Urban Gardening For Dummies E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 608

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

The easy way to succeed at urban gardening

A townhouse yard, a balcony, a fire escape, a south-facing window—even a basement apartment can all be suitable locations to grow enough food to save a considerable amount of money and enjoy the freshest, healthiest produce possible.

Urban Gardening For Dummies helps you make the most of limited space through the use of proven small-space gardening techniques that allow gardeners to maximize yield while minimizing space.

• Covers square-foot gardening and vertical and layered gardening
• Includes guidance on working with container gardening, succession gardening, and companion gardening
• Offers guidance on pest management, irrigation and rain barrels, and small-space composting

If you're interested in starting an urban garden that makes maximum use of minimal space, Urban Gardening For Dummies has you covered.

Leseprobe

Urban Gardening For Dummies®

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Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2012955829

ISBN 978-1-118-34035-6 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-50243-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-50244-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-50241-9 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Authors

Paul Simon is a nationally recognized landscape architect, public artist, horticulturist, master gardener, and urban designer. With over 20 years of experience, Paul brings a wealth of knowledge, skills, and abilities from various fields in the gardening, horticulture, and design industries.

Paul holds a B.S. in Landscape Architecture from the University of Kentucky with a diverse curriculum in site design, urban design, community planning, geography, architecture, plant and soil sciences, forestry, and civil engineering. He is also an esteemed member of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Paul is personally committed and driven toward solving developable solutions while maintaining professional integrity and respect for the environment.

Many of his projects specialize in urban design, parks and community gardens, public art, outdoor learning, and green design initiatives — some of which have been nationally published, recognized, and awarded. Paul is also driven to create human environments that are sustainable, socially relevant, economically feasible, and user functional.

In addition, Paul is involved as a horticultural editor for www.kidsgardening.org. Kids Gardening is a leading national provider of K-12, plant-based educational materials, providing programs and initiatives for plant-based education in schools, communities, and backyards across the country. Paul continues to provide unique articles underscoring the importance of kids gardening and outdoor learning.

Charlie Nardozzi is a nationally recognized garden writer, speaker, and radio and television personality. He has worked for more than 20 years bringing expert gardening information to home gardeners through radio, television, talks, online, and the printed page. Charlie delights in making gardening information simple, easy, fun, and accessible to everyone. His energy, exuberance, and love of the natural world also make him an exciting public speaker and presenter. He has spoken at national venues such as the Philadelphia Flower Show, Master Gardener conferences, and trade shows.

Charlie is a garden coach and consultantteaching and inspiring home gardeners to grow the best vegetables, fruits, flowers, trees, and shrubs in their yards.

Charlie co-hosts In The Garden, tips on the local CBS affiliate television station (WCAX-Channel 3), a weekly, call-in radio show on WJOY-1230AM, and the Vermont Garden Journal on Vermont Public Radio.

Charlie is also known for his writing. He has written for national magazines such as Organic Gardening and contributed to many of the For Dummies gardening titles, authoring Vegetable Gardening For Dummies in 2009. He also authored the Ultimate Gardener (HCI Press, 2009) which highlights heart-warming stories about the trials and tribulations of gardening and Northeast Fruit and Vegetable Gardening in (Cool Springs Press, April, 2012). He also contributed to other book project such as Vegetables from an Italian Garden (Phaidon Press, 2011).

Charlie’s skills as a garden communicator extend beyond the printed page. He’s the former host of PBS’s Garden Smart, reaching more than 60 million households. He has also been a gardening expert on many national syndicated television and radio shows such as HGTV’s Today at Home, Discovery Channel’s Home Matters, Sirius Radio’s Martha Stewart Living, and Garden Life Radio

Charlie also works with companies/organizations to provide horticultural guidance on special adult and kids projects. He’s worked with the Hilton Garden Inn on their “Grow a School Garden Project,” Gardener’s Supply Company and Stonyfield Yogurt on their “Eat a Rainbow Project,” and farm-to-school programs with Shelburne Farms and Northeast Organic Farmers Association (NOFA).

He was the senior horticulturist and spokesperson for the National Gardening Association (NGA), where he wrote and edited articles for their magazine and online newsletters, conducted media interviews about gardening, and provided horticultural consultation to NGA programs.

Authors’ Acknowledgments

From Paul: I’d like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the many people who have been instrumental over the years in developing my background as an urban designer, horticulturist, landscape architect, and public artist.

Thanks to my parents John and Kristine Simon and my uncle Albert Bremer who helped guide me many years ago into the horticulture and design professions. Thanks to former employers including Quansett Nurseries in South Dartmouth Massachusetts and Hillenmeyer Nurseries in Lexington Kentucky who have taught me so much about the planting, nursery, and landscaping industries.

Big thanks to the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture and the Landscape Architecture Department for their well-rounded teachings to design human environments that are sustainable, socially relevant, artful, and functional, especially professors Janice Cervelli, Thomas Nieman, Horst Schach, and Ned Crankshaw. Also thanks to the University of Vermont Extension Master Gardener program which does incredible work recruiting, training, and overseeing volunteer extension master gardeners and multiple gardening programs and opportunities.

Special thanks to the National Gardening Association for the opportunity to co-author a book with Charlie Nardozzi and provide an A to Z guide on Urban Gardening practices. And a super-special thanks to Susan Littlefield who has helped edit many of the chapters and continues to provide professional horticultural guidance and expertise in addition to her editorial support.

Thanks to Nancy Reinhardt for copyediting and Mike Pecen for his technical review of the chapter submissions and Kathryn Born for illustrations. Also thanks to Chrissy Guthrie and Erin Calligan Mooney for their consistent help in guiding chapter submissions and scheduling the timely management for the books completion.

Finally, thanks to my wife Rubi and my children Nathalie, Olivia, and Elena who together share the love and passion for gardening, and to my mother-in-law Norma who has helped our busy family keep it together.

From Charlie: I’d like to thank Chrissy Guthrie and Erin Mooney for their expertise in keeping the book on target. Thanks to the National Gardening Association for the opportunity to write another For Dummies book and to Paul Simon, my co-author, for being so easy to work with, offering his expertise in landscape architecture and gardening. I appreciate Kathryn Born for her illustrations, Nancy Reinhardt for her keen eye while copyediting, Mike Pecen for his horticultural review of the chapters, and Susan Littlefield for editing every chapter.

Dedications

From Paul: I would like to dedicate this book to all of you who are digging into the earth, greening our cities, and sharing your knowledge to support a sustainable future for all.

From Charlie: I dedicate this book to all those budding gardeners in urban areas who are transforming concrete jungles into thriving, vibrant, green communities, growing food for themselves and their neighbors, reversing crime and pollution, and generally creating a wholesome place to live.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Vertical Websites

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Acquisitions Editor: Erin Calligan Mooney

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Urban Gardening For Dummies®

Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/urbangardening to view this book's cheat sheet.

Introduction

Urban gardening trends are undoubtedly on the rise, and the excitement to green our cities and develop edible landscapes is being shared across the world. City planning officials and municipalities are recognizing this healthy trend and taking appropriate measures to redraft regulations in support of many urban agricultural initiatives. Individuals and local organizations are forming grassroots alliances to make urban areas more livable and self-sustaining. Of course the urban environment certainly presents its own set of challenges, but with the right tools, know-how, and a little help, a dedicated urban gardener can succeed — and we hope this book can provide you some guidance along the way.

The ways to garden the city are as varied as our cities are. Your ambition may be to transform a vacant lot, an underutilized parking area, or your back deck or patio into a green oasis. Perhaps you wish to become involved in a community garden association, or build your own urban farm? Whatever level of gardening you choose, you are on the right path supporting the health of our environment and a renewal of our cities.

About This Book

This book provides a complete A–Z guide for the urban gardener. Topics include preparing urban soil conditions, how to plant, where you can plant, and the many types of plantings suitable for urban gardens. And, of course, urban edibles are especially covered.

You also discover some techniques for reducing air and water pollution and how gardens may reduce crime, increase property values, and contribute to healthier, improved neighborhoods.

From rooftops, balconies, patios, along walls and stairways, or growing indoors, we cover many urban gardening techniques and trends to help get you started right away!

Conventions Used in This Book

To help you navigate through this book, we included some conventions to follow:

All references to temperature are in degrees Fahrenheit (F) and measurements in feet and inches.

When we refer to plant hardiness, we are using the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which you can find at http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb.

When we refer to the Extension Service, we’re talking about the government- or university-sponsored service that offers helpful information on gardening. The Master Gardeners we refer to are volunteers trained by horticultural professionals in each state to also offer gardening advice. The Extension Service can be found through your local land-grant university, such as the University of Connecticut. The Master Gardeners for the United States and Canada can be found for each state on this website: www.extension.org/pages/9925/state-and-provincial-master-gardener-programs:-extension-and-affiliated-program-listings.

Most plant types are listed first by common name and then by botanical name initials.

Following are a few other conventions to keep in mind:

Whenever a new term is introduced in a chapter, it appears in italic, followed by a brief definition or cross-reference.

Key words or phrases appear in bold.

Numbered steps also appear in bold.

What You’re Not to Read

Although we’d love it if you read every word we’ve written and kept Urban Gardening For Dummies by your bedside table for midnight inspirations, we realize urban gardeners (like everyone else) are busy people. So, if you want the meat and potatoes of the book, you can skip over the sidebars and any text marked with the Technical Stuff icon. Sidebars appear in gray boxes and feature interesting but nonessential information that’s related to the main text. The Technical Stuff icon features information that is beyond need-to-know but that further enhances your understanding of a given topic.

Foolish Assumptions

Every book starts with a few assumptions about who will be reading it. While most don’t state their assumptions, we’re going to be right up front with ours:

You live in a small to large city and are interested in growing plants safely.

You know someone in a small to large city who you think is interested in growing plants safely.

You know someone in a small to large city who you think should be interested in growing plants safely.

You don’t have much gardening experience.

You want to improve your physical surroundings, adding greenery, healthy food plants, and wildlife habitat to your yard all while growing the plants organically.

You’re even willing to sacrifice precious deck and balcony space for a few pots filled with delicious herbs and greens.

You want to share and impress your friends and family with the amount of garden beauty and food you can grow in the city on the ground, roof, wall, or public space.

How This Book Is Organized

Like most Dummies books, Urban Gardening For Dummies is broken into parts. Each part has chapters related to that theme. Here’s an overview to get you started.

Part I: Urban Gardening 101

In Part I, we give you an overview of urban gardening, including preparing your soil, planting, and where you can place the many types of plantings suitable for urban gardens, especially edibles! Chapter 1 covers city gardening and how you can best develop your urban green thumb. In Chapter 2, we show you how urban landscapes help reduce air and water pollution and how gardens may reduce crime, increase property values, and contribute to healthier, improved neighborhoods. In Chapter 3, we describe the urban microclimate, including the urban Heat Island Effect, local weather patterns, and how you can actually influence weather conditions at micro-level to benefit the health of your urban garden.

Part II: Gardening Basics

In Part II, the digging really begins — in the soil, that is. Chapter 4 discusses analyzing soil types, understanding soil pH, drainage, and poor and contaminated soil conditions. In Chapter 5, we give you the scoop on how you can build good soil for your garden with manure, organic fertilizers, and compost. In Chapter 6, you’ll discover when to seed, when to transplant, and how to select the right plants for your garden. We even show you some tricks of the trade for planting annuals, veggies, perennials, roses, trees, and shrubs.

Part III: Places and Ways to Garden

So where can you garden in the city? Head over to Part III for answers to this question from the ground up. Chapter 7 shows you ways to create a beautiful and artful outdoor room with arbors, recycled materials, and water features. In Chapter 8, we get funky with container gardening and show you creative ways to plant pots of every possible shape and size. Apartment dwellers need not feel left out — Chapters 9, 10, and 11 take on building rooftop and balcony gardens and demonstrate some vertical growing strategies. Chapter 12 helps you find ways to green up city buildings and transform vacant lots into unique urban green spaces.

Part IV: Growing Plants in the City

Whether you’re gardening in a container on an apartment balcony or in a community garden, or even in your own backyard, you need to know the basics of growing all your favorite plants. Part IV gives you the how-to information on growing edibles, flowers, trees, shrubs, and lawns. In Chapter 13, we get into the nitty-gritty of how to plant your own vegetable garden. Flowers are up next in Chapters 14 and 15, where we discuss annual and perennial flower gardens. In Chapter 16, you see how to select and plant the right tree or shrub for your yard. Chapter 17 covers (ahem) how to keep your urban lawn and ground covers growing strong.

Part V: Growing to Perfection

All your gardens are planted and your flowers and veggies are starting to bloom; it’s time to find out how to care for your new green babies. Chapter 18 describes how to weed your gardens and the advantages of using various mulches to keep weeds at bay and retain soil moisture. Water is a critical element to any garden, so in Chapter 19 we show you the best ways to water your plants, as well as save money and time. Even the best garden can have trouble with insects, diseases, and animals. Chapter 20 identifies some of the worst offenders and gives you organic solutions for stopping them in their tracks.

Part VI: The Part of Tens

No For Dummies book is complete without a “Part of Tens,” and this one includes some great gardening tips. From the top ten essential garden tools to ten kid-friendly ways to garden in the city, Part VI offers an assortment of helpful and creative urban gardening solutions. We even include a chapter on ten ways to develop a sustainable urban garden, including how to involve your community and collaborate with others.

Icons Used in This Book

Like all For Dummies books, this one has icons that highlight tips, warnings, technical stuff, and things to remember. Here are the ones we use in this book.

This icon highlights important information that makes you a better gardener. It’s stuff you don’t want to forget.

This stuff is for the gardener that wants to understand more and go a little deeper. It’s not essential, but it’s certainly cool information.

This icon highlights tips that help you save time, money, and resources. Everyone can use those kinds of tips!

This icon keeps you alert to possible problems that may arise, even in the garden. We try to help you avoid mistakes by pointing out possible gardening pitfalls.

Where to Go from Here

You are one of a growing herd of people gardening in the city. Feel proud. Not only are you creating beauty and food for yourself and your family, you’re helping make cities more livable places and reducing your urban area’s dependence on outside resources for energy and food.

Use this book as a starting place to inspire and inform you on how to get started greening your city. Skip to the chapters that interest you most to get the information you need to grow plants and create gardens. But don’t stop here. Check with local resources, organizations, and other gardeners you meet to share information and ideas so that you can grow a green and prosperous city for all to enjoy.

And if you’re looking for more detailed information about growing specific plants or specific growing methods, check out some of the other For Dummies gardening books, such as Organic Gardening For Dummies, 2nd Edition, by Ann Whitman, Suzanne DeJohn, and the National Gardening Association; Herb Gardening For Dummies, 2nd Edition, by Karan Davis Cutler, Kathleen Fisher, Suzanne DeJohn, and the National Gardening Association; Container Gardening For Dummies, 2nd Edition, by Bill Marken, Suzanne DeJohn, and the Editors of the National Gardening Association; Vegetable Gardening For Dummies, 2nd Edition,by Charlie Nardozzi; Lawn Care For Dummies, by Lance Walheim and the National Gardening Association; and Roses For Dummies, 2nd Edition, by Lance Walheim and the Editors of the National Gardening Association.

Part I

Urban Gardening 101

In this part…

In this part, we provide an overview of urban gardening, from preparing healthy soil conditions to how to plant, from where you can plant to the many types of plantings suitable for urban gardens, especially edibles! We also discuss how urban landscapes help reduce air and water pollution and how gardens may reduce crime, increase property values, and contribute to healthier, improved neighborhoods. Finally, we describe the urban microclimate, including the urban Heat Island Effect, local weather patterns, and how you can actually influence weather conditions at a micro-level to benefit the health of your urban garden.

Chapter 1

Gardening in the City

In This Chapter

Understanding this urban gardening movement

Getting the basics on building healthy soil

Seeing the many creative ways to garden in a city

Discovering what plants you can grow in urban environments

Growing your plants well in the city

As more and more people move to cities from rural areas, they bring their love and knowledge of gardens with them. We’re seeing a renaissance of urban gardening in cities around the world. City dwellers are realizing that they can’t just rely on rural farms and transportation to supply them with food, fuel, and the energy they need. Cities need to be inhabitable, and having clean air and water are top priorities for maintaining the quality of life in cities. Not only does a cleaner environment and fresher food make for a more livable city, it makes for healthier residents with fewer medical issues.

In this chapter, we give you an overview of all the ways you can garden in the city. We cover the basics of growing healthy soil, the many places to have a city garden, the types of plants that grow well in urban environments, and ways to keep them healthy.

Knowing the Basics of Soil Prep

Most people think of soil as nothing more than the dirt that’s beneath their feet. They couldn‘t be more wrong. Soil is a living entity, and healthy soil is more than just the dirt you see in vacant lots or around construction sites. Plants need healthy soil to grow, and in the city, that becomes even more imperative. Cities stress plants with their heat, cold, wind, air and water pollution, vandalism, and soils lacking in nutrients. Healthy soils to the rescue! A healthy soil can keep your plants vibrant, and just like the human body, when plants are healthy they can better withstand all types of environmental stresses.

Here are some of the ways to nurture and build a healthy soil in the city. More details on soils are available in Chapter 4.

The livingsoil. Soil is loaded with living organisms. These microbes help make nutrients, water, and minerals available to plants. Unhealthy soil is devoid of organic matter (the food of microbes), microbes, and any life-giving capacities. Your job as a gardener is to build up your soil so your plants will thrive. This can mean amending your existing soil with compost and other forms of organic matter or replacing your existing soil with something better.

Start with organic matter: We wax poetic about the value and role organic matter plays in a healthy soil in Chapter 5. Street merchants don’t peddle organic matter, but someday it may be considered that valuable. Right now though, many kinds of organic matter are available for free. Organic matter comes in many forms; hay, straw, untreated grass clippings, leaves, compost, manure, and pine needles. Knowing how to use it to feed your soil is important for a healthy garden.

A soil checkup: Our bodies need a checkup every so often to make sure they are healthy, so why shouldn’t your soil? It’s important to figuratively take your soil’s temperature by doing a soil test and other tests. Check the pH (measure of acidity and alkalinity). Check the water drainage to be sure your plants don’t sit in wet soils too long. Wet soils can harm many types of plants. Analyze your soil for potential contaminants that may be in your patch of urban heaven. Knowing what you’ve got for soil helps you know what to do to improve it.

Feed your soil. We all know that the foods we put in our bodies affect how we feel. Well, plants aren’t any different. What you feed your trees, shrubs, and garden plants influences their health and growth rate. Knowing your plants and your soil helps you determine what fertilizers and amendments to add to make for healthier plants.

Finding the Many Places to Garden the City

Most people think of gardens as beautiful places in pastoral settings. Even in botanical gardens that grace most cities around the globe, the greenery and gardens there create a sanctuary that is fenced in and often hidden from view.

But cities have many places to garden beyond the botanical garden. Many city residents have a yard where they can tuck in gardens. In some communities, rules may be in place restricting where on your property you can garden and what you can plant. But city residents in many areas are challenging the notion they can’t grow food gardens in their own front yard. Pulling up the traditional lawn and planting tomatoes, zinnias, and apples is just one way urbanities are gardening in the city. Here are some other obvious and not so obvious ways they also are growing greenery amidst the concrete and steel. We talk more about the many places and ways to garden in Part III.

Vacant lots. Many cities are taking vacant lots and transforming them into small parks, green oases, and community gardens. These “community” gardens often take on the flavor of the residents and become meeting places for the neighborhood. Often the garden is a harbinger of change in the neighborhood. Once a garden springs up in a vacant lot, trash and litter may be picked up, graffiti replaced with murals, and decorative art work installed in the neighborhood. All this creates an identity reflecting the various cultural and ethnic backgrounds of the residents in the neighborhood.

Grow it in a pot. Container gardening has revolutionized the ways people can grow plants in small spaces. Container growing helps avoid many soil issues because you are using soil specifically adapted to pot growing. Plus, if you don’t have the space or proper conditions in the ground where you live, it’s pots to the rescue. Containers not only fit in unusual places, like fire escapes, but they are mobile and can be moved with the sun and season.

Growing on the roof. Rooftop gardens can produce food for a hungry city, reduce the urban Heat Island Effect (we talk about that in Chapter 3), and reduce storm water runoff. If the roof won’t work, try the walls. Green wall gardens are springing up in many cities that not only have many of the same benefits as green roofs, but also visually soften the look and feel of a city block. We talk about green walls in Chapter 10. Trellises, pergolas, fences, and arbors are all ways to make use of the vertical space gardeners may have in their otherwise space-limited yard. Growing vines upward is a way to maximize what you have growing in the city.

Inside gardening. You’re probably getting the idea we believe you can garden anywhere outdoors in the city, but some folks have only a balcony or patio or live many stories up. The solution for these land-deprived residents is apartment gardens. Using grow lights and maximizing the light through windows, you can grow houseplants that clean your air and edible plants to provide food. Windowsill herb gardens and salad gardens under lights are just some of the ways apartment dwellers can jump on the green bandwagon. We’ll talk more about apartment gardening in Chapter 11.

Growing All Kinds of Plants in The City

Now that you’re convinced you really have more gardening opportunities than you thought in the city, naturally the next question is, “What should I grow?” Well, the simple answer is grow what you like. But that answer isn’t enough for most city dwellers. There are soil, space, pollution, and other issues facing urban gardens. So it’s important to grow the right plants for your area and, ideally, ones adapted to city culture. Take a look at some of the options.

Trees and shrubs

Trees and shrubs do more than dress up a yard. They provide shade, wildlife habitat, beauty, and potentially, food.It all starts with the right tree or shrub for your space. There may be utility lines above and below ground that workers need to access. The last thing you want is to buy and plant a tree and have it grow well for years, only to have the utility company come and cut it down when it begins to interfere with their lines. Planting a tree or shrub whose mature size is to big for the space available leads to drastic, harmful, and unattractive pruning.

You’ll also need to find the right tree or shrub for the existing sun/shade conditions, climate, soil conditions, water availability, and wind conditions. It may sound daunting, but in Chapter 16, we highlight those trees and shrubs that can handle city life and keep performing for you.

If you’re like many city dwellers, food gardening is becoming more of a priority, and growing berries and fruit trees fits perfectly with that vision. Dwarf varieties of fruit trees are well suited to small spaces, and self-pollinating fruit trees and berries allow you to enjoy a harvest from just one plant. Even a small city yard usually allows space for a delicious harvest of homegrown fruit!

Edibles

Speaking of edible gardening, vegetables and herbs also fit beautifully in city yards and containers. Whether in a community garden, front or back yard, or a large container, you can grow a whole host of vegetables in most cities. While the ultimate size of the plants isn’t as big an issue with vegetables as it is with trees and shrubs (melons, winter squash ,and corn being the exceptions), it’s still important to grow varieties adapted to your climate and space. Dwarf varieties of tomatoes and cucumbers, for example, make growing these popular veggies easier in containers.

The city has many potential problems the budding veggie gardener must deal with, but one thing is does help you with is the length of the growing season. Because cities tend to absorb heat during the day and radiate it out at night, the overall environment stays warmer than the surrounding countryside. This means when your cousin upstate is getting frost, you may still have a few weeks of growing left. You can really push the envelope with devices that protect plants from frost such as cold frames and floating row covers.

If you really want to grow edibles easily, try growing perennial herbs. Some perennial herbs can actually be called weeds, they’re that tough to kill. Try a container filled with mint, lovage, or chives as a good way to start your edible garden. Once you see how easy it is to grow these, get going with annual herbs such as basil, parsley, and cilantro.

Annual flowers

Annual flowers are perhaps the easiest city plants to grow. They are bred to bloom their heads off all season long. Many annuals are small plants that easily fit in containers and small spaces. There is such a range of plant types and flower colors that you can become the van Gogh of the neighborhood just by arranging your annual flower varieties in beds or pots.

Probably the most important part of annual flower gardening is choosing the right plant for your location. (Does this advice sound like a broken record yet?) Some annuals like full sun and heat, while others like part shade and cool temperatures. Many people redesign the interior of their home periodically, picking up seasonal themes. You can do the same in the annual flower garden, changing your annual flower garden by the season. For example, grow cool weather-loving annuals in spring and fall and heat lovers in summer.

The deadhead is dead. It used to be that deadheading annual flowers (clipping or pinching off the faded flowers) was the norm. Many new annual flower varieties drop their spent blossoms naturally and don’t require deadheading. So all you have to do is keep the plants alive and they will thrive.

Perennial flowers and roses

If you like flowers but get tired of replanting each spring (after all, that’s what annual flowers are, one and done), then go for perennial flowers. Most people think of perennial flowers in terms of broad borders filled with multicolored flowers of various colors and textures, like on an English country estate. Well, perennial flowers can be arranged like that, or they can also be used in many other ways in the garden.

Perennial flowers come back consistently each year, and some get larger and spread as well. While the flowers of some perennials, such as peonies and iris, may seem delicate, the plants themselves are long lived and tough as nails. I’ve seen perennial flowers, such as daylilies and bee balm, surviving in pavement cracks and abandoned lots in the city. As with annuals, you’ll have to chose between sun and shade lovers.

Some perennials can be invasive, taking over an area if you don’t watch out. Bee balm, lily of the valley, ajuga, and English ivy are just some of the aggressive perennials that may be great in a contained area but can wreak havoc in a garden by running rampant over less aggressive plants.

Roses are pure delight. They fit beautifully in an urban garden because many rose varieties are small in stature but big in the size and number of flowers. Some are even small enough to fit in containers. Hybrid roses need more attention compared to species and landscape varieties. Climbers are perfect for arbors and walkways. In Chapter 15, we talk all about variety selection, fertilizing, and pruning these shrubs so they stay healthy in your yard.

Lawns and groundcovers

It’s tiring having concrete, asphalt, and gravel beneath your feet. If for no other reason, lawns are good for the spirit just because they give us something soft and comfortable to step on.

Lawns soften the urban environment in other ways. Grass quiets a yard, reduces storm water runoff, and provides habitat for microbes and wildlife. Although we’ve been known to trash the American lawn as a wasteful landscape feature, in the city, green is good. If lawns fit your landscape needs, then grow grass. Choose warm or cool season grass types, depending on where you live. Grow lawns in areas around your yard where you’ll entertain, play games, or just hang out.

If your yard doesn’t have enough sun for lawn grass, consider planting ground covers instead. Ones like vinca and sweet woodruff grow best in shady conditions — just what you find in many cities. The right groundcover grown on healthy soil will spread to fill areas under trees and around shrubs. They create the green lawn effect, except you can’t walk on them very frequently. But even this idea is being tested by new ground covers that can be stepped on occasionally. We give you ideas on growing lawns and groundcovers in Chapter 17.

Exploring the Down and Dirty of Growing

Planting the right plant for your yard and needs is the first step to a successful garden. Keeping it healthy is the clincher. Watering, weeding, mulching, and pest control are all important pieces of a healthy garden. That’s why we devoted a whole section to growing plants. Here’s what to expect.

Weeding and mulching

We’re all about reducing the amount of labor and time spent working in the garden and increasing the amount of time we spend enjoying and eating from the garden. Reducing competition from weeds will lead to a healthy garden. Weeding early and often, reducing perennial weeds, and not letting weeds go to seed are all ways to reduce the weed pressure.

One of the other ways to reduce weed woes is to use mulch. Laying organic or inorganic materials such as black plastic, straw, or old leaves on the soil will stop weeds from germinating and growing in your garden. Plus, some mulch materials, such as the bark mulches, are decorative and beautiful to look at too. We talk all about weeding and mulching in Chapter 18.

Watering

Water is a precious resource and will only get more precious in time. That’s why we devoted all of Chapter 19 to the most efficient and best ways to water your trees, shrubs, vegetables, flowers, and lawns.

The best ways to water are generally the most efficient. Drip irrigation and soaker hoses apply water right around the base of plants so little is wasted on pathways or to evaporation into the air. Watering in the morning helps roots absorb water better while it’s cool and reduces the amount of disease on plant leaves since they can dry before evening. Collecting water from roofs after natural rainfalls and storing it for future use reduces the amount you need to buy from the water company or municipality.

Dry conditions in cities can kill plants as fast as any pest. That’s why it’s important to look for drought-tolerant trees, shrubs, flowers, herbs, and vegetables to grow if drought is common where you live. Check with your County Extension office or Master Gardener program for a list of drought-tolerant plants adapted to your area, then look for them at your local garden center.

Pest patrol

We couldn’t talk about gardening without talking about insects, animal pests, and diseases. If you follow all the guidelines we mention in the chapters on soil building, plant selection, site preparation, and growing advice, you shouldn’t have many pests to control. But even the best gardeners have to deal occasionally with pests like rabbits, dogs, or caterpillars or contend with an outbreak of mildew on their garden plants. It just can’t be avoided. That’s why it’s important to follow these steps for the safest and most effective pest controls:

Identify. Make sure you know what’s causing the problem. Sometimes it’s weather, pollution, or even people that are affecting your plants, not animals, insects, or diseases.

Decide. Once you know what the cause of the problem is, then you’ll need to decide if it’s worth controlling. Sometimes it’s late in the season and you’re ready to wrap up the growing season anyway. Other times a plant may have finished producing and can be pulled up to be replanted with something else. Some plants, such as potatoes, can take lots of leaf damage and still produce a good crop.

Prevent. If you know it’s likely that certain animals, insects, or diseases may attack your garden, then it’s often a good idea to plan ahead for them. Using preventive measures such as growing resistant varieties, creating fences or barriers, and planting when the pests are less likely to attack are ways to reduce any need to control pests.

Trap. Before reaching for the sprayer, consider traps as a control strategy. Insect and animal traps can remove enough of the pests to reduce the pressure on plants and save your harvest. They may not control all your pests but will bring the population down to acceptable levels.

Organic sprays. As a last resort, use targeted organic sprays, such as Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), to control the pests. Sometimes a few well-timed applications of a spray is all you need for the season.

Go to Chapter 20 for more details on specific plant pests.

Chapter 2

Reaping the Benefits of Urban Gardening

In This Chapter

Discovering the value of growing food in the city

Understanding how well-designed urban landscapes help reduce pollution

Finding out how urban gardens can help reduce energy use

Knowing how gardens contribute to healthier, more valuable neighborhoods

The popularity of urban gardening is increasing at just the right time As the world population grows from 7 billion to an estimated 9 billion people by 2050, cities will continue to grow and get larger. With population growth and concentrations changing, a new approach is evolving, focused on making cities more self-sufficient. Cities around the world are taking steps to grow more of their own food, reduce energy consumption, and purify their water and air, all within the city limits.

Urban gardens are an ideal solution to many city woes. Urban gardens produce fresh, healthy food that helps improve nutrition and makes for a better diet. Urban gardens provide greenery that can purify air, reduce water runoff, and decrease pollution. Gardens provide a rallying point for community revitalization. Community gardens and parks provide places for neighbors to meet and form stronger community bonds. Gardens contribute to safer, more beautiful neighborhoods. Properly planted trees and shrubs help reduce heat in cities in summer and help maximize solar gain in winter to reduce energy consumption. Urban gardens are a grassroots solution to these and many other urban issues, empowering city residents to make changes in their lives that will affect their whole neighborhood, one block at a time.

Enjoying Local Produce from Urban Food Gardens

With stagnant economic activity and concerns about the quality of our food supply, many people have gone back to the vegetable garden. It’s not a new trend. Back in the 1940s, the United States had “victory gardens” to support the World War II effort. We grew 40 percent of all the produce we needed in those backyard gardens. Today it’s estimated that more than 40 million households in the U.S. have an edible garden. They spent almost 3 billion dollars in 2010 on those gardens. This growth in edible gardening has hit the city, too.

Urban food gardens are as varied as the cities they reside in. While they all strive to achieve the basics of producing fresh, healthy food for their gardeners, many of these gardens have become conduits for other projects that empower people and build stronger communities. We cover the basics on growing your own food in the city in Chapter 13, but here we’d like to highlight where you can grow food in the city and some great programs around the country that are using urban food gardens to transform their cities.

Looking at places to grow food

At first glance, growing food in the city seems like an impossible task. Acres of concrete, air and water pollution, little open land, and vandalism all would appear to thwart any effort to grow a garden. But despite all the odds, city dwellers are growing more and more food in some likely (and unlikely) places. Gardeners are getting creative about where and how they grow food, especially if they don’t have a backyard. Here are some examples:

Community gardens. Community gardens are popping up all around cities wherever there are vacant lots for people to form a garden and rent out the plots. Cities such as San Francisco, Detroit, New York, and Chicago have long histories of active community garden programs. We cover community gardening in depth in Chapter 12.

Rooftop gardens. One thing cities have lots of is roofs. In Chapter 9, we talk about the details of growing gardens on your roof to produce food and flowers.

Container gardens. No land, no problem. Grow your urban garden in a container. City residents are creative about popping containers almost anywhere there’s enough light for plants to grow. Fire escapes, alleyways, balconies, and rooftops are just some places you’ll spot a container garden. We’ll go into details on container gardening in Chapter 8.

Shared gardens. This is a relatively new concept in gardening. Garden sharing matches people with some land in the city but little desire to garden with people without land and a great desire to garden. The gardeners come in, till and grow crops on their neighbors’ land, and share the harvest with the owners. It’s a win-win for both groups.

Public land. Cities have parks and lots of public land in odd places. Some towns are transforming those parks and public spaces into edible landscapes for all to enjoy. Gardeners can be found cultivating road medians, traffic islands, pocket parks, and other unused, public land in the city. There are even cities looking at transforming old bridges into parks with greenery and food garden plots.

Checking out urban food gardening projects

Certainly this book is all about growing your own garden in the city. In the remaining chapters, we hope to give you the skills and resources to do just that. But you won’t be alone as an urban gardener. There are thousands of gardeners in cities across the country creating amazing urban gardens and farms right now. To inspire you, here are just a few examples of the public and private groups that are creating a new urban fresh food scene.

SLUG

The San Francisco League of Urban Gardens (SLUG) has been supporting people growing food since 1983. Starting as a volunteer organization providing seeds for city residents, the organization has grown into a thriving nonprofit coordinating 100 community gardens and providing education, resources, and tools to urban gardeners. While they still support the mission of providing garden space for San Franciscans, SLUG now also focuses on social and economic issues, using gardens as a way to uplift neighbors. They created Urban Herbals, an organic food line, that is supported by food produced at housing projects in the city. This project employs local workers and provides internships to youth to learn how to make a living growing food in the city. They have created landscape crews that work with the city to revitalize urban parks and natural areas. These activities have helped SLUG grow to an organization that employs 150 to 200 city people each year, all involved in urban gardens and greenery.

GreenNet

Chicago may be known as the Windy City, but it’s also gaining a reputation as a green city as well. GreenNet is a coalition of nonprofit organizations and public agencies committed to improving the quality, amount, use, and wide geographic distribution of sustainable, green open space in the city. One of their main focuses is the community garden system. GreenNet helps coordinate more than 600 community gardens spread over 50 wards throughout the city. They provide how-to information on starting and maintaining a community garden. GreenNet also helps gardens find grant funding for projects and coordinates resources with the City of Chicago to identify and create more neighborhood gardens throughout the city.

Philadelphia Green

Most people know Philadelphia for its rich history as the birthplace of America. Fewer know that Philadelphia has one of the largest urban gardening programs in the country. For more than 30 years, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, working with local community groups and the city, has been turning Philadelphia into a green city. They have shown that gardening can be integrated into the entire fabric of city life. Their program, Philadelphia Green, helps support 400 community gardens, 80 neighborhood parks, rooftop gardens, greenery in vacant lots, gardens on public lands, and even gardens around public institutions. They sponsor gardens around the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Penns Landing along the Delaware River. Philadelphia Green is a great example of a public/private partnership that provides residents with the support they need to grow gardens in their neighborhoods.

Beacon Food Forest