Dear Sandi: Last winter, we sold our house of 20 years and moved into a condo. Although I love my smaller — and easier to care for — home, I do miss having all that yard that my old house had for planting flowers.

I have a fairly large patio and could use some ideas on creating my new garden. —Lois W. Salem

Hi Lois: Although I love having a lot of space for gardening, some of the most charming outdoor spaces I have ever seen were diminutive versions of their larger brethren.

That being said, you have an almost unlimited amount of gardening options — almost as many as you would have with a regular garden plot, though patio gardening does have a few of its own specific requirements.

As with any planting project, the first and most important consideration is going to be light exposure. I would watch and record the changing light patterns over a few sunny days to see just how much sunlight your patio actually gets.

Once you know whether you’re looking for sun or shade plants, there is no limit to the types of things you can grow them in.

Besides all the usual types of planters, pots and urns that are designed specifically for plants, virtually anything that will hold soil and/or water is a likely candidate for your patio.

I love to wander through antique stores, garage sales and other such places looking for items that catch my eye and that can be turned into planters. Old tin tubs, wooden kegs and antique wash basins are a few of the fairly easy-to-find and functional pieces that work very well.

Everything that you need to know to successfully garden in containers is not much different than what you need to know in a conventional garden.

Your plants, in addition to the right sun/shade exposure discussed above, need nutrient-rich soil, water and appropriate drainage. In a regular garden plot, the plants have a better chance of finding these things for themselves, but in a container, they are totally dependent on you to provide for them.

You want to be especially aware of the water needs of your containers, as they dry out much quicker than you would think. Drainage, even in containers with no drainage holes, can be assisted easily by putting a layer of gravel or even broken pottery pieces in the bottom of the pot before adding the soil and plants.

A final word of caution: Soil and water are heavy. Be sure your patio, if it is at anything other than ground level, is structurally strong enough to accommodate the additional weight you will be putting on it. Also, play with your planter placement before you add the gravel, soil and/or plants. Although they can be moved after planting, it is much easier to do so prior to adding all that weight.

Lois, use your imagination as you search out your containers, choose flowers and foliage that will be happy with the light exposure that you will be giving them and I am sure that you will have soon a delightful and magical garden to enjoy!

June 16, 2006