LawnStarter just put out a list of the best cities for urban gardening, and Augusta made the top 10! Why wouldn’t we? We ARE “The Garden City” after all!

Wondering what “Urban Gardening” is? It refers to growing plants in an urban environment.  Living in the city, there’s not a great amount of space for large gardens.  Urban Gardening solves that dilemma. There are many ways to grow your own food, plants and flowers, with limited square footage!

It just takes a little creative thinking and planning.  And of course, some dirt, shovel, seeds… and a little bit of a green thumb.  Some people utilize old, empty parking lots.  Others seek out rooftop container gardens or a vertical plant wall.  Urban Gardening is a “global movement” according to LawnStarter.  And while it is about growing your own food, it also cultivates community.

With Spring’s arrival, gardening of any sort is a great way to get outside and enjoy the sunshine.  Gardening saw quite a boom during the pandemic, with so many people stuck at home. But, even in 2022, it seems there’s still a strong interest.

It has many benefits- for our health, wallets and well-being.  And of course, can give you something to do when you’re bored.  But it can also help you get you more engaged within the community, make new friends and possibly address food insecurity in certain populations.

April is Lawn and Garden Month, so LawnStarter did some research to find the best cities for Urban Gardening.  The study looked at cities that had easy access to gardening space and supplies, an ideal climate, along with the area’s gardening community.

Georgia is apparently an Urban Gardening hot spot, and was the only state on the list with more than one city in the top 10!  You’ve got Atlanta, Macon and Augusta.  Savannah made the list a little further down, coming in at number 16 on the list.

The cities in Georgia all have access to private and public gardening spaces.  In addition, they have many well-established gardening communities backing the urban gardening movement.  In fact, Atlanta built the nation’s largest free-food forest, addressing a food insecurity issue within their population.

See the top 10 best cities for Urban Gardening below.

Not only is Georgia a leader in Urban Gardening, we also have 3 of the most charming small towns in the South.

• 10. Salem, Oregon

  Salem ranks at number 4 in the category of most nurseries and gardening-supply stores per 100,000 residents.

  They also scored well in the gardening community category.

  Overall Score: 34.91

• 9. Augusta, Georgia

  While Augusta came in at number 195 on the list of cities with fewest nurseries and gardening-supply stores per 100,000 residents, it didn’t stop us from coming in on the top 10 list.

  One major boost to get Augusta in the top 10? We ranked number 2 on the list of cities with the most regional gardening clubs per 100,000 residents.

  Overall Score: 35.49

• 8. Baton Rouge, Louisiana

  Baton Rouge took the top spot in the biggest yard category, which helped it land at number 8 on the overall list.

  Overall Score: 35.96

• 7. Winston-Salem, North Carolina

  Winston-Salem topped the list for the most regional gardening clubs per 100,000 residents. While they fall lower on the climate and supplies scoring, for gardening space they ranked at 13.

  Overall Score: 37.67

• 6. Miami, Florida

  Miami ranked number 1 on the city with the most nurseries and gardening-supply stores per 100,000 residents.  They also rank well on climate.

  Overall Score: 37.84

• 5. Salt Lake City, Utah

  Salt Lake City came in at number 3 on the city with most community gardens per 100,000 residents. The city also scored 5 for gardening space and 10 for community.

  Overall Score: 38.28

• 4. Macon, Georgia

  Macon came in second place behind Baton Rouge for the biggest yards.  For community, they scored 19 in rank.

  Overall Score: 38.53

• 3. Atlanta, Georgia

  Atlanta ranked number 2 on the list of most community gardens per 100,000 residents.  They also scored well on gardening space.

  Overall Score: 39.34

• 2. Cincinnati, Ohio

  Cincinnati came in at number 4 on the most community gardens per 100,000 residents, just behind Salt Lake City. For community rank, they land at 4, and on gardening space they ranked 8. Their overall score puts them well above Atlanta for the 2nd spot on the list.

  Overall Score: 43.46

• 1. St. Louis, Missouri

  St. Louis tops the most community gardens per 100,000 residents list, above Atlanta. According to the list on LawnStarter, they lead in access to gardening space and fosters great social space for sharing ideas with other urban gardeners. They also are home to Urban Harvest STL.  It’s a nonprofit network of urban farms who donate much of their harvest to underserved populations.  They also take time to educate locals on community farming.

  Overall Score: 47.48

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