Tips for Urban Gardening

There's nothing unusual about urban gardening - gardeners will find a spot to plant some seeds just about anywhere and city dwellers are some of the most creative. However there are some considerations that urban gardeners have to take into account, like hauling water and radient heat from so much concrete. Here's a look at questions, concerns and challenges facing the urban gardener.

Growing vegetables is a great way to use your urban garden space. Many are compact, they can be grown in containers, you don't need a lot to yield a lot and they look as good as they taste. Let these articles whet your appetite for an urban container vegetable garden.

• Vegetable Container Gardening - Getting Started
• Vegetable Container Gardening 101
• Herb Container Garden Basics

Sometimes the only space to garden is indoors. Even in a tiny apartment, plants will be happy to grow. All you need is some light and the right plants and you can have a living room jungle or a kitchen windowsill garden. And don't overlook that humid bathroom. Many an orchid has lived out a very good life on a bathroom shelf.

• The 7 Best Houseplants for Apartments and Small Spaces
• Indoor Herb Gardening
• 5 Best Herbs For An Indoor Garden

Oh, to garden on a rooftop. Full sun, no deer and a total escape from the city. Of course you need to make sure that roof can hold your garden. And then there's the wind. And where does the water come from? Well, no garden is without its peccadillos, but a rooftop garden is definitely worth it.

• Planning a Rooftop Garden
• Creating a Rooftop Garden

Maybe you're dreaming even bigger than an urban garden. Maybe you're thinking along the lines of a homestead. Homesteading requires some land and a lot of planning, but cities are making it easier for homeowners to use their plots for growing food and even raising some animals. If you think homesteading is in your future, here's some advice to get you started.

• Is Farming Right for You?
• How to Design a Small Farm or Homestead
• Top 10 Tips for Urban and Suburban Chicken Keepers

If you are lucky enough to have a front yard or any patch of soil in front of your home, don't let it go to waste. Some of the most personal urban gardens are right out in front. A front yard garden can make a huge impact and it's a great way to induce the rest of your neighborhood to spruce things up.

• Front Yard Gardening Tips

Urban gardens tend to be small. They may be a few pots on the window sill, a vegetable garden in the back yard or an exhuberant use of the foundation planting, but generally they are not sprawlling. To make the most of a small urban garden you will need to make some hard design choices, but you still have many options. Let the following articles help you dream big in your small space.

• Garden Design for Small Spaces
• Gardening on a Patio or Terrace
• Consider a Raised Bed
• Building a Raised Bed
• Urban Gardening Photo Gallery

If you've never had to tend a lawn before, you are not alone. Urban lawns may be smaller than their suburban cousins, but like urban gardens, they come with their own challenges. Shade from neighboring buildings, encroaching tree roots and leeching from concrete are just a few of the conditions that factor into maintaining an urban lawn. On the plus side, you won't have to give up your whole Saturday mowing it. Here are some more tips for keeping your urban lawn green.

• Creating and Maintaining a Small Urban Lawn

The first piece of urban gardening wisdom I will pass along is to expect a few things to disappear. Some folks just can't resist temptation. It happens in the country too.

Two other urban gardening conundrums are finding space to compost and keeping cats from digging in your garden. We have answers for those below.

• Small Space Composting - Worm Bins 101
• Keeping Dogs Out of the Yard
• How to Keep Cats Out of the Yard

If you've been urban gardening for awhile now, you must have some tips to pass along, too.

• Share your urban gardening wisdom with us

Ready to start designing your urban garden. Start by letting this 8 part e-course walk you through the steps from where to site your garden through how to maintain it.