The Urban Garden: 101 Ways to Grow Food and Beauty in the City

by Kathy Jentz, Teri Speight

Overview

In The Urban Garden you’ll find dozens of inspiring and creative ways to grow flowers, shrubs, vegetables, herbs, and other plants in small spaces and with a limited budget.
 
Whether you want to grow on a balcony, rooftop, front stoop, or a tiny urban patio, turn your growing dreams into reality and build a gorgeous and unique garden that showcases your personal style while still being functional and productive. With the ingenious ideas and resourceful tactics found here, you’ll be maximizing yields and beauty from every square inch of your space, while also making a lush outdoor living area you’ll crave spending time in.
 
Take inspiration from urban gardeners around the world and learn to:
 

• Install planting pockets on fences and walls
• Grow a rooftop garden in lightweight grow bags
• Tips for designing small spaces that feel BIG
• Build a salad table for growing lettuce and greens
• Utilize garden structures and plants for decorative screening
• Support pollinators by creating a small-scale habitat
• Design a pet-friendly urban yard
• Employ climbing plants and vines to add privacy and reduce noise
• Plant in layers to maximize yields and add beauty

Whether you’re growing edible plants or beautiful flowers, the 101 amazing growing ideas found in The Urban Garden will turn your tiny urban yard into a treasure trove of green you’ll be proud to share with family and friends.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780760373019
Publisher:	Cool Springs Press
Publication date:	04/12/2022
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	498,822
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Kathy Jentz, author of The Urban Garden and Groundcover Revolution, is editor and publisher of Washington Gardener magazine and the Green Media columnist for the Mid-Atlantic Grower newspaper. She is also the host of the popular podcast, GardenDC, which received the GardenComm 2023 Laurel Media Awards Gold Award in the Digital Media: Podcast Series category. In addition, she edits the quarterly Water Garden Journal, the official publication of the International Waterlily & Water Gardening Society. Kathy’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including the Washington Examiner newspaper, Pathways magazine, and Washington Women magazine. She appears on regular gardening guest spots on Channel 9, Channel 4, as well as WTOP, WAMU, and WOWD-LP radio stations in Washington, DC.

Teri Speight is a proud native Washingtonian. She is the former Head Gardener for the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and one of the Founding Farmers of the Eitt CSA, Stafford County’s first Transitional Organic CSA Farm. Teri is currently an estate gardener, speaker, writer, and podcaster. Her website, Cottage In The Court, offers curated garden experiences for small groups and one-on-one garden coaching, specializing in earth-friendly practices.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1 Clever Containers
CHAPTER 2 Creative Flower Growing
CHAPTER 3 Food Growing
CHAPTER 4 Garden Entertaining
CHAPTER 5 Intensive Gardening for Small Spaces
CHAPTER 6 Gardening Styles for Small Spaces
CHAPTER 7 Privacy Boosters
CHAPTER 8 Recycled & Repurposed Inspiration
CHAPTER 9 Small-Space Solutions
CHAPTER 10 Supporting Urban Wildlife
CHAPTER 11 Vertical Growing Ideas
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
PHOTOGRAPHERS’ CREDITS
INDEX
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1 Clever Containers
CHAPTER 2 Creative Flower Growing
CHAPTER 3 Food Growing
CHAPTER 4 Garden Entertaining
CHAPTER 5 Intensive Gardening for Small Spaces
CHAPTER 6 Gardening Styles for Small Spaces
CHAPTER 7 Privacy Boosters
CHAPTER 8 Recycled & Repurposed Inspiration
CHAPTER 9 Small-Space Solutions
CHAPTER 10 Supporting Urban Wildlife
CHAPTER 11 Vertical Growing Ideas
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
PHOTOGRAPHERS’ CREDITS
INDEX
 

Editorial Reviews

03/07/2022

“Small-space gardening is a fact of life for a majority of those living in urban neighborhoods,” write Jentz, editor of Washington Gardener Magazine, and estate gardener Speight in this practical compendium. To help readers “concentrate on creating tiny jewel boxes,” they advise on turning rooftops, stoops, and patios into lush areas. There are “clever container” ideas including stock tank planters (which provide an “urban chic” look), deep window boxes, and a home-built tower garden, as well as information on flowers (stick with perennials that need no fussing and self-sowing annuals). Growing food, they write, can be a challenge given “pressure from pests” and “the threat of theft,” but garlic and root vegetables do well in pots. As for entertaining in a small garden, “anything that supports your weight” can be a seat, including straw bales or a board over two buckets. With their wealth of projects, the authors make a convincing case that small garden spaces need not mean skimping on style. Anyone with a yen to garden but little room for digging will find this worth returning to. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"Anyone with a yen to garden but little room for digging will find this worth returning to."—Publishers Weekly

"With photos and descriptions of countless mini-landscapes—along with tips and tricks to try yourself—The Urban Garden inspires and energizes, too."—Susan Brackney, HobbyFarms.com

"Consider this a gardening cookbook—with enticing recipes you’ll immediately want to go out and try."—Mary Kate Mackey, Shepherd.com

"The Urban Garden book is jam-packed with 101 great ideas, that beginner and experienced gardeners will learn from. This book is beautifully laid out with gorgeous, colorful photographs that will inspire you to create the garden of your dreams, no matter if it is a small space or a large plot. It’s well thought out and an easy read."
 —ToniGattone.com

From the Publisher