Urban Landscape Design

City dwellers: Make the most of your urban landscape with design tips for beautifying any space.
Deck With Wood Privacy Wall, Small Garden and Contemporary Furniture

Urban Rooftop Deck Garden

This chic outdoor space uses low-maintenance plants to create a small garden area. Bright yellow outdoor pillows and metal chairs add bold color to the space for a casual sitting area, and a wood wall adds privacy to this New York city hideaway.

Photo by: Andrew Franz Architect, Photo by Albert Vecerka

Andrew Franz Architect, Photo by Albert Vecerka

If you live in a city, then you understand the challenges of urban landscape design. Living in an area with high population density doesn't mean you can't grow and maintain lush plant life in your personal space. At the most basic level, plants need sunshine and water. Your landscape plan for an urban space should be designed around the availability of these elements.

Looking for a place to play in the dirt? Stoops, balconies, decks, porches and rooftops are great places to try your hand at container gardening. A starter project might include planting mint or violets in small pots to see how they fare during spring and summer. (Unless you're a sun belt resident, remember that most plants must be brought indoors for the late fall and winter months.)

A great new trend in urban landscape design is wall gardening. These vertical planters can range from hooks that hold window boxes of flowers to elaborate patchworks of "living wall" planters filled with ornamental herbs and small plants. Some wall planters have a built-in irrigation mechanism; others need to be watered manually. Either way, wall gardens need room to drain. If you live in a multi-level building, consider the neighbors below you and where the water from your wall garden will drain.

If you have access to a private rooftop or a space within a shared roof garden, start your urban landscape planning there. With direct access to sunlight and rain, your plants are more likely to thrive. Elongated plastic planters are perfect for rooftop gardens; be sure they're vented for draining.

If you do have a patch of earth to call your own, you can plant a small lawn with a small raised bed for seasonal gardening. Maintain a tiny row of ornamental grasses or plant hearty pansies in the fall, and replace them with carrot seeds in very early spring. Late-summer cucumbers and tomatoes are also an option if your space gets 6 our more hours of full sun per day (emphasis on full sun, i.e. no shade). All-day shade works well for salad greens! Arugula, kale, watercress and spinach are fans of shadows and thrive in cool, damp weather (but watch out for frost).

Pencil hollies are thin trees that can be trimmed to any height. Planted individually in large pots, they make great accent pieces for porches and patios. Planted together in the ground, a handful of hollies can make a perfect mini privacy fence for an urban yard.

Next Up

Landscaping Design Styles

Choose a landscaping design style that matches the personality of your home.

How to Plan a Landscape Design

Learn the four steps to creating a scale plan for your landscaping project.

Tropical Landscaping Design Ideas

Tropical landscaping ideas for colorful yards in warm climates.

Contemporary Landscape Design

Contemporary landscape design is all about natural beauty.

Four Beautiful Landscape Updates

These strategic landscaping upgrades add style to any boring front yard.

Modern Landscape Design

Modern landscape design offers a clean, uncluttered appeal.

Edible Landscape Design

Edible landscape design brings the bounties of the harvest straight to your door.

HGTV Dream Home 2005: Landscape Design

For this lakeside home, the landscape architect turned the property into an outdoor oasis.

Sustainable Landscape Design

Sustainable landscaping pairs plants that benefit each other – and you.

How to Design a Landscape

Designing a landscape can be a breeze with the proper resources and tools.

Go Shopping

Get product recommendations from HGTV editors, plus can’t-miss sales and deals.

On TV

Follow Us Everywhere

Join the party! Don't miss HGTV in your favorite social media feeds.