Now that summer is upon us you’re sure to want to spruce up your outdoor space for entertaining or simply to enjoy for yourself. City living can limit the amount of gardening you can do especially if you live in an apartment, townhouse, or condo where balcony or patio space is limited. Learn more about gardening in urban spaces like Toronto, New York and Chicago. Here are five simple tips to take advantage of the space you have to make a beautiful garden.

Pots and Raised Gardens 

This is a no-brainer, but you are going to need to garden in pots or raised gardens. The key is to get as many colorful and beautiful pots as possible because they are going to play a huge part in your garden, maybe even more so than the flowers. The key to any small garden is the pots you use. Even if you would rather have a raised garden make sure it has some pizazz as opposed to basic wood. You can even add some embellishments on it like paint or colorful tiles. If you need tips for this check out natural Dwellers.

Settle on Easy to Grow Plants 

The first step to any urban garden is research. Buy a book or local gardening magazine to find out which plant zone you live in. Zones tell you the type of plants and flowers that grow best in your area. Then go to your local garden center and take note of the flowers that will thrive where you are. Be sure to also look at your balcony or patio space to see how much sunlight it gets as well as shade. Some plants and flowers prefer a lot of sun while others shun it. Red the tags that are stuck in the soil of the plants. They will tell you precisely how to care for the plant whether it needs full sun, partial sun, or really no sun at all. Then once you have found the summer flowers you love to best start planting. 

Easy Care Instructions

Once you have spent a pretty penny on flowers and plants (they are not inexpensive) you must take care of them as much as you can. Most flowers have to be severely neglected in order to die. In other words you really have to try to kill most flowers. If the flowers need full sun that means that the soil will likely dry out quickly so you need to water them mainly in the early mornings and late evenings. Check all of your flowers daily to see if they need watering. After a while you will get a hang of the amount of water they need and when they need it. 

Additionally, when flowers become a little leggy (grow too long) you will need to cut them back and prune a bit. Don’t worry about cutting your flowers back too much. Because it is the summertime flowers tend to bounce back in no time. They will even grow back fuller and thicker when you get a hang of really pruning them to be beautiful! 

Hanging Planters

When you have an urban garden you’ll need to use all of the space you have that means using hanging planters. Trailing flowers look the best in hanging pots as they will cascade downward. You also don’t need to always use plants in hanging pots. Ferns look amazing in hanging pots and give urban gardens charm and sophistication. You can also plant flowers and plants high that might be harmful to your pets if chewed on swallowed. Learn more about planting with pets.

Save the Honeybees 

You are sure to have heard how hard it is for honey bees to pollinate because they cannot find enough flowers. You can make your urban garden a pollinator habitat by simply planting the beautiful flowers that honeybees love the most. Some garden centers already have pollinator flower packs that when purchased in bulk are less expensive. Flowers like black-eyed Susans, lilies, purple coneflower and simple nectar-producing flowers. Read, read, and read some more if you are really serious about making a pollinator habitat. There are several resources on the Net. 

Gardens are so important especially during these times. Digging your hand in the dirt and watching things grow does a lot for our mental health and gives others a boost of health and happiness when they see the beautiful proverbial fruits of our labor.