drainage.

8. Grow a Cutting Garden

Productive gardens aren’t limited to those that produce food. Try growing your own flowers for bouquets and you’ll also be supporting pollinators passing through your flower garden while you’re at it. Look for plants that have long stems, last in a vase and bloom for a long time.

9. Plant for Pollinators

Pollinators play an important part in boosting the productivity of a garden by ensuring fruit trees, berries and veggies such as tomatoes, pumpkin and cucumber set fruits.

By planting nectar- and pollen-rich flowering plants, particularly varieties native to your state, you can help support essential pollinator populations.

10. Put Garden Waste to Use

Anything you clip or rake from your garden can be put right back to use in the soil if given time to break down, save for weeds that have set seeds or any diseased plants.

Toss those plants into the green waste bin to create a productive compost bin, layer carbon-rich materials with nitrogen-rich materials, including kitchen scraps.

Keep the heap well aerated by turning regularly. Afterward, you can spread well-decomposed compost on top of garden beds to return nutrients to the soil.

No room for a compost pile? Try a vermiculture with a worm box. Worms can break down kitchen scraps and finer garden trimmings and leave nutrient-rich droppings that can be added back to the garden.

What do you think?

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This article via Houzz does not constitute advice; readers should seek independent and personalised counsel from a trusted adviser that specialises in property, a tax accountant and property design specialist.