The concept of urban gardening is simple. Use whatever space you have available to grow whatever plants you want. The practice lends itself well to small-space gardening using balconies, rooftop gardens, windowsills and can extend to community gardens.
In terms of growing your own fruits, veg, and herbs, the main benefit is reduced food miles. You get fresher ingredients without necessarily sacrificing space – or even owning the land you grow on.
You can adapt the gardening technique to suit the space you have, such as using container gardening, raised garden beds, or vertical gardens on balconies.
To get the best start, there are essential tips every beginner should know about…
8 Essential Things to Know about Urban Gardening (before you start)
- Sunlight availability
Any space can be adapted for gardening. However, all plants need sunlight, or alternative full-spectrum light sources if growing indoors.
To grow fruits and vegetables, most need a minimum of 6 hours of full sun daily.
If you’re limited to a shady spot, grow shade-tolerant plants like cauliflower and broccoli that can do well with just 4 to 6 hours of sunlight. These are called cool-weather plants. Our list of crops for a winter garden can be handy for growing in the shade all year because naturally, the winter just means there’ll be fewer sunlight hours.
- Maximizing space with the right container sizes and soil
Every plant needs sufficient space to grow. Just like in garden beds, you can pair plants (companion planting) in containers and raised garden beds when the soil needs are the same. Most require sandy-loam soil as that has sufficient drainage, and enough air pockets for oxygenation.
In practice, that means that in a 12” container, you could grow up to 14 scallions, or, 14 small leaf lettuces, or 9 Swiss chards. When growing conditions are the same, you can grow more than one crop in the same container. Rather than a pot of small lettuces, you could have a few of those, some scallions, and perhaps a couple of spinach plants too.
Use the technique botanists use with hanging baskets and fill it out whatever edibles you want for a variety of crops. Just be sure they all have similar growing requirements.
- Be fussy with your plant selection
When you’re starting an urban garden, you’ll feel more encouraged when you get good yields. Some plants require more work than others. All tomato plants, for example, produce suckers that need to be pinched to get the maximum yield. Leafy greens, in particular, the ‘cut and come again’ varieties are great for plant-to-table salads.
If you like fruits, perhaps in a Greek yogurt for breakfast, all types of berries are easy to grow and produce a lot. The trouble is the soil because berries prefer acidic soil, ruling out multi-purpose potting soil, unless you know how to add sulfur to soil naturally to acidify it, making it suitable for different types of plants.
For all types of berry plants in containers, you’ll need more depth than width as these are deep-rooted.
Be sure you’re growing plants in suitable soil.
- Know that containers need more water than ground-grown plants
In containers, the soil dries out faster than the soil in garden beds. In the heat of the summer months, much of the water is lost to evaporation so the plants won’t be drinking as much water as you give them.
Also: to avoid the nuances of overwatering, be sure that there are drainage holes in your pots.
- Expect to rely on fertilizers more in urban gardens
When growing plants in anything other than garden beds, the nutrients in the soil get depleted faster. In a standard garden bed, plants can grow with little additional feeding, other than the decomposition of mulch.
In raised garden beds and plant pots, due to the compact nature of the growing space, the plants will use up what’s there, and what isn’t used will be diluted by watering, even if it’s just rainfall.
Urban gardening is likely to require at least an annual topup of fertilizer, and/or renewing the soil to replace the lost nutrients.
- Be aware of natures’ garden enemies – plant pests
City dwellers new to growing any type of plant won’t be as well acquainted with gardening friends and foes. Some insects are beneficial, others will devour every leaf and fruit on a plant, potentially killing it.
The most common pest in urban gardens are aphids and those can be treated with neem oil, as can most pests. Getting rid of most pests in an urban garden is similar to getting rid of bugs on indoor plants because they are grown in some type of container.
- Prepare backup water sources
Numerous States across the U.S. are increasingly imposing water bans for outdoor irrigation systems. For urban gardeners, that’s a challenge to be prepared for. Take advantage of rainfall by using rain harvesting systems. You can’t drink it, but your plants can. In fact, rainwater is healthier for plants. The majority of states encourage it. The simplest way to collect rainwater is in a barrel.
- Don’t assume you can grow anything without permission
For most renters, and even in manufactured home communities, there can be rules in place forbidding the growing of certain types of plants. The most prevalent rule for renters is a clause in the contract that forbids alterations to the landscape. In other words, you can’t plant in the ground, but you should be able to use potted plants because those aren’t disturbing the land. If in doubt, talk with your landlord.
Increasingly, more states are passing regulations to support the use of “personal agriculture”.
When renting though, you’re best to discuss plans with your landlord, or homeowner association, at least to assure them that the plants you grow will be managed and can easily be removed so you won’t be planting shrubs that once you leave, will require ongoing maintenance to keep growth in check.
That’s the worry for landlords. The maintenance costs associated with gardens.
Growing up with a mom who filled her home (inside and out) with all sorts of plants, Lisa got her start in gardening at a young age. Living now on her own with a home and yard full of plants (including an indoor greenhouse), she shares all the gardening tips she’s gained over the years.