are you ready to get your urban garden on?
A layout for the Urban Gardenista to get the garden that they want.
Write It Down
What's your budget? What's your garden zone, what will grow back each year, and what won't. Do you want an edible or ornamental garden or both. Design to the sunlight, sundial.
Dream it Up
Visualize your ideal garden. What's the design, formal, semi formal, cottage or contemporary. What's the style, mediterranean, asian inspired, a native garden or a wildflower theme.
Schedule It In
How much time do you need to create your lush city garden oasis? Things usually take longer than you think they will. Use the example map (left), to design your own garden map.
Get Zen
Make space for lighting, if you do not have access to an electricity source, go solar. Use all space available, remember to go vertical. Keep one spot in the garden, to focus the mind.
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go to the light
My garden changes each year. Garden beds that used to provide dazzling, floral displays one year, disappoint the next. Sometimes, it's the weather taking to long to heat up or, too much rain or clouds during early spring. Sometimes, it's because I neglected to put a little extra care into the garden beds, that newly housed transplants from another crowded bed. Fresh top soil, compost manure and a touch of mulch are not to be overlooked in late fall.
Another reason could be that a tree close by grew a little larger, blocking precious available sunlight, that helped my plants in previous years thrive to produce robust flowers. Plants grown in part shade that need full sun, may survive but will not bloom. Plants that need dappled light or partial shade planted in full sun, will have scorched leaves with no blooming success.
Plants need to be planted where they will receive the right amount of light, even the hardiest of perennials needs to be planted in the right spot. I recommend looking out a window on the hour of a day, or sitting out in your garden during the daylight hours, taking notes on how the sundials in your urban garden. This will change a little with each season, with some spots receiving light for longer over the summer months. For the urban gardener who wants huge results, you have to see the light.