How to Grow a Garden in the City

I grew up in the country but have lived in the city since I was in university. One of the first things I missed when moving to the city were the vast green spaces I grew up with (and of course had taken for granted when I was younger).

As soon as I had a balcony - which wasn't until my second apartment rental, I should have thought of that when searching for my first - I began growing flowers in containers. Back then, I chose very simple, common annuals: geraniums, impatiens, a few vines. Gradually, over the years, I began to experiment with what else I could grow: I tried mint, basil, sage, beans. All were successful (because all of those tend to do pretty well in containers), and so I was motivated. Year after year, I continued to grow in containers, pushing the limits of what could be grown in a small container on my small balcony.

Gradually, I gained access to a bit of soil in front of my house, and I started to plant annuals. I thought we would move and so I didn't put too much thought into it, and just popped in a garden sage, some columbine, an echinacea, some milkweed. But year after year, we remained in the apartment, and I added more and more. Peonies, blueberries, then later, an elderberry. Hydrangeas, roses. Year after year the plants matured and it got more and more exciting to see who thrived. Some years, one thing did well, and the next year, it would give way to another plant. It's funny that the first year that I planted a perennial I thought I'd only live in the apartment for another year or two, but that was nearly 15 years ago at this point. So instead I have had the pleasure of seeing the small space that I began cultivating 15 years ago grow, mature and evolve. I've been here so long that some of my earlier perennials are no longer around, but on the other hand, a tulip bulb that I planted almost 20 years ago when I first moved in still blooms every spring!

I have since gotten access to a bit more balcony space and more outdoor space. A big windfall came in the summer of 2020, when I was also finally taken off of the waiting list for a community garden plot. I suddenly had access to 20 square feet of precious soil in the city, and suddenly my gardening potential could really take off.

I can't give you an exact blueprint for how to grow a garden in the city. However, what I can do is provide you with a few of my own experiences that will hopefully help you if you are planning your first ever garden in a small space. This should help you choose your plants and set a few best practices into motion that will help optimize your success. I should note that I also live in a cooler zone (equivalent to about a zone 5 in the U.S., or 5b-6 in Canada). I also have to contend with heavy clay soil and summers that could be hot or cool, wet or drought-like conditions, depending on the year (and long term almanac forecasts are never accurate). So I tend to over-plant my space, because every year can be different.

Getting Started (Planning Phase)

1. Sizing up your space - The first thing is to understand how much space you have to plant. You might be able to take out a few existing plants, which I recommend if you are not a fan of them. For some reason, I left daylilies (that barely bloomed) because they were already there for years and years, even though they took up a lot of space and were struggling to blossom year after year, yet also choking out other plants I enjoyed more. As long as you have the blessing of whoever owns the space, pull out any plants you don't like. Then, measure the approximate amount of space you have available to you to plant. This will help you understand the approximate number of plants you could fit into the space. If you want to be super into plant spacing, look up the square foot gardening method, which is a more precise way to measure the amount of certain plants that will fit in a certain space. Otherwise, you will need to check out seed packets or plant planting instructions for an idea about how far apart to space certain plants. When choosing perennials, usually there will be information about how large (tall and wide) they grow, which will also give you a sense of what kind of impact the plant will have on your space in the long term. I will note that I have generally functioned by trial and error: I plant a lot of plants, see which ones take up the most space, and the next year, either remove (or don't plant) those big plants, or reduce the other plants around them to make space for them. Not the most precise way to operate, but it has worked for me.
2. Figure out what plants will do well in your zone/area - The best way to do this is to walk around your neighborhood and see what is growing, what is doing well. I recommend planing at least some things that you see thriving in your neighbors' yard, mainly because your chances of success will be higher if you choose plants that seem to enjoy the soil, climate and conditions of your neighborhood. This will help increase your chances for success. For example, peonies do very well in my neighborhood, as do hydrangeas, dahlias, calendula and cosmos. Many of my neighbors grow these plants and I see them thriving year after year, so I chose to plant some of these plants in my own yard. With that said, you don't have to only stick to plants that are proven successes in your area. I have also experimented with a lot of plants and discovered that swamp milkweed and borage do super well in my yard - which are flowers that I don't see anyone else nearby growing. Note that I do recommend prioritizing which plants you want to grow: I usually create a list and put the plants I want to grow most at the top, and plants that I am slightly less invested in towards the bottom of the list. Odds are you can't fit everything you'd liek to grow, so this will help you maintain some perspective on what is most important to make space for.
3. Make a drawing - Once you have the measurements of your space and a list of ideas for what you want to grow, sketch out what you want your garden to look like. Research the plants you'd like to grow and understand how big they will get, then place them in your drawing accordingly. I try to put taller plants towards the "back" of the space (usually, the part of the garden closest to the house, or closest to the fence, depending on where your planting space is located in proximity to large structures like the building or a fence). Shorter plants, or short-lived annuals, would go towards the front of the space. For example, my largest shrubs: a hydrangea, elderberry, peonies, and a lilac are all towards the back. In the mid-ground, I have mid-sized shrubs, like milkweed, monarda, and smaller rosebushes. I also tend to plant taller annuals in this area, like zinnias, dahlias and cosmos. Finally, in the front, I have the shorter perennials, like sedum, ferns, irises, columbine, phlox, as well as bulb plants like tulips and daffodils, and this is where I plant short-lived annuals, like snapdragons and some smaller types of cosmos. Although I rarely 100% stick to the drawing when it comes to planting time - sometimes I change my mind about what to plant, or when I am in the space planting things out I get a new idea about what should go where - having this plan is still tremendously helpful as it can be overwhelming at planting time and it gives me a solid guide to follow.
4. Remember that containers are an option - If you are renting and don't want to put all of your precious plants in the ground, remember that containers are an option for more plants that you might think. I will do a separate post on container gardening, but consider planting some perennials in containers. I've had very good success with perennials like roses, lavender, and carnations in container gardens. You can save your ground space to plant annuals and enjoy them all summer long without feeling like you will "lose" anything when you move (unless you move in the middle of the summer, of course).

Planting

1. Plant at the right time - Know your frost date and understand when plants or seeds can be put in the ground. Some seeds and perennials can actually be planted before the last frost date (or even the fall before!) and others need to wait until well after your frost date to ensure they don't get too cold.
2. Clean up the ground - When I first started gardening in the ground near my building, it had clearly not been cultivated in a long time (if ever). I found bits of glass, nails (be careful and wear gloves)!, rocks, chunks of cement, you name it. It took me years to pick up most of the garbage that previous tenants had left on the site after decades of habitation. In the first year, I recommend just picking up what you can - namely, what's in the way or could interfere with a plant growing comfortably (like chunks of cement or big rocks), or anything that could pose a hazard to you as you dig and care for the plants.
3. Amend the soil - When it comes to amending the soil, there's a lot of gardening advice out there that says you have to add cardboard, compost, worms, charcoal, and all other things. But in my experience, this is nice, but not necessary unless you live on land with pure gravel or sand. I recommend that trying to grow in your native soil (the soil that's already there) is better than not growing at all because you don't have (or don't want to spend your money on) tons of soil amendments. If you have the budget for one thing to add, I recommend getting some compost to sprinkle over the surface of the soil. This will help add nutrients into the soil for the growing season ahead. At the end of the year, you can pull out annuals, cut them into small pieces, and drop them onto the soil to help build the soil for next year. Likewise, if you can collect leaves from trees, these are also nice to add to the garden to help build the soil. Side note: you never know what is already in the soil, good or bad. One year, I grew in a small space behind our building and discovered that there was a ton of charcoal in the soil from the days when the building was heated by coal. I planted a few plants and that summer had a jurassic park situation: the plants got incredibly tall and huge, and I had three green bean plants grow about three stories high and they gave me bushels of beans.) Also, be aware that if you are in a city there could be less desirable "additives" in the soil. If you live in a new building, you might want to find out whether that newer building had been built over an old gas station or garbage dump, for instance (I have unfortunately seen too many new "luxury" condos go up over the site of old gas stations in the two decades I've lived in my neighborhood). If you live in an older building, be aware that your soil may have lead and other chemicals from the old paints used in building construction prior to a modern understanding of safe materials in homes. In general, if you are planting a flower garden, this isn't too great of a cause for concern, but if you are using the space for edible plants and food, you may want to do some research and weigh the risks. (If you are very concerned, again, containers can allow you to control the soil quality).
4. Check out the drainage situation - Growing in a small space can pose problems when watering. You will want to make sure that all of your water doesn't run off onto the sidewal as soon as it rains or after you water; but likewise, you also don't want water to pool in your garden and create too much of a wet space. The nice part of groing in a small space is that you can have greater control over where the water goes: make a small "wall" out of stones to help retain water, or dig small "channels" to make sure that water runs out of the garden if it's prone to pooling.

Enjoying

1. Don't be afraid to prune - Throughout the growing season, as space is at a premium, don't be afraid to prune back plants that are done blossoming. As soon as my tulips are done blooming in the spring, I give the leaves a few weeks and then when they start to look brown I trim them back so other plants can grow. Peonies are the same: I trim the stems and prune some of the leaves a bit once they're done blooming. My elderberry bush takes a hard prune every fall otherwise it would take over my small yard. Researching how and when to prune your shrubs will allow you to maintain some control over their size and how much they infringe upon the other plants in your space.
2. Change things up - If something doesn't turn out the way you wanted the first year, take notes and change it the next year! Since space is at a premium, if plants are struggling or overtaking other plants that you like more, make adjustments, even if that means saying bye to some plants that aren't right for your space. Many plants can be transplanted if you find that one plant has been put too close to another, or even divided and separated to create two plants. Growing in a small space means that you need to constantly monitor and adjust as needed, whether that means digging plants up, moving them, removing them, or adding plants that are doing better and making you happier.
3. Enjoy! Enjoy your hard work and your green oasis in the city.