Everyone can be an urban gardener! First round-up of examples

Posted on by Red Darter

Amongst the rather few definitions of ‘urban gardening that are available, the one I have decided to adopt, describes urban gardening as synonymous with ‘urban horticulture’, and according to Wikipedia* includes ‘all horticultural crops grown for human consumption and ornamental use within and in the immediate surroundings of cities’. (*I know Wikipedia is generally not considered a scientifically reliable source of information, however it has provided what I deem to be a rounded definition of the term urban gardening).

Urban gardening can be subdivided, based on the technique that is used to grow the plants, be it:
•  traditional gardening (growing plants in the ground)
• container gardening (using exclusively containers, pots, hanging baskets or growbags)
•  water gardening (focused on plants adapted to pools and ponds)
•  hydroponics (growing plants in mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil)
•  native plant gardening (sometimes with the intent of attracting wildlife)
•  community gardening (where the effort is shared by several people)
•  vertical gardening (using multiple levels of vertically spaced pots)
•  bonsai gardening (or miniature gardening)
and a variety of other techniques.

Overall, I think anyone who grows fruit, vegetables or decorative plants in a city or a large town, is an urban gardener.

This is the first in a series of posts, that will collect examples of the different styles of urban gardening I see around me, or find online. The following pictures were taken in London, besides the last one, which I came across online:

A by now, very famous urban garden I found online, is the Drummondsville front yard garden in Quebec, which had to fight for its survival as city officials wanted to see it removed. Luckily 30,000 people signed a petition and now the garden can stay:

Are you proud of your urban gardening experience? Let me know, and if you send in some good pictures and I think they are worth including, they will be featured on this blog. Happy photo taking!

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