There are various types of urban gardens; some of the most popular include: community, container, raised bed, vertical and rooftop gardens. In this article, we go into our top 7 types of urban gardens to help you choose a way to add plants to your urban area.
Community Gardens
Community gardens are vegetable gardens that are open to the public. They are typically managed by volunteer growers, non-profit groups, or activists for the purpose of combating food insecurity in urban areas. Community gardens help provide food security by giving local residents access to free or heavily discounted fruits and veggies. They typically consist of small garden beds in the earth, raised beds, and containers.
Indoor Gardening
Herbs, sprouts, and microgreens are great options for growing indoors. They are easily grown in small spaces, such as a sunny windowsill. “Windowsill gardens are a great space-saving option for home gardeners who don’t have a large outdoor gardening space and can easily be done in smaller living spaces like an apartment,” says Chris Bonnett, gardening expert for The Express, and founder of Gardening Express.
Container Gardens
Container gardening is a method of growing plants in containers rather than planting them in the earth outside. This method allows gardeners to have more control over important growing conditions like sunlight, moisture, and temperature. Pots and hanging baskets are ideal containers for growing vegetables on an apartment balcony. When planting in containers, choose potting soil over compost or gardening soil. Many different types of plants are suitable for planting in containers, such as tomato plants, zucchini, and cucumbers.
Raised-bed Gardening
A raised garden bed is an elevated gardening plot. The walls surrounding the plot keep soil content pure inside the bed and prevent outside plants and pests from creeping in. Raised garden beds are a sensible choice for urban dwellings where yard space is limited, and soil quality may be lacking.
Vertical Gardening
A vertical garden is a system for vertically growing plants via structural support rather than horizontally in a plot of land. In a vertical garden, you can grow plants upwards along existing structures like walls, arbours, or pergolas or install structures like trellises or poles for support. Vertical gardens are designed to run up and down, which allows you to plant more crops with less ground space.
Rooftop Gardening
A rooftop garden is a collection of container plants that home gardeners or landscapers keep on the rooftop of a flat building—often an apartment building. Plants can vary from vegetable plants to ornamental shrubs. The setup can be as simple as planting a few plants in terracotta pots or as established as a greenhouse with an automatic watering system.
Hydroponic Gardening
Hydroponic gardening is a method for growing plants without soil. Plants grown hydroponically do not sit in soil but rather in a growing medium that transfers water and a nutrient solution to the plant roots.
Learn More
Read Urban Gardening: A Beginners Guide to learn more about urban gardens.
