Urban Gardener | Transform Your Space for Green Living 

If you live in an Urban area, you can enjoy having a yard full of beautiful vegetables, flowers, and fruits. Urban gardening is a technique for growing plants in urban areas. It has a positive impact on the environment, economy, and food security. As an urban gardener, you can transform a lush rooftop garden, window hanging baskets, or container garden. 

This article sheds light on the importance of practising urban gardening and provides tips for becoming a successful urban gardener. Follow below to get insightful information and tricks to transform your space for green living. 

What is an Urban Gardening? 

Growing plants, vegetables, fruits, and flowers in an urban area is called urban gardening. There are various forms of urban gardening, such as community gardening, container gardening, rooftop gardening, vertical gardening, and many more. The United Nations’s Food and Agriculture Organization reveals that this industry processes, produces, and markets the daily demand of food and fuel to the customers within the town. 

History of Urban Gardening

As predicted, urban gardening is becoming popular among people who want to lead a sustainable life and reduce their carbon footprint. Though it is making a resurgence, urban gardening is a concept that has been introduced a long time ago. Back in ancient Egypt, people used to bring urban community wastes to feed urban farming. Since then, it has become a response to food storage. 

A renowned urban gardener, Alessandro Vitale is an Italian architect, green entrepreneur, and urban designer. He transformed empty rooftops, lots, and unused buildings into prospering gardens. Is the founder of the project OrtiAlti, which transforms abandoned rooftops into leafy gardens. He is the pioneer of urban gardening and won lots of awards. 

Importance of Urban Gardening 

Boost food security 

Urban gardening increases the utilisation of abandoned areas for agriculture. It increases food security and constant land depletion. It increases the usage of food crops such as fruits and vegetables by reducing the dependency on farm-produced fruits and vegetables. Thus, an urban gardener boosts food availability for urban families and diminishes food importation from other countries. 

Support economy 

Urban gardening increases the city’s economy by creating economic activities such as packaging, production, and selling opportunities for herbs, vegetables, and other food products. Through this, food costs decrease, job vacancy increases, and people get to consume more quality food. 

Various big urban gardens require the helping hands of gardening experts and create new jobs.  As a result, a healthy community deciphers to hardworking and vibrant people who can build a strong economy. 

Generate children’s interest 

The practice of urban agriculture at home allows students to put their class lessons into practical exercises. Urban gardening helps learners experience the lessons through real-life gardening practices. 

Furthermore, young learners can find interest in agriculture and pursue courses in this subject. It can increase their curiosity about becoming an urban gardener and knowledge about cultivating plants. 

Create sustainability awareness

Urban gardening encourages people to contribute towards society’s sustainabilities and emotional well-being. It ensures echo-sustainability via various aspects such as ensuring air and water quality, protecting soil fertility, harvesting rainwater, recycling organic wastes, practising urban ecological biodiversity, and recycling water. 

Urban gardeners concentrate on reducing carbon emissions to decrease the carbon footprint. It also facilitates the farms releasing the ground for natural regeneration, where farming was only a traditional practice. It provides environmental revitalisation by promoting sustainable practices. 

Ensure healthy living 

Various research has proven that gardening refreshes and calms the urban gardener mind. The ability to grow food for family and others improves urban gardener’s emotional and mental state. The procedure of digging soil, mowing the plants, and growing them provides an effective way of exercise by stretching and moving the muscles. 

Urban gardening also ensures healthy, organic and home-grown food consumption. Apart from healthy food, the report has shown that urban gardening contains an element called “horticulture therapy” that enhances plant-human relationships. This therapy helps in reducing stress, and blood pressure, and increases relaxation and muscle tension. 

Impact of Urban Gardening 

Urban gardening has become more than just food security as it solaces people in having plants in homes as well as offices. Urban gardening positively impacts increasing urban gardener social and emotional well-being. People have found themselves more energetic and physically active in maintaining gardens. 

Urban agriculture practices also have a significant impact on the environment. It reduces the carbon footprint of food production and distribution. Also selling urban products to the local market reduces packaging, refrigeration, and transportation. 

However, water supply, high-quality seeds, and soils might be a challenge to urban gardeners and negatively impact the quality and crop yields. Many people start harvesting without any licence or permission, which may create potential issues in terms of environmental responsibility and safety. 

How to Start Urban Gardening? 

Comprehensive research 

As a beginner, it is always crucial to go for comprehensive research before practising gardening. First, you must research the local regulations about gardening in your area. Also, need to comply with the rules and ensure to avoid any potential legal matters.  

You also need to research small-space gardening techniques that can be done for your urban garden. You can also join the urban gardener community to get expert tips that are most suitable for your garden. 

Choose gardening space 

Choosing the best place to start gardening is an important step. It contains several factors, such as water quantity and sunlight, that can help your plant grow faster. Remember that too much water or sunlight can be a threat to the plants. 

Determination of hardiness zone 

You must determine the hardiness zone to understand weather and climate conditions in your region. This can also help you select the plant accordingly and ensure you choose a variety of plants that can flourish in your area. 

Create plan 

Create a layout or plan for your garden to maximise production. Plan according to the recommended spacing and planting depths for each plant. 

Maintain garden 

As an urban gardener, the most significant step is maintaining the garden regularly. You must water, fertilise, and monitor the plant every day. You can take essential steps to control pests to guarantee that your garden is flourishing throughout the growing seasons. 

Tips to Become a Successful Urban Gardener

Growing a plant requires three primary actions water, soil, and light. Here are some adequate tips for growing your plants in a container: 

• You can grow the plants on the rooftops, window boxes, patios, and balconies by hanging them in caskets. 
• Find the best place where your plants can access at least 7 to 8 hours of sunlight a day. 
• The key to becoming a successful urban gardener is to understand soil depth. Shallow-rooted plants need around 6 inches of soil depth if they are 1 foot tall whereas the deeper-rooted plants require spring 1 foot of soil depth. 
• You can use potting soil, as this is lighter and drains water better than regular ground soil. 
• Ensure an adequate water drainage system so the plant’s roots do not get rotted. You must choose a pot that has a water drainage hole. 

Final Thoughts 

Urban gardener offers a convincing solution to the demand for sustainable living and food safety in modern cities. You can grow healthy food even in a limited space through urban gardening. You need to do a thorough research before starting your urban garden. It will help you grow flourishing foods for your family and others. 

Urban gardeners benefit both the urban ecosystem and the environment. You need to understand the local rules and regulations regarding urban gardening. This will help you to contribute towards the creation of green living and a better environment. 

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