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What is it? -

Simply put, urban gardening involves the cultivation of plants, fruits, and vegetables within urban environments. Aside from the obvious advantages of providing fresh produce for locals, the added plant life in urban areas can also have a marked improvement on air pollution.

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Space optimization -

Apartments are a staple in the big city, and they often have little to no private outdoor space. Urban gardening requires maximizing small spaces for efficient food production.

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Plan your gardening -

Although it’s tempting to jump straight into buying all the stuff you need to plant crops, it certainly isn’t easy. We recommend that you map out your future garden first, so that you can understand what it entails. Research is your friend, and you don’t want to overwhelm yourself. Let’s discuss some ways that you can plant a garden in the city.

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Container gardening - A primary method of urban gardening is to use pots, buckets, and other containers to grow plants on balconies, rooftops, and windowsills. It’s important for you to select containers suitable for different plant varieties, while ensuring proper drainage.

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Vertical farming -

Vertical farming is actually a relatively new method of cultivation. It involves growing plants upwards on trellises, walls, or shelving units so horizontal spaces can be used to their maximum potential.

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Guerrilla gardening -

Although we do not necessarily recommend this tactic, guerrilla gardening has had a visible and ecological improvement in urban areas. It involves cultivating plants in neglected or abandoned urban spaces without permission, with the aim to beautify the area and provide greenery and food for the community.

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Sunlight access -

When you grow plants in any environment, sunlight is one of the most important elements. But it can be difficult to harness the sun when you’re growing plants in the city. Aside from selecting sunny spots for gardening, however, you could also use reflective surfaces to redirect sunlight to plants.

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Water management -

Try to maintain a proper watering cycle for your crops. One of the advantages of living in an urban space is that water sources are relatively close by, so you can also try to implement efficient irrigation systems like drip irrigation or use rainwater harvesting techniques.

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Pest control -

Pest control in a city can be quite tricky, considering you have both insects and rodents to contend with. But it’s important to research different ways to manage pests without relying heavily on chemical pesticides.

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Organic practices -

Be sure to stop by your local plant nursery to pick up organic fertilizers to maintain soil health. While you’re there, we also recommend requesting information about natural pest control methods that won’t affect others in the city.

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Companion planting -

Some plant species are incredibly compatible and, if put together, they can deter pests and enhance growth. Try to research different ways that plants can be companions in your garden.

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Pollination -

Another method of companion planting is by growing flowers and vegetables in the same vicinity. This encourages pollinators like bees and butterflies to visit your crops and keep them healthy.

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Microclimates -

Although it sounds made-up, cities often have their own microclimates that are affected by the architecture and concrete buildings. The success of an urban garden requires identifying and leveraging these microclimates to extend the growing season or cultivate specific crops.

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Seasonal considerations -

Naturally, you should also be aware of the changing seasons and how crops adapt to these schedules. While some crops can survive outdoors in the spring and summer, they might struggle or die during the colder months.

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Season extension techniques -

If you want to prolong the growing season in colder climates, you could make use of row covers, cold frames, or greenhouse structures.

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Crop selection -

There are a lot of benefits in choosing plants that thrive in urban settings and offer high yields in limited space, such as tomatoes, carrots, and lettuce.

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Urban foraging -

If possible, you can try to harvest edible wild plants or fruits from public spaces like parks or abandoned lots. These can then be replanted into your garden!

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Resource recycling -

One way to improve soil fertility is to utilize composting and mulching to recycle organic waste. Although having a compost heap does take up a little more space, the added benefits seem to be worth it.

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Local regulations -

Before you move forward with creating or expanding your garden, it’s important to have an awareness of any city ordinances regarding urban farming. These can include things such as zoning laws, property regulations, and even restrictions on certain plant species.

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Space-sharing agreements -

If you want, you can try to negotiate with landlords or community organizations to access unused land for gardening purposes. This might even be a great opportunity to involve the community in a larger urban gardening project.

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Hydroponics and aeroponics -

Hydroponics and aeroponics involve growing plants in soilless environments, such as in water (“hydro”) or misted air (“aero”). These methods have been known to conserve water and help crops grow faster.

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Seed saving -

At the end of every growing season, you can harvest and preserve seeds from your garden instead of buying new ones. These seeds can be used in your or the community’s gardens, which will help preserve a plant’s genetic diversity and adaptability in urban environments.

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Stress reduction -

While growing a garden is certainly not easy, the process has been known to have some major advantages. Gardening can be incredibly therapeutic and can help improve mental health and well-being in stressful urban populations.

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Heat island mitigation -

Urban areas tend to experience higher temperatures compared to outlying areas, because concrete absorbs and emits a lot of heat. This is known as an urban heat island, and planting vegetation can have a marked reduction on this effect and lower temperatures in hot urban environments.

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Biodiversity conservation -

Growing gardens in urban environments creates green spaces and habitat corridors that support urban wildlife and native plant species. Without them, entire flora and fauna species might become endangered.

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Food sovereignty -

Urban farming has the major advantage of empowering you and your community to control your food systems and reduce dependence on distant sources. Not to mention that you will also see a noticeable difference in cost and freshness of food!

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Cultural preservation -

Growing produce locally has a significant impact on culture. After all, it offers the opportunity to celebrate diverse culinary traditions by growing culturally significant crops and herbs.

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Economic empowerment -

If you grow your own produce, you might even find yourself willing to generate some income through urban farming enterprises like farmers' markets, or by offering subscriptions to consumers so that they can regularly receive produce from you for a fixed fee (also known as community-supported agriculture).

Sources: (ClimateScience) (Global Citizen) (Plentiful Lands) (Frontiers for Young Minds) (Earthed) (Ambius)

See also: Everything you'll need to be a serious gardener

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