These were grown in my dorm room in nyc and potted up to individuals and outside when it was warmer.

Didnt think they would all emerge, dont have more planters, or the heart to get rid of them. Is it a ridiculous idea to let it be?

Last year I had physalis which was a great success with 1kg of fruit. This year I will try out pepino. (I live in northern Germany.)

Hi all. I am starting to build my parkway with a number plants and trees. The problem is the last time I planted trees and plants the neighborhood dogs were allowed to pee and stomp all over my garden since I live in a high foot traffic area with really irresponsible dog owners.

I don’t have a ton of money and I’m pretty handy so DIY cages or fences of some sort would be a great option if it’s a cheaper idea.

I plan to keep an area for the dogs to do their business with signage (who knows if it’ll work but worth a try) indicting it’s a dog area and then have the rest blocked off with plants and trees in the center.

Any ideas of where I can start with a structure of some sort to protect my crops?

I live in a small, older apartment building in a major city with a MAJOR rat problem.

We do have a backyard where I’m sure no one would mind me growing some things, BUT…rats. (Also it’s a paved over backyard, no grass so if there is a way to grow without the rats being an issue, I would need boxes for the soil to go in)

I don’t know that the backyard is feasible, but I have seen those things that look almost like the fabric shoe holders/organizer which people hang from a windowsill/ledge and grow stuff that way (that said, idk if that’s just for herbs or what).

We do have two shared balconies on one side of the building there I could hang something like this (they’re full brick balconies with a high “wall” though, so I don’t think plants would get too much sunlight ON the balcony but hanging off the side of it definitely would.

Lastly, my apartment isn’t huge but I do have ENORMOUS windows in my living room that get a ton of direct sunlight through the afternoon….would it be crazy to try to grow something inside and if not, what makes the most sense to grow in these conditions?

Hi everyone! I recently started attempting to grow a little garden on my balcony. It barely gets any sun, so I figure I need some sort of grow lights. I have two outlets on my balcony, and a trellis I could theoretically wrap things around/strap things to. All the standing lamps I'm seeing on Amazon are meant for indoors, which could be a problem if it rains. Thoughts?

I also got the above setup for Christmas, which claims to have grow lights. No clue if it's true and I can't find anything in the description detailing the kind of bulbs it has. I'm wanting to expand anyway, since I'm wanting to grow more veggies.

Thoughts? Also, general tips would be appreciated!

Hello hello! I am planning my garden for my new house that I own in Philly! (ahh!) I'm planning on getting a 2' x 8' raised bed to put in my back yard. It's west facing and gets the most sun after 12pm-ish. I have some experience starting seeds but am open to a mix of direct sow/starting seeds/getting start plants (local nursery recommendations?) Would love to know what veggies you more experienced urban gardeners would plant in this set up?

I also plan on planting some raspberry and blueberry bushes along my fence between myself and my neighbor - thoughts on the best place to get these and a good time to plant them?

Lastly, I would like to plant some native honeysuckle in large containers to vine up the sides of our awning in our yard - thoughts on this idea?

I’ve been trying for years to see what could work to have a cosy balcony garden all year round.

However it’s been a challenge with the climate conditions and the position of my place.

Balcony is full west facing which means really dark in the morning and no shade in the afternoon.

I live in northern France, where the temperatures range from -5 to 40 degrees C, with wind and precipitation all year round.

I’ve had some luck with spring onion but that’s about it.

What are some plants that could fare well in all conditions and look nice all year? Or also, are there ways to compensate for these conditions (creating shade when you’re facing west is not easy)?

I would be so grateful for any tips!

I’m looking for book recommendations to throw into a closing gift for a client who is excited about starting to grow her own food in her new home. The backyard is probably just under 1000 ft.² and she’s located in Western Washington.

Any book recommendations? Bonus if it’s visually pleasing for a coffee table or bookshelf, but priority is on good content. TIA!

I mostly have a history of killing plants 😬 I would love to grow some food this spring and summer. I live in CO and eat almost everything. Any suggestions for beginner-friendly food I can grow and whether to do like seeds, buy actual plants, etc? Thanks!

Hi! I'm based in south of UK and have an east facing balcony that is quite a decent size.

Every year my partner and I try to grow some things here and there but it never works out. We get a crazy amount of slugs and other pests that don't allow us to enjoy our plants. He's told me that he has given up and that he believes our environment is just not suitable for growing healthy plants and veggies but I want to prove him wrong.

I know a big mistake we've made in the past was not planting flowers so I recently got some seeds to get started on that. I got Geranium, Lavender, Sweet Pea, Echinacea, Calendula and Chamomile.

I also plan on sowing some herbs such as Basil and Lemon Balm soon. We've got a small Rosemary bush already and it's the only thing we have managed to keep.

What do you recommend for soil and pots? I'm trying to learn more about what each plant needs but is there any rule of thumb you follow that makes things easier? And do you think it would be better to keep the pots off of the floor to keep the slugs at bay?

I also am not looking for chemical stuff to use as fertiliser or pest control so if you have some good natural alternatives I'd love to hear all about it.

Please share any tips you've got to help a beginner like me! I really want to make this work, I'm tired of the lack of greenery around me and I want to show my partner that we can do this! Thanks ✨️

Ok. I just read an article saying urban gardens are “bad for the climate”. What absurd nonsense. It said the “production of things like a shed” are bad for the environment and have a carbon footprint. Ok but shipping shit over from other countries by ship and plane cause less pollution than building a shed? They think we are stupid lol. Everyone should have a garden. It’s not all that difficult. It gets you off the couch. Gives you the healthiest food. Is good for mental health. And is good for the environment and community as a whole. (Even good for bees and other pollinators). Having a garden is more “Green” than owning an electric car. Going back to what our grandparents did would revolutionize our lives. And as far as the above mentioned article, or local government regulations, or the FDA wanting people to “register” their gardens, fuck off. We should have State laws that simply say NOBODY can restrain or restrict someone from growing food on their property in ANY way. I mean isn’t that like a fundamental right? Anyway, I wish more people would think like this, but sadly most people won’t turn off Netflix or put down the video game to make the world better. But the will simply put a “climate change” sticker on a social media page. Sad.

Hi all, questions about planting vegetables (and maybe fruits) on a patch of ground in the ground soil (not raised beds or pots) near an asphalt driveway whose closest part is like 5 feet away from the driveway? The patch of ground might have had some things sitting on it before - like construction materials.

How safe is it to plant food next to asphalt? If not really safe, what's a safe distance?

If construction materials or similar not-so-safe things were sitting on the patch of ground before, what's a safe amount of time that food grown in the soil wouldn't have harmful concentrations of past contaminants?

Thanks in advance!

What is this called for plants? I keep finding stuff that says shade is something like 2-4 hours of direct sun, but my porch gets ZERO direct sun since it is on the north side and under the shadow of the tall buildings all day. But I have ten or so plants out there that do grow, and some have even flowered. I want to make an intentional plant plan for my porch, but can't figure out what to look for in plants that say they are shade, but then looking deeper basically all of them say they need a little sun to flower or grow well.

OH. Would this be indirect light?? It is "lit up" most of the time the sun is up even though the path of light never hits the porch.

If that is the case, this might be a harder question. Any tips on finding native plants for your area that live well in indirect light?

Sincerely, Sun Deprived in the Sunshine State

Hi, new here just began my urban gardening journey. I’m a retired Marine, musician, HouseDad and Chef. I’ll be honest, never thought I had a green thumb. My Grandfather was an amazing urban gardener and amateur botanist. He could grow just about anything and made delicious fruit hybrids.

At this point in my life I was looking for peace and centering, it came from Bonsai and now I’m venturing in to growing my own food. I’ve gotten lucky w a few plants, discovered i hate squirrels now and am hungry to learn more!

But aside from some small prefabrica herb pots and my Bonsai, I have no idea where to start and no one to teach me. Mind u I’m the hood, not a lot of botanists around trying to grow food lol

Got a good size yard, previous owners left enough wood to create a good size raised bed about 15x8 of what looks like use to be a raised bed and nothing but time in my hands.

So I guess my question is, where do i start? I believe there is already plastic under the dirt within. The dirt in it is terrible so I gotta get that filled and don’t wanna break the bank… help?

Im creating my own heaven... And maybe lack in few things here and there so wondering what ways did you guys started?

I live in WA state and I'm hoping to start growing some vegetables/fruits starting in the late spring/early summer. My balcony and every single window in my apartment is east-facing, so I get blinded by the sunlight every morning. I heard though that south-facing is the best for plants that need lots of light, like tomatos, so I'm not sure if those would be very feasible. I've had some luck with growing kale and lettuce at my old apartment which was west-facing, since I don't think they require much light, but I can't think of anything else that would be good for my current place.

I live in a townhome in Charlotte (zone 7b). I have a fairly large pot with 2 jalapeño plants that did well up until the cold snap. Each day it would be sunny and reach the upper 40s but at night it got down to the mid 20s. I can’t bring it in the house when it gets cold. I know it’s a problem. I tried covering it with a blanket at night.

After a couple of days, a majority of the leaves look like I haven’t watered it in a month. Still green but very droopy. Is it cooked or is there a chance that when it warms up this weekend that it’ll bounce back? I had about 20 jalapeños growing on it up until this week.

Thanks!

Hi, I live by Griffith Park and there is a huge avocado tree growing by the back fire escape of my apt building. The avocados look very ready to be picked but I'm not sure if it's safe to eat if the tree is in such an urban environment (soil, water, air pollution). I know nothing about how this works other than that some plants pick up toxins and others don't. Anyone know?

Has anyone used the sharedearth (USA) app?

It's an app where it pairs gardeners looking for land to use, and landowners/house owners willing to share their land. I have messaged several near me with no response. Hopefully I will get one at least, but there is no way of seeing how old the listings are or if the person is even active there still. Curious if anyone has used it and had some success.

Thanks

It’s winter in the northern hemisphere and this sub takes a hibernation while we’re dreaming of our next gardens.

The last five posts we’ve had have all been spammed survey requests from students, start-ups, or so-called reporters. There have been three in the last day alone. All accounts posting survey links will be reported to the reddit admins for spam.

If you are doing a genuine study, please contact us through modmail so we can manually approve the post.

Sweet garden dreams, gardeners.

I’ve got an olive tree on my balcony. We‘re in a city, the climate is humid subtropical (winter frost and snow are rare). I’ve had this olive tree for almost a year, it’s grown two ´ugly’ long branches. I want it to stay round. When can I cut them off- is winter now a good time? How can I prevent that happening again next year?

Does anyone have any photos of their work or any recommendations for subs that are more geared towards commercial urban landscaping?