Planting on the Roof Deck

On Sunday, Lisa and I planted a mix of plants in the boxes left for us on our roof deck. It was the first time for us doing any kind of gardening for ourselves and it went pretty great. I'm really happy with how it came out. The boxes could have used another couple inches worth of soil, which she pushed for but I wasn't sure about. I thought the mass of roots and soil which came with the new plants would make up the difference, but I was wrong. She was right. I'll probably buy some more soil soon to raise everything a bit.

I watched a bunch of YouTube videos trying to learn as much as I could about rooftop gardening, and gardening in general. A couple tips were really helpful. Originally, I had only thought about planting a single type of flower, maybe two. I hadn't considered mixing grasses, herbs, and bushes with flowering plants. That's known as polyculture, which promotes healthier soil. It's also more attractive! And it introduces another level of design into the project. I'm really looking forward to thinking through the arrangement more fully next year.

I also learned that for a windier location like our roof deck — and it does get really windy, sometimes — it's a good idea to plant bushes or taller grasses which shield smaller plants from the gusts. I've done that a little with a boxwood bush in the western-most corner. Not yet sure that's enough. We'll see.

We only shopped at the Lowe's in Gowanus, which didn't have as much variety as we hoped. The didn't have any ornamental grasses, for instance, which I wanted to incorporate. We did come home with a good variety, though. Next year, I'll do more shopping around to get what I want instead of only what's available in one shop. Here's what we planted: yellow daffodil, mediterranean pink heather, english daisy, grace ward lithodora, early bird radiance dianthus, begonia, and green mountain boxwood. Also some mint, rosemary, and basil.