How I Created My NYC Rooftop Garden
Gardening. I love growing things, especially in NYC.
We have a rooftop space, and it’s heavenly. When we moved into this apartment five years ago, nothing was on the roof except some rubbish and a broken BBQ. I have grown everything here and it is a daily reminder of the passage of time, life (in Spring/Summer) and death (in Fall/Winter). Above all, it is a reminder of my 22 years in this city, of what I’ve overcome, and the joy it’s brought.
I remember the day we toured this apartment, back in October of 2015. We loved it at first sight. It was everything we dreamed of finding: TriBeCa, cobblestone street, amazing public school zone. Each apartment was an entire floor and the elevator opened directly into each apartment! Best of all, there were only six floors AND we were looking at the top one! We were “sold” even before we had any idea of the abandoned roof space just above us. The family showing us around had lived there for 6 years. As they finished the tour, we shook hands and the man said to us:
“Oh, and you have access to the roof. The elevator doesn’t go up there so you’ll have to walk up the stairs. Wanna take a look?”
Jason and I looked at each other. Jason’s eyes widened and I smiled and said “Sure!”.
We walked up 14 short steps, the man opened the roof door and I just about fell over! The space was the full floor and I could see for a mile in every direction: the Hudson River, the World Trade Center, and the Empire State Building, just to name a few! There was a deck floor and a pile of rubbish including a broken BBQ. -That’s it.
Jason, in true Jason fashion, said to the man:
“Seems like a great place for a party! Did you guys ever host up here?”
He responded that they had a party once and it was fun.
Wow. Wow. Wow.
My head was spinning and my heart was pounding. How was this happening? I had lived in NYC for nearly two decades and worked my butt off every single one of those years to pay my rent, so that I could remain. This would become my fifth home (and the first that was not a “walk-up”) in my journey here and it was a dream come true.
I wish I could say I took picture of the roof that day when we first toured, but I didn’t. I did find one from Easter 2016. I placed it below with a picture, from the same angle, taken today.
My Garden Today
From then until now…
How did I get here? Well, the gardening began in Spring of 2016. Truth be told, our first purchase was not a plant. It was a kiddie pool.
Then the planting began! I needed pots, a lot of dirt, and of course: plants! I decided to focus on perennials to save money long-term, but I also dreamed of creating something like the gardens surrounding my childhood home.
My Dad is a phenomenal gardener. His perennial gardens surrounding our home were nothing short of fine art. They were wild sculptures of stunning texture, smell, and color. They evolved week by week in the growing season; just as one bloom fell, the next one popped and the garden got better with every year that passed.
The difference between my rooftop garden and my Dad’s is, quite obviously, that I had to create mine in pots. I found some cool old whiskey half-barrels and thought that would be a great place to start. I drilled several holes in the bottom of the barrels and lined them with a layer of garden mesh to reduce soil erosion. Then I topped the mesh bottom with small stones so the holes would not get clogged and at last, filled the pot with soil. I planted roses and baby trees, mostly, that first year and added a few annuals for color.
I learned the hard way just how much water my garden would need. It was not until I watered EVERY day, that they began to flourish on the hot roof. Frith was actually in charge of watering. I was working nights back then, and my Dad said watering is best when the sun is low. Frith and Jason made it their evening routine to water and Frith loved it! It was like an endless water gun and, yes, Daddy often got watered too!
My Wisteria
Each year I added more pots and planted more plants.
In the third year I sourced large, rectangular raised beds and Jason added a trellis to the back of each.
I planted wisteria in one of those beds despite learning it would take seven years before they would flower. The vines took off and flowered the very next summer! I guess that even plants move quickly in NYC!
My Tulips 🌷
I planted tulip bulbs for the first time last fall and WOW did they deliver!
It is now the end of May and after enjoying them for the last two months, it is time to dig them up and put them to rest until the Fall. I look forward to replanting them in late October for their second debut in Spring 2021.
My Trees 🌳
I love them so much!! I have three: an Apple Tree, a Japanese Maple, and a Cherry Tree. Two years ago, my apple tree produced nine apples; last year, 24! I got the cherry tree just last year and it produced one, (that’s right, one) cherry. It is too early to tell what they might produce this year, but we have seen lots of bees so, fingers crossed!
My Roses 🌹
I remember my Grandma Emsley’s roses. They were beautiful and mysterious. My childhood mind thought:
“How could something so beautiful have thorns?”
Roses and I both love the heat and they are, by far, the easiest thing to grown in my garden. No matter how much I neglect them, they just keep growing and the more I prune them, the bigger the blooms become.
Feminine strength, beauty, fragrance and SASSY thorns. If I had to choose my spirit flower, roses would be mine, especially because my Mom’s maiden name is Ringrose!
Gardening From Seed
This is the first year when I wanted to plant vegetables in my garden. With Covid-19, it just feels right to grow my own food. I have not been to a store since this quarantine began so what better way to get my groceries than to walk up a few steps to my own garden!
Truth be told, the first seedlings I planted got scooped up by birds! In NYC, we don’t have to worry about deer and bunny rabbits but, apparently, we do have to worry about birds! Dad said, “Try windmills”. So far, they are working!
Despite having the first efforts gobbled up, this has been so much fun. I trust these fruits, veggies and herbs will be the best things my family have ever tasted!
Do We Entertain?
You betcha!
This sweet, NYC rooftop, has been an invitation to live my best life. Entertaining (a.k.a. hosting the people we love) brings both Jason and I incredible joy. We host whenever we can and as often as possible. Our friends and family will attest that the roof-top door is always open.
Well there you have it. I hope you’ve had as much fun reading this as I did writing it.