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One of the joys of urban gardening is that it encourages creativity. PrettyJumbledThoughts has found some fab ideas for container gardening – I love the hydroponic wine-glass basil and the velocity planters that allow you to grow plants upside-down (available from urban-allotments.com in the UK) and the San Pellegrino cans repurposed as plant pots are a great example of home-made style (and making windowboxes for free).
If you’re after something creative that doesn’t require much effort, these gorgeous vertical planters from Rocket Gardens (thanks to Lizzy from ShabbyChicOriginals for the link) are a relatively cheap way to gain extra growing space.
Should you be after a quirky urban garden for free, Kitchen Garden magazine has prizes including a hydroponic salad growing basket, and a ladder allotment vertical planter up for grabs. There are also loads of other fab gardening competitions out there at the moment. Gardeners’ World is offering tickets to Cottesbrooke Hall Plant Finders Fair and a lawnmower, Thompson and Morgan seeds has prizes including £1,000 worth of seeds and a visit from Gardeners’ World presenter Toby Buckland and Grow Your Own Fruit and Veg magazine has got prizes including a patio glasshouse, a selection of specialist tools and a gardening holiday. Let me know if you win anything!
groweatgift 
Hi Emily! Thanks for the shout out – much appreciated! I love your ideas – I could definitely use them 🙂
Kayla @ Pretty [Jumbled] Thoughts
Aww – thanks very much. Know what you mean re: babysitting plants – I get very protective of mine and anthropomorphise them dreadfully (‘Oh, you poor little things, did the nasty frost get you?’) Suspect being a ‘garden lady’ may be my alternative to being a ‘cat lady’.
Re: lavender, I’m planning on posting about making lavender bags – not the traditional things that make your pants smell of old lady but lavender planted up in vintage handbags with broken clasps (the leather ones that Thatcher was so into) to make portable lavender that can be moved around the garden to attract bees to whatever you want to pollinate – should Rags to Bitches have any bags knocking around that are beyond salvation and you like the idea.
Maybe we should pitch the women’s mags with a feature on gardening to help us feel less middle-aged? Russell Brand has outed himself as a gardener so there could well be a celeb hook…
I love your blog, Em- it makes me feel that gardening is not just the lonely pursuit of the middle aged (me), it’s young, hip and urban… I have tiny tomato plants in my office, feel like I am babysitting them till they’re old enough to go outside. Still building up to lavender. I’m now going to enter those competitions.. x