Great gardening gear for small, stylish spaces

Walk into the new Fremont garden boutique Urbanweeds, and you'll leave with a couple of messages:

1. Gardening can be as easy as pouring water into a paper bag.

2. No matter how plant savvy you are, garden with style.

Owners Tim Halloran and Steve Schuetz are here for the design-oriented, space-limited crowd that is growing rapidly along with the condo and townhouse building frenzy. They believe a lot more people want to garden than actually do, so their boutique tries to provide the tools.

"In small places, you need things that have two functions," Halloran said. "If I have a small balcony and put a plant out there, I also want it to look like a work of art."

Halloran and Schuetz applied the indoor-mixed-with-outdoor aesthetic now prevalent in condo buildings in their small but airy showroom, bringing in modern outdoor furniture, beautiful grills by Evasolo, mod bird feeders and even solar lanterns ($15.99). Sculptures and art from the Fremont Art Walk give the store a gallerylike feel.

And Urbanweeds tries to make it as easy as possible to bring greenery into your home, even if it means just growing a tiny cactus in a tin. They also carry plants that are attractive and low-maintenance, such as showy aeoniums.

Why should you go? Urbanweeds specializes in design for gardeners and outdoor enthusiasts, with a wide variety of planters and adorable birdfeeders such as a doughnut-shaped glass feeder from Evasolo for $53 or egg-shaped ceramic feeders ($125) in robin's-egg blue, gray, yellow or green.

A hanging planter with three cylinders secured with nylon straps ($370) seems like a natural solution for light and space. Those looking for a simpler and more affordable choice might stick with the easy-peasy gardens-in-a-bag ($7.50) from Northwest-based Potting Shed Creations. Just mix the seeds into the soil in the sandwich-size bag, add water and watch your herbs, flowers or veggies grow.

The store also carries a couple lines of outdoor furniture, such as the super sleek aluminum bar table from Modern Outdoor ($1,399). Or choose Loll's handy cubby bench ($499) with plenty of storage beneath. And of course, cute glass slugs ($11) are a lively addition to any pot.

What's functional? Urbanweeds carries practical items too, like seed meal, diatomite rock and natural fertilizers for your plants. There's a large selection of bigger planters tucked in a back corner and even bamboo tile sold by the piece ($7.50) that locks in place to form your own patio. Biological mosquito control helps keep away pesky bugs without using chemicals.

And Urbanweeds woffers a variety of plants that work well in containers, such as Lily of the Nile, Hakone grass and the pancake plant (Kalanchoe thyrsiflora).

In the winter, the store plans to carry hardier plants and other outdoor items like fire pits, Halloran said.

Nicole Tsong: 206-464-2150 or ntsong@seattletimes.com