It's easy to quench your thirst for greenery when you've got a big back yard of your own, but what about apartment-dwellers or folks with just a small porch to work with? Never fear! There are lots of fun ways to add some plant life, even in smaller spaces.

1. Container Water Garden

Over at Apartment Therapy, you can learn how to create your own container water garden. You can scale this project up or down, depending on the space you have at hand. It also seems like a fun project to do with kids.

When I saw this tutorial, I had a couple of concerns: that can take a lot of water and standing water isn't the greatest idea, especially during mosquito season.

It does take quite a bit of water to establish a larger container pond, but you can say the same for many new plantings. Once the pond gets going, you shouldn't need to top it off too terribly often.

As far as the mosquito question, one of the comments over at Apartment Therapy hit it right on the head: fish! Commenter tasterspoon recommended adding a few goldfish to take care of mosquito larvae.

2. Potted Succulent Garden

Succulents are such amazing plants. They're beautiful, they take very little water and work to maintain, and they work well indoors or out. Over at Gardener's Supply Company, they tell you how to start a potted succulent garden of your own.

The best part about this lovely little garden, aside from how easy it is to care for, is that succulents don't require fertilizers to thrive!

3. Plant Upside-Down

By now, I'm sure most of you have run across the "As Seen On TV" upside down tomato planter. You can hang these handy planters by a window inside or on a balcony or patio to grow lots of food in a small space.

It's actually quite easy to build your own upside down planter, and you don't have to limit yourself to tomatoes! Try planting upside down squash, strawberries, or green peppers. I've even see folks experiment with planting herbs upside down.

Do any of you guys have small spaces where you've managed to fit in some greenery? We'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by elainevdw