Gardening in the city is a funny thing for a Vermonter. Growing up, I lived on three and half acres of land, much of it covered by forest and the other parts were lush lawn and gardens. Our front porch served as the potting station where my mom, sister and I would spread out in all directions creating hanging baskets or arranging plants before permanently planting them in the gardens. By the end of the day, we were always covered in dirt and the porch always looked like a tornado had passed through leaving empty plastic six packs and potting soil bags in its wake.
Gardening was never an indoor activity for me. So, the other day, when I repotted a few succulents on the kitchen island in our tiny NYC apartment, I found myself a bit nostalgic for those days spent on our front porch with mounds of potting soil and dirty hands and barefeet. But, at the same time, “gardening” in our apartment was refreshing and a perfect escape from the city. Here are a few tips I followed to help curb my Vermont gardener tendencies:
1. Put newspaper down before you do anything. This one is obvious (hopefully), but when you’re dealing with potting soil in your kitchen–or anywhere inside, for that matter, a quick and efficient cleanup is key to maintaining any bit of sanity.
2. Embrace the mess. You’re going to get dirt on the floor. There is going to be some dust in the air. There’s no way around it. (I never knew how dusty potting soil can be!)
3. Start small. What I wanted to do was buy a whole basket full of new plants to add to my rather small plant collection because I’m used to having so many plants, but, alas, I moved to NYC in March and that means my living space has decreased by roughly 99.99%. So, I picked up two new pots from Ikea and separated some of the larger succulents I had to fill the new pots. Also, I re-potted a couple succulents that looked like they could use some new dirt. Even these small changes made a huge difference!
Well, there you have it. A few tips from a newbie urban gardener/wannabe urban gardener. What tips or tricks do you use to make plants a reality in your apartment? I’d love to hear!
Happy (urban or otherwise) gardening everybody! xo