8 Best Dwarf Peas for a Small Garden

Peas are a perfect early-producing vegetable to grow vertically. However for those of us with very mini garden spaces, their bushy, vigorous vines can quickly take over. Luckily there are some amazing dwarf pea varieties that produce compact, productive plants that are ideal for smaller garden spaces.

Dwarf peas are one of the best vegetables to grow in containers with children. They have large seeds that are easy to handle, and they’re fun to pick and shell too!

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Best dwarf peas for containers and small gardens

If you have a tiny balcony vegetable garden or mini urban porch, add these high-yielding dwarf peas to your garden for a great crop of peas. We include a mix of all three different pea varieties — shelling, snap, and snow (sugar) peas.

1. Snowbird Pea

A very early-producing pea variety that can often be ready to pick in as little as 8.5 weeks. Snowbird is a dwarf snow pea that produces slim little pods that you can eat whole.

Pick them just as the peas are starting to form inside, and add them to a stir fry. They’re also delicious when lightly sautéed in butter.

Reaching roughly 1.5 feet, it’s a great fuss-free vegetable to grow that will only need short vertical support. These medium sized bamboo canes from Amazon could be made into a mini teepee for these peas.

2. Little Marvel 

This pea variety really is a little marvel! They’ll produce a compact, bushy plant with a great crop of tasty shelling peas.

It’s an old heirloom variety that came from Sutton and Sons in the UK, but they can usually be found on lots of US seed websites.

3. Sugar Bon Snap Pea

A lovely little snap pea that grows on compact 1-2ft vines. It’s a great dwarf snap pea for a mini garden space. Especially if you enjoy adding delicious, sweet pea pods into a stir fry.

You can grow them in containers or even squeeze them into a border for a French potager small garden style mixed with flowers and vegetables!

4. Blue Bantam Dwarf 

If you’re looking for an exceptionally tasty dwarf pea this is definitely a variety to try. It’ll produce compact vines with a good crop of large pea pods with up to 8 shelling peas inside.

The Blue Bantam is a great dwarf pea variety for cooler climates as it does not do well in warm weather. So make sure you plant it in autumn or early spring.

5. Carters Eight Weeks 

An old heritage variety, Carters Eight Weeks is a dwarf pea that can mature in as little as eight weeks! It’s a fantastic pea variety for areas that experience harsh winters and a very short growing season.

The seeds can be hard to come by, but you may find them on seed saver websites or even on Etsy. It’ll grow to roughly 40cm, making it an ideal dwarf pea for small gardens.

6. Dwarf Defiance (John Lee) 

A mini pea plant that produces large pods full of tasty shelling peas! This variety will usually reach only 60cm, so it’s a great dwarf pea variety for tiny gardens. You could make a mini teepee using these bamboo canes from Amazon.

It’s an old British pea variety that has been traced back to 1892. You can find the seeds on heritage seed-saving websites.

7. Sugar Daddy Snap Pea 

Technically a semi-dwarf pea variety, the Sugar Daddy Snap pea can still be grown without a trellis. It should reach about 70cm and will produce deliciously crisp, stringless pods that you can eat whole. They even remain stringless if you accidentally leave them on the vine for too long!

You can add the 3-inch pods to a stir fry, or shell them, making it a very versatile dwarf pea for a small garden. Plus, they’re generally ready from sowing to picking in about 6 weeks!

8. Tom Thumb Dwarf Pea

The tiniest dwarf pea variety on our list, the Tom Thumb Dwarf usually reaches around 15 inches (40cm). It’s a great vegetable to grow on a sunny windowsill!

Although a small dwarf variety, it will still produce large pods filled with tasty shelling peas. It’s definitely one of the best vegetables for children to grow!

Dwarf vegetable varieties

Interested in growing other dwarf vegetable plants? Compact and easy to manage, these dwarf vegetables are ideal for mini vegetable gardens.

• Dwarf tomatoes (and micro tomatoes for windowsills!)
• Dwarf fruit trees

Bush beans are another high-yielding and compact vegetable plant that’s also ideal for container gardening. You can also place them in your borders or plant them at the bottom of a trellis supporting other vertically climbing veg.