No garden? Local allotment list closed for the next 10 years? Or perhaps you just want more space to create a private Eden? If you’ve got a paved yard, an asphalted front garden, a balcony, a flat roof or even (with permission) a corner of someone else’s car park, all you need is something to hold some soil together.

The easiest way is to furnish the space with a collection of pots, but if you’re on a budget, you can improvise: a plastic grow bag may not look very lovely, but it does the job. Containers of all sorts can be called into action (just make sure they have drainage holes in the bottom) or you can create raised beds to fill with soil. There are various kits for this (see below), but if you really want to improvise, pile a couple of old car tyres on top of one another.

All can be made to look attractive and, providing there’s enough sunlight, will produce plenty of crops and flowers. There’s still time to get going — and you can cheat and buy young plants if you are impatient for the results.

Posh pots: The bigger the better, as the compost will take longer to dry out and there will be more room for root growth. Large earthenware containers are available at most garden centres. Not all are truly frost-resistant, and all are heavy, so check before you buy that you will be able to move them somewhere sheltered if your garden is exposed (you can buy small trolleys at garden centres). They are best filled with soilless compost, which won’t split them in freezing weather.

For something better — and lighter — look at the marvellous fibreglass pots produced by Capital Garden Products (01580 201092, capital-garden.com). Round Wood Trading Company (01435 860888, roundwoodtrading.com) has faux-lead “fibreclay” planters that will develop a patina with age. Its grandest models cost £120 and will hold three tripods of old sweet peas or climbing beans.

Raised beds: For a thriftier approach, several mail-order companies sell four plastic planks that slot together to give a planting area of a square yard, though some are only 9in deep. Thompson & Morgan has kits from £36.99 (0844 248 5383, thompson-morgan.com), while Haxnicks’s basic ones start at £17.99 (haxnicks.co.uk, or at Wyevale garden centres). You could divide one of those dapper compost bins made from notched planks to create two raised beds. They cost about £15 at garden centres; for a grander version, Green Warehouse’s range starts at £47.95 (greenwarehouse.co.uk).

If you are handy with a hammer, four planks nailed together would give the same thing, though 12in would be a better depth for tall, top-heavy vegetables such as sprouts or broccoli. For flowers, try a decorative square of easy annuals — Shirley poppies, marigolds, nasturtiums or a wild-flower mix.

Shallow beds need hefty watering in dry weather. Although perfect for strawberries, salads and dwarf beans, deeper containers need less watering and will nourish bigger plants.

Gardening in a bag: Several companies sell “bag” containers, which give more depth than the usual grow-bag. Homebase has sets of three tough, flat-bottomed ones for £12.99. The largest are big enough for one of the new dwarf “patio” fruit trees, a good-sized rose bush or a small Japanese maple.

Potted orchard: Many garden centres sell the vast plastic containers used by commercial tree nurseries. If you pay £15-£20, this will get you one up to 3ft across, easily large enough for a decent fruit tree that will last a dozen seasons or more.

If you have room for only one container, try a “family tree” — two or three varieties of apple, plum, pear, nectarine, cherry and so on grafted onto a single, often strongly dwarfing, rootstock. Good combinations include the peach ‘Garden Lady’ with the nectarine ‘Nectarella’, or apple “families” of ‘Lord Lambourne’, ‘Braeburn’ and ‘Bountiful’. For pears, try the excellent ‘Beth’ with ‘Conference’ and ‘Concorde’; or, if your garden is warm, the divine ‘Comice’, with ‘Conference’ and ‘Williams’.

An especially good range comes from Highfield Nurseries, in Gloucestershire (01452 740266, www.highfield-nurseries.co.uk). Embleys Nurseries (01772 612227, embleysnurseries.co.uk) has a good range of potted ones from £22. These can be planted at any time of year. Both Blackmoor Nurseries (01420 477978, blackmoor.co.uk) and Deacon’s Nursery (01983 840750, deaconsnurseryfruits. co.uk) sell bare-root family trees. Order now for autumn.

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