Check the rules before you spend a penny

Your tenancy agreement almost always treats the garden the same way it treats the inside of the property. Most landlords are perfectly relaxed about pots, planters and freestanding furniture, because none of it leaves a mark. What tends to cause trouble is anything fixed: drilling into walls or fences, laying paving, removing established shrubs, or erecting a shed. Find the section on alterations and read it closely.

If it's ambiguous, send a short email asking for written permission. It takes five minutes and it protects your deposit. It's also worth checking who maintains what. In many rentals the landlord arranges the lawn mowing, and if you're in a flat with a shared courtyard you may have a right to use the space without a right to plant in it. Knowing that upfront saves a lot of frustration later.

Containers do most of the heavy lifting

Pots are the single best tool for a renter, because a garden made of containers is a garden you can take with you. Go bigger than you think you need: a 30–40cm diameter pot holds enough compost to support a decent shrub, whereas a small one dries out twice a day in July and bakes the roots. Herbs and salad leaves are happy in 20cm pots, but tomatoes, chillies and anything woody want more room.

• Always use saucers or trays. They stop water and compost staining paving and decking, which is exactly the sort of thing a check-out report picks up on.
• Mix in water-retaining gel and top the compost with a layer of gravel. The gravel cuts evaporation and stops squirrels and cats digging.
• Choose frost-proof containers. Terracotta looks lovely but cracks in a hard frost; glazed ceramic, plastic and resin all survive winter outdoors.
• Group pots in odd numbers and vary the heights using upturned pots or pot feet as risers. A cluster looks intentional; a straight line looks like a car park.
• Pick plants that earn their keep: lavender, hebe, ferns for shade, fuchsias for a north-facing corner, and herbs you'll actually cook with.

Grow upwards when floor space is tight

If your outdoor space is a balcony or a narrow yard, the walls are your best real estate. Freestanding trellis panels lean against a fence or wall without a single screw, and expandable willow hurdles simply stretch to fit the gap. Tension poles work brilliantly on balconies, wedged between floor and ceiling, and can hold hanging baskets or a small shelf of herbs at eye level — which also makes them easier to water.

Climbing plants are the fastest way to make a space feel established. A wigwam of bamboo canes with climbing beans, sweet peas or a compact clematis will cover a metre of height in a single season. On a sunny balcony, grow bags of tomatoes or trailing strawberries will crop heavily and cost very little.

Choose furniture that folds, stacks and travels

Buy for the move, not just for now. A small bistro set with two folding chairs is the classic renter's choice: light enough to carry up a flight of stairs, sturdy enough for a proper cup of tea in the sun. Stackable stools double as side tables and plant stands. Look for aluminium or powder-coated steel frames rather than untreated metal, and store cushions indoors over winter.

Clip-together decking tiles can transform a dull concrete patio in an afternoon, and they lift straight back up when you leave. Putting heavy pots on castor bases means you can rearrange the whole garden on a whim — and move it all in one go when the tenancy ends. A weatherproof storage bench is worth its footprint, giving you somewhere to keep tools, cushions and the watering can out of sight.

Lighting, privacy and softening the edges

Outdoor spaces feel twice as big once they're lit. Solar string lights, stake lights and rechargeable lanterns need no wiring and no permission. A string of festoon lights looped across a freestanding arch or frame gives you that warm pub-garden glow without drilling anything.

For privacy, tall pots planted with bamboo or photinia create a living screen, and reed or brushwood screens in weighted bases will do the job on a budget. A shade sail anchored to weighted bases rather than wall fixings gives you a cool spot on a hot day. If the ground is bare and you can't plant, a few large containers plus a piece of outdoor rug will hide more of it than you'd expect.

Keep it manageable and leave it tidy

The great risk with a rented garden is overcommitting in May and resenting it by August. Be realistic: containers need watering most days in summer, so group thirstier plants together and mulch well. If you travel often, self-watering pots or a simple drip kit on a timer will keep everything alive.

At the end of the tenancy, take the pots with you, offer spare plants to neighbours, and return the space to how you found it. A rented garden you can pack into a car is not a compromise — it's a garden you get to keep.