Urban garden: 9 steps how to make a garden at home and terraces

Urban gardens and cultivation tables

Create your own garden in the garden or terrace, it has many benefits. Above all, in food, eat fresh vegetables! It is already a luxury.

We are what we eat and today we don't know much about that. Used to being comfortable, easy and, above all, fast, unfortunately food is not among our main concerns.

This is where our urban garden with the intention of eating well, with quality products and knowing what we are eating! urban farming at home!

Urban gardens emerge as a response to the search for healthier habits

At the time we already wrote an article on indoor plants for home decoration. Today, we will learn how to create a garden at home step by step with the following guide …

What is an urban garden

It is the adaptation of the traditional garden that is practiced in the rural field to an urban space in the city - covered or not - with the intention of harvesting vegetables, vegetables, flowers, culinary herbs, aromatic or medicinal plants, etc.

Definitely, orchards located in a city!

In truth, it arises from sustainable social movements such as slow food or slow life that vindicate the culture of the natural in which the time of any process or activity is respected. But…

What are the benefits of an urban garden

At home garden, we produce our own food and we know what we are eating with our home gardens.
We rediscover the aromas and flavor of vegetables and fruits.
If we have a garden at home, we improve our diet by eating healthier.
We do not contribute in the increases of intensive agriculture and transgenic foods.
We improve the city's biodiversity and air quality (although on a small scale, it is our contribution to the sustainability of cities).
We improve our relationship with nature (we know the natural cycles of the earth and the biological cycles of plants, their properties, we increase our knowledge of the natural environment, etc).
It provides benefits to our mental health (it is an excellent anti-stress) and a fun, relaxing and healthy activity.
If they are community gardens on the terraces of the buildings, we improve coexistence with neighbors.

Of course, not all are advantages when you decide grow your own food, and to be honest, practically the most notable disadvantage of having a urban garden in the house is that we must take care of the budget that we allocate - especially at the beginning - and that it must be a long-term project.

In an urban garden, you have to start small, and if we like it, we will invest more money and time!

How to make a garden at home

If we want to cultivate a orchard in the city We must follow a series of steps to have a coherent home garden that meets our needs.

Now, let's see the steps to follow to create a home garden:

1.- Location of the garden at home

Although it seems obvious, we must remember that we have three possibilities; in the gallery - balcony of the house, inside the house (using hydroponic system), and a garden on terrace or patio that can be private or communal.

Note: In many cities there are community gardens suburban that are shared and rented monthly, in most cases. In this article, we will focus on a vegetable garden built on the terrace of the building with wooden drawers or cultivation tables, as it is the most coherent and viable option.

But… What should I look at before deciding where to put the garden? Here are three key elements before deciding on the location:

We need light. We need to find a space with the greatest and continuous exposure to the sun. For vegetables, the minimum should be between 5 and 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. In the following table you will find information on which vegetables better tolerate total or partial shade:

By the way, we have a good article on natural lighting in architecture.

Orientation matters a lot. For Spain, the ideal is Southwest or South for most vegetables and, for leafy vegetables (lettuce, watercress, arugula, aromatic, etc.) with three or four hours a day of sun are good.
Need for water. We need to locate the garden in an area where we have access to a water intake; that is, to water or connect the irrigation and drip system.

The the best option is to put the vegetable garden on the patio or terrace of the building; We do not occupy space at home, it is located outdoors, we can produce more vegetables for the family garden, we can move well to work coherently, etc.

Remember, if you are going to put a garden on the community terrace, you have to ask the neighborhood community for permission.

And if you like to project gardens, there is an article on how garden design changes cities and there are also useful design tools.

2.- What tools do I need to work the garden?

This depends a lot on the economy and the skill of each user. We are going to count the needs and the different utensils that are used to manage a crop on a terrace.

Spear hoe. It is used to remove plant debris and weeds, remove the earth, aerate.
Fork hoe or escardillo. It is used for digging, turning the soil, breaking up clods, and weeding weeds and weeds.
Cultivator. It serves to scratch the surface and aerate it.
Palita or transplanter. We can open holes to plant seeds and seedlings.
Mango rake. It is used for practically everything, but with the main function of dragging plant debris.
Carrycot and gloves. The baskets are very useful for transplanting and moving soil from one place to another. Protecting our hands is always good, and gloves are the best option for home gardens, make sure they are a bit thick.

3.- What containers can I use in the terrace garden?

The market already offers us different types of containers that adapt perfectly to the size of the patio, terrace or balcony. The most common containers that we can find for our small orchard are:

Be careful with the weight of the cultivation tables and bags on the terraces of the buildings, we can have serious problems and damage the roof - structure.

Planters and pots

Most planters and pots are already made directly from PVC plastic or bioplastic and with multiple sizes and shapes, so we have many options to buy. They are the cheapest containers!

Keep in mind that there are some that have a small water reserve tank that supplies irrigation to the plants by capillarity. They are very useful if we are clueless or go on vacation.

As a counterpoint, in the following article you can see the most original flowerpot we have ever seen.

Grow boxes

They are usually made of wood and treated to withstand outdoor weather conditions. We find them with a square or rectangular shape and of different sizes.

It has an interior geotextile coating to preserve the wood and contain the earth while maintaining moisture.

The drawers that are a little more expensive and have different compartments that we can use to separate the different crops.

Raffia sacks

Usually people do not use raffia bags for a terrace garden, but it should be noted that sometimes they are very useful because they are light and can be easily transported.

They are also made with a weather resistant and water permeable geotextile and some even have compartments.

Grow tables

This is the container par excellence of the rooftop urban garden for your convenience and that you can find a good volume of substrate.

They are manufactured in different materials such as PVC plastic and wood, with various colors and resistant to UV rays. Aesthetically, they look great anywhere.

They usually have an intermediate support to leave the cultivation tools and the larger cultivation supports have separators for the distribution and division of what we are going to cultivate.

The cultivation table is the most used container in urban gardens for its comfort

Planting tables

These containers are used in large patios and terraces and go directly to the ground. Its cultivation capacity is much greater than the previous containers.

They are lined inside with a protective geotextile, are made of wood and have a protective bottom at the base to avoid dirtying the floor. Those that are at different heights are common to cultivate species of low development and others that grow upwards.

Upright containers

To get the most out of the space, there are also vertical structures for growing where we can create mini-gardens that are installed on the walls.

We find them in many shapes that adapt to any type of wall. Widely used on balconies or to grow indoors and have a minigarden or the famous "vertical garden".

They are self-draining and self-supporting modules made of resistant polypropylene material. We have an extensive article on how to buy a vertical garden and what to grow.

remember that all containers; Planters, pots, drawers, etc., have to have a hole for draining the water.

4.- Buy a grow table

For buy an urban garden, here we play with the sale of the «grow kit«, More for beginners where I will sell you the complete pack; wooden box, Earth with fertilizer, plus aromatic or culinary plants. Or the second option, buy the items separately which is more for grow vegetables .

First, some tips:

Take a good look at the dimensions. That fits according to your needs. And if you need the drawers with legs or not.
If the drawer is large and you buy it with legs. If you think that over time you will move it, buy a metallic one with legs (The plastic and wooden ones go without wheels). A 1.00 meter long drawer is round plus 100 Kg of weight once full.
Can buy wooden grow table, plastic, PVC, metallic, etc. This is to taste, but the wooden ones; apart from looking better aesthetically they can be painted easily. Remember, the wooden ones, you will have to assemble it, so it is an extra work.

Be careful with the wooden or metal grow table, you will have to assemble them! And the great ones, they have their work.

If it is a plastic grow table or metallic. Check the water tank and the drainage system.
The "rare" wooden structures that rest on the wall, stepped or have a profile for the vine. In the long run, they are a nuisance, we want them to be practical to handle!

Us we recommend buying the following urban cultivation tables:

For starters. You can start, with this low wooden drawer in the style urban garden kit from Amazon that is on sale. Adequate dimensions and occupies little.
A tall steel grow table with wheels that we like is this one from Leroy Merlin. And on Amazon they have one that is almost perfect, you can look from HERE it is raised planter Excellent choice!
A plastic high table (robust polypropylene) with legs. We are going to Bauhaus from Keter Huerto Urban Bloomer because it is very well thought out without being too big, and it is relatively cheap.
A tall wooden urban grow table or low, that are treated for the outside. We are left with the Bauhaus, treated with an autoclave and includes geotextile that you can check from HERE.

We follow in how to prepare a garden…

5.- What is the right substrate to grow at home

Most of the fruit trees, aromatic, horticultural and condiment plants that we grow in the organic garden "They are easy to grow" but they will need a fertile soil, with nutrients, soft and with the capacity to retain water. And, in addition, we are practicing urban agriculture.

The appropriate substrate will be the one that ensures:

Subjection
Access of oxygen to the roots
Adequate moisture retention
Nutrients

First of all, the kind of substrate to be used in the pots must be taken into account. A fairly common mistake is to use typical potting soil, it is a poor substrate if you need to feed the vegetables. Buy a suitable one and look at the label!

Here, in the first planting of the garden, we will need the bags of substrates that are already prepared and that we can generally find two types:

Universal substrate bags. Intended for planting all types of plants with a mixture of plant debris, peat, compost and NPK fertilizer (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium).
Sacks of specific substrates. There are bags of substrate specifically for the orchard ensuring nutrients in the first weeks thanks to a higher content of compost - guano. (Peat substrates, coconut fiber, mulch, compost, etc)

Every time you finish a growing cycle and remove the plants, it is convenient that
remove the substrate. And every two years, everything changes.

Remember, that the success of our ecological garden It not only depends on the substrate, but also on the environmental conditions, the choice of the varieties that we use or the growing season.

A good substrate will guarantee the supply of nutrients without having to think about it for a long time.

Highly recommended! Ask in a specialized store what substrate we need for the garden according to the vegetables and "X" vegetables that we are going to plant.

And how to choose a good substrate from the following video give us the keys …

If you are hell-bent on making a combination yourself and being a full-blooded urban farmer. The best option is to combine several of them. A good combination to start …

40% coconut fiber
20% universal substrate
15% compost
15% subscription
10% vermiculite

The less chemical fertilizers, the better, you have to take advantage of the waste generated at home. Organic fertilizer and free! We can make them at home or on the terrace with the help of a kit of composter.

You can learn more with the manual of the good composter from HERE, the diagrams at the end of the PDF are very useful.

It benefits us all, it is taking care of the environment and at the same time, we transform waste by recycling it to make a good use of it.

In the end, it is a task that will complement the urban garden project, being able to convert the residues into humus, to help the subscriber of the substrate.

6.- How to prepare the culture bed in the container and sow

Before you start cultivateLook at the containers you use; planters, pots, drawers, etc., have a hole for water drainage. And now, follow the steps in the following scheme:

7.- What can I plant in an urban garden?

In the homegardensWe must know that we have two options of seedlings in the nurseries for our outdoor plants to grow. We can buy sachets with seeds or seedlings:

Buy seeds in sachets. For us organic gardens Small in size, the seeds will be planted directly in the ground without creating seedlings in a specific seedbed. Always see instructions on the envelope.

Although if we have a seedbed to create seedlings we can control more and better germination and obtain seedlings at home.

To begin, we will practice a direct sowing with the following tips:

When we make the hole for the seed it should be at least three times the size of the seed.
The large ones are sown by blows (in groups of two or three)
Small seeds broadcast (throwing brother-in-law on the substrate)
To facilitate germination and protect them from the wind, it is advisable to tamp the soil a little with the palm of your hand after sowing.

Buy seedlings. Saplings are seeds that have grown "X" time. As we have mentioned, we can make them at home or buy directly from a nursery.

If we buy the seedlings, although they are a little more expensive, we will have results in a shorter time and that is appreciated, if we are starting.

When you plant them, take into account the distance between the different seedlings so that they grow properly.

Choosing what we are going to plant and sow in the pot is much easier than one might imagine. What to plant in an urban garden? Almost all species are suitable for growing in an organic garden, however, the most recommended are:

Lettuce	Tomato	Green bean	Strawberries	Zucchini
Aubergines	Peppers	Potatoes	Carrots	Radishes

Throughout the year you can have greens and vegetables if you know when it is time to sow and for that, there are the planting calendars.

As a guideline for the urban cultivationWe leave you an excellent calendar that indicates the tasks: sowing, transplanting and harvesting, but you should always look at the instructions on the seed envelopes.

Aromatic plants (basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, parsley, etc.) are ideal for planting in pots, and are essential in any kitchen. Due to their intense aroma, they ward off insects that attack plants more frequently. They do not require great care, and they grow easily.

Remember, first garden, simple crops!

The crop rotation is important. Apart from the distances that we must keep between plants, it is convenient to know that not all varieties of vegetables can be grown side by side.

In home gardens with pots and drawers, we can follow the rotation by marking each one of the pots with a number to serve as a guide. In crop rotation methods. One of the most common is that of botanical families:

Sowing 1: Solanaceae (aubergines, peppers and tomatoes).
Sowing 2: Liliaceae (garlic, onions and leeks) and Umbelliferae (celery, parsley and carrot).
Sowing 3: Composite (lettuce and endives), Cucurbitaceae (pumpkins, zucchini, melons, watermelons), Quenopodiaceae (chard and spinach).
Planting 4: Crucifers (broccoli, cabbages and cauliflowers, radishes)
and legumes (broad beans, beans and peas).

Since we all have a mobile, there is mobile apps for the garden and gardening that will come in handy. Two stand out above the others:

The Moon and Garden app from HERE. It is possible to investigate a vegetable or a fruit in order to know when is the right moment to carry out your gardening work using the influence of the moon, which is called biodynamics.
The Maceto Huerto app from HERE. Plan when to transplant, prepare seedlings, or when to harvest your vegetables.

At this point and to specify more about how to plant vegetables in a garden or how to plant in a garden step by step:

	How to sow in the garden:
lettuce	chard	cabbage cabbage	cucumbers
broad beans	tomatoes	Peppers	zucchini
aubergines	Jewish	green peas	carrots
radishes	onions	potatoes

In the following YouTube playlist we can learn how to plant the vegetables previously reviewed in detail.

8.- Fertilizers for orchards

Today, in stores we can already find specific fertilizers for orchards with specific crops.

Their primary function of these fertilizers is that we have an abundant and quality harvest in addition to intensifying the flavor. Most are organic based, which guarantees organic farming due to its formulation.

Mainly there are three types of fertilizers for the urban garden:

Composted fertilizers. It's mulch, horse manure, worm castings, or homemade compost. A thin layer is usually spread over the substrate or in between digging a little.
Granulated fertilizers. They are fertilizers that are distributed around the plant and dissolve slowly with the irrigation water so that the nutrients can be absorbed by the roots of the plants.
Liquid fertilizers. This type of compost dissolves in irrigation water and they are very practical. They are fast-acting fertilizers.

Also, in the market we have inorganic or chemical fertilizers and, although they are not usually used in small gardens, we will find them in granular or liquid format.

To apply the compost in the garden, read the manufacturer's instructions

But… How often do I have to pay? First we have to read the manufacturer's instructions and, as a general rule, fertilizers are applied with a frequency ranging from a month to a year depending on the richness of the soil, the type of crop or the fertilizer you use.

9.- How to water the garden

In city agriculture, plants and vegetables that are grown in a container need more water than those that live in the ground.

Tips for watering the plants in a garden:

The waterings are made frequent and short, but in less quantity so as not to flood them.
It should not be sprayed under pressure. Use showers with a rosette so that the water runs smoothly.
Depending on the type of plant, the frequency and duration must be adjusted, as well as at the time of development, the time of year and the weather due to the density of the plantation.
The schedule for watering changes according to the season of the year; in summer, it is practiced in the first hour or when it has been put, and in winter, autumn and spring, in the central hours of the day.
All containers have a hole to drain to prevent build-up.
It is good to avoid wetting the flowers, fruits and leaves to prevent the appearance of fungi.

group the vegetables according to the water they require so that they all receive the right amount

If we are not satisfied with the typical hose or watering can to water and we want a drip system more complete for the urban garden, we can mount an automatic irrigation for the terrace.

Models automatic watering They already represent a greater investment and budget, although they provide us with better use of water and less consistency.

Due to its complexity, knowledge or professional advice is already needed, broadly speaking, we leave a diagram of an automatic irrigation installation for a terrace with different assumptions:

To learn more about how to install an automatic watering system for pots we leave the following video …

Pests in the garden

This is a complicated issue and in some cases we will need a professional to eradicate a specific pest or disease that we have in the garden.

As an outline we leave the following infographic on common pests in orchards and what living plants can we use as repellants:

If we want to use ecological remedies for garden pests, we can see the following infographic about pests and their solution:

Summary tips for your small garden

Among the most practical products to plant at home are tomatoes, peppers, onions, chamomile or parsley. If we want, it will even be easy make an organic garden at home if we use ecological fertilizers.
Spring is a good time to grow these products as there are no frosts at night.
Irrigation should be adjusted to the time of year, climate and the number of plants. Thus, while in winter we will only need to water them once or twice a week, in summer we will have to do it more regularly.
Be careful with the light, it can ruin our garden. The best orientation is to the south, where the plants will get the light and heat they need for good growth.
Regarding compost and fertilizer, it will depend on the plants. Those from which the fruit is eaten, such as tomatoes, peppers or aubergines, need more than onions or lettuces. It is usually done two or three times a year, without changing the content of the bucket and adding only the necessary nutrients.
The advantage of growing in such a small space is that the possibility of pests appearing is less. The most common are aphids and whiteflies, which are eliminated by spraying soapy water. For the spider mite, it is best to place onion skins around the plant to act as a repellent.
However, we will enjoy the smells, flavors and textures of the rural world at our house.

Documents of interest if we want to learn more:

How to make an urban garden - From Intermón OXFAM
The Urban Garden Guide - From Leroy Merlin
Complete growing guide - All about the garden from Youtube
Introductory manual to the urban garden - From Bauhaus produced by Concept Agency
Guide for the start-up and maintenance of home gardens - From Incorpora Training.
Manual of sustainable gardens at home. Via Alicante Natura

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Urban garden: 9 steps how to make a garden at home and terraces - SuperGuide