Container Gardening - It's just a little bit of magic...

Have a hard day at work? Depression weighing you down?  Try gardening.  Even if you only grow a few herbs on your window sill, gardening is one of the best ways to relieve stress and depression, and you get something good to eat or beautiful to look at.   There are so many websites dedicated to container gardening that you don't really need me to add more, but I will promote the idea because I think its great.

Why do any gardening in the city?  Because it helps the environment and beautifies your community.   Don't let living in the concrete jungle stop you from getting in touch with nature and the natural environment.

You can use just about any container for growing herbs, lettus, flowers, you name it. Just cruse the web and check out all the fabulous ideas that other people have come up with.  Small colored tin buckets that can be found in toy or dollar stores can be hung across the window and provide you with fresh cooking herbs, lettus or even strawberries.

Other containers like wire wastebaskets or wicker baskets lined with moss, paint cans, metal coffee cans, milk jugs, plastic water and soda bottles, worn out shoes, old dresser drawers, kiddie pools, tires, buckets, and broken watering cans, old sewing tables, sinks, bathtubs, and toilets, a regular 16oz aluminum soda can, even a plastic trash bag, are all capable of holding dirt and growing a little green.  And of course, you can also use traditional pots.

 

Rooftop and windowsill space is also a possibility, as long as these areas receive 6-8 hours of sunlight a day.  And don’t be intimidated by the difficulties in understanding successful gardening.  There are plenty of online gardening sites ready to offer help for the first time gardener.

Another option, if you have no space of your own, is to rent space at a community garden. There are community gardens all over the country, and most are registered.  You can check on the American Community Garden Association for one near you.  If there are none in your area, they can also help you get one started.

Five basic ideas for starting your own garden paradise:

Rent a Plot

Most towns and cities will have an area where you can rent a plot of land, or sometimes people with large yards will rent out portions to gardeners.  Prices for renting run between $10-40 per season, including water use.  The best way to find a garden plot to rent is to do a search with key terms  "community garden," "rent a plot" or "rent a garden" plus your city's name.

Container Gardening

Even if you don't have a yard, you might still have room enough for a few containers of veggies.  And with a little leg-work you can even find places to get free pots, soil, and plants! Container gardens are perfect for small spaces and can be plunked down anywhere from the front steps to the roof.  You can even get a half-barrell at the hardware store and do a container water garden!  Personally, I think the more rustic the container, the more beautiful it looks.

Guerilla Gardening

Okay, so there's no chance you have space for a container garden, but there happens to be a perfectly good parkway that is going to waste. Snap it up! It's called guerrilla gardening and it's simply making use of wasted public space to grow some food. With luck, this will be a no-brainer option for urban dwellers within the next few years.

Roof Gardening

You can do your building, surrounding neighborhood, and local wildlife a favor by taking up gardening on the roof.  Living roofs and roof gardens offer so much to to the environment, in addition to feeding you fresh produce!

Start a Community Garden

Kick guerrilla gardening up a notch. If there's an empty field or area that would be perfect to turn into a gardening space to share with your community, take it over! Starting a community garden is a great way to get connected with your neighbors, reclaim a piece of fallow land and make it a vibrant focal point for your neighborhood, and of course get some fresh produce for your kitchen.