Gardening

ROOF GARDENING

After a small adventure I had to go through with my apartment building tenants who needed some convincing, I was allowed to begin working on a roof garden at which I imagined myself spending time relaxing under the sun while conversing with friends. But since the space I was allowed to use from the roof top was not as big as the whole roof itself, I had to adjust my plans to the already permanent constructions and always come up with new ideas as I was moving along.

 My anxiety was reduced when I my research revealed that humans have been growing plants atop of structures since antiquity. In addition to the decorative benefit, my roof plantings would provide temperature control, architectural enhancement and recreational opportunities. The new residential garden I was creating was based on plantations placed in beautiful pots and wooden containers which I bought for a fraction of their original cost at yard sales and clearances. After walking through parks and gardening supply stores, I decided on the colors the height and the overall appearance of the plants that would go inside the pots. Specifically, I began by placing the biggest plants I bought closer to the existing walls and continued by scattering my medium-sized plants close to the ends of the available open area and placing the smaller ones in the front or at their sides. This created a balanced effect and the still available space gave the impression that the plants did not used up any space, but on the contrary enhanced the overall look and feel of the apartment building's terrace.

When all the plants and flowers were in place, I installed the watering system that would provide the necessary nutrients to my houseplants helping them to grow and continue being healthy. Soil fertilizers and plated for the pots were added last and then the fun part of decorating the whole roof garden area started. I began by placing some necessary, but fine furniture to live-up the place. A wooden long table was placed across the only wall and between two small trees at its right and left corners. In front and behind the table, two wooden benches completed the scene, while white, green and blue candles were placed in specially designed glass vases for them to provide light without the wind blowing them off. 

A wide off-white canvas was hanged above the table at a certain height in order to provide some shadow and keep the temperature at lower levels during summer time. The cloth was decorated with shells and small colored stones which I stitched from its inner side and on the wall behind the table I hanged glass bottles of different shapes and sizes, which I filled up with colored sand, bluish small stones and white shells. Some of the glass containers contained candles, which when they were lit created an amazing effect with the rest of the glass bottles against the wall. Chairs and smaller tables that folded in half were also placed in the roof garden, while torches were put at the two open corners of the roof garden to illuminate the outcome at night time