October is a magical time in New York City: summer’s sweltering temperatures are a distant memory, and winter’s brutal winds have yet to arrive. With the World Series, Halloween and Sundays full of football, there are plenty of reasons to entertain – and your urban garden can be the perfect venue.
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Perfect, that is, if the long summer hasn't left your rooftop garden looking tired and played out. We've found that many urban gardens need a reboot at this time of year – a fresh injection of color and style that leaves your garden looking vibrant and inviting.
Keep your entertaining plans at the heart of your urban garden reboot. Talk to your garden designer about what you’d like to accomplish in the space. Do your plans include a space for sit-down dining? A patio garden can be the scene of some terrific tailgating if everything’s set up properly ahead of time.

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Use colorful, hardy plantings to create functional zones in your urban garden, such as a dining space or an area where you’d like younger guests to enjoy themselves. Mums come in a wide range of colors and sizes, making them ideal for this application.

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Autumnal accents can be sophisticated or down-home in feel; pumpkins, hay bales, cornstalks and the like can be dressed up or down to reflect your personal aesthetic. If you’re hosting a sports-themed event, much of the decorating decisions make themselves. Talk to your NYC urban garden designer about how you can integrate team colors into the landscape – a subtle touch that is the sign of a superior host.

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Fall is also the best time to talk to your garden designer about adding evergreens and hardy shrubs to your urban garden. Placement is everything here. Choose a location that provides your new plantings with the environmental conditions they’ll need to thrive while allowing their presence to add to the sense of semi-privacy one wants while entertaining outdoors.