DIY Vegetable Gardens

Gardening is no longer limited to the suburbs and the countryside. It is fast becoming widespread among city dwellers, too. Anywhere you look, you can see aspiring urban green thumbs buying supplies and gobbling up books about gardening in the city. If you want to join the bandwagon and create a space where you can have tranquility in the middle of the city, here are some tips that should set you on to your new calling:

Work with containers

When building a garden in the city, rarely will you have ample space. So it is always a good idea to use containers instead of planting beds or plots. One, you can save a lot of space. Also, you won't need hours to remove weeds from small containers. Best of all, you do not have to spend for new containers. The empty chocolate cans or plastic milk jugs lying in your kitchen would be perfect.

Use your own potting mix

When you are in the city, you will have a hard time finding good quality soil for your container garden. So, you have to create your own mix of good potting soil. You will need equal parts of topsoil, perlite, and peat moss. If you want to save time, you can get commercially available potting soil from your nearest garden supply store. Put the potting soil in the containers and don't forget to add some mulch to the top layer to keep your soil damp.

Have ample supply of water

You can't tend to your garden without water. Make sure that your plants receive just the right amount of water. Whether you water the too much or too little, they will exhibit the same symptoms such as losing the rigidity of their stems. Also, if you are going to use containers and place your plants on the rooftop, you can expect that your potted plants will dry out easily. To keep the temperature suitable for your plants, you will definitely need plenty of water for your urban garden.

Check out the sunlight

Sunlight allows plants to manufacture their own food. Your ordinary garden plants need four to eight hours of sun exposure. Therefore, make sure that your garden spot is not blocked by buildings or high walls.

Starting your own vegetable garden is only as hard or as easy as you want it to be. By following the basic tips above, there's a bigger chance that your garden will survive in the urban jungle.