Get yourself a rooftop garden

If you live in the city and have no space to cultivate your gardening hobby, here’s an excellent idea for you to try out: try rooftop gardening.

This venture turns your roof into a green beauty in just a few weeks, besides making use of space that would otherwise remain unnoticed.

Almost all flat rooftops can take on this new look, but it is important to have a licensed professional check out the structural capacity of the building before gathering your tools.

Once you have that go-ahead from the pros — and your landlord — you are ready to get your hands dirty. You would need to find a couple of lightweight plastic containers, like the ones that pack cooking fat or detergents.

These are easier to maintain, and reduce the risk of overloading your roof. They are also easy to fit into your lifestyle and budget as you will only have to recycle what you have.

If you have access to fiber glass or wooden planters, they can also come in handy as long as they can hold a plant. The idea is to be as economical and creative as possible while being mindful of the weight you load onto your roof.

As for the soil, experts say ordinary garden soil would be too heavy for rooftop gardening, so ask your seedling vendors for the right, light soil.

Think about how you will water your flowers in the dry season.

You may need to get up there yourself if the rains don’t come — and that may not be the best idea. Consider either having a water storage system built in or having an automatic watering system installed.

Also, rooftops are windier than your ordinary gardening space. A windbreaker would thus be nice so as to save your flowers from being blown off.

Try using a netted frame around your rooftop if it is not guttered, and don’t use block windbreakers as they may be knocked down — and you may also end up denying your plants the much-needed wind.

As for the weeding and watering that every garden requires, get cheap plastic gardening toys from stores in town.

Getting your young child involved could be a good idea on how to spend time together over the weekends.

While it may not be a good idea to take your child on the roof, do the ground work with him/her as you pass on some of life’s most important lessons.

Once you’ve potted your plants and placed them on the roof, you should be able to rearrange them as you please occasionally. And, in a few weeks, with a little watering and weeding, you should have earned yourself a nice, inexpensive getaway.

If you live in an apartment, you could still enjoy the benefits of a rooftop garden by having it on your balcony. It will make looking out of the window a little more attractive than usual.