I’ve been thinking about gardens in the city. I find myself delighted by unexpected green spaces even thought our city is very green. The flowers that pop up in neglected alleyways. The sidewalk gardens that someone has so carefully tended to. The mini wildflower fields where patchy grass once was.

In our new apartment (well I guess it’s not really new anymore, we’ve been here two years now!) we noticed a shady patch on our side of the building. It was largely neglected by the gardeners and looked like someone at some point had tried to grow something there. We asked our strata president if they would mind it we tried growing something there. He said go for it. Last year we built a low box and attempted tomatoes, flowers and peas. It wasn’t very successful as we quickly realized this area only gets limited hours of sun. This year I bought a fancier garden box that was taller to help with pests and I got smarter about planting shady items like chard, kale, herbs and flowers (I’m still attempting peas and they are flop again).

new garden box purchased through Sproutbox Garden - 17” tall modular garden

To clarify, this isn’t our property, it is the common property of our apartment building. We are lucky in this scenario that our unit is closest to this corner and it’s along the path to our lower patio. Our strata could easily have said no to us using this space. If you were to attempt the same sort of ask at your building I would start by being a helpful neighbour. We make sure we do our share of snow shovellng in the winter and water plants in the summer. We try to be good neighbours, though I mostly credit Trevor with this as he always tends to care for and charm the neighbours. He’s a master at small talk while I just smile wave and run away. So after a year of helping around the building, the ask of a small garden plot might have been an easier yes.

Co-op Garden

The other month in our building a tree had to be removed due to drainage issues and another tenant of our building suggested a shared herb garden. It only began last week but I love this idea! One tenant planted it all and the work will be shared. It’s in a sunny spot, full of herbs, tomatoes and greens. All tenants are welcome to take from the garden as long as they leave enough for others. I feel this model can be used in shared living spaces across the city. And I love that they just took an existing spot and converted it rather than building out a whole new area.

The newly started shared herb garden at our apartment building

I am working on compiling your shares of small and creative urban gardens! Thank you for sending them along! There’s still time if you want to send yours in. Would love to see a rooftop garden or vertical gardens…

Unexpected Gardens in the City