Becky, I like your small pergola area. It will look great when your plants fill in.

Are you sure this picture is of Coral Honeysuckle?


To me it looks kind of like Cape Honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis)
(Almost Eden picture)

Here is my Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) for a comparison.
It never lost a leaf when it got down to 13 degrees in January.

LOL! Yep, you are right Dave! It is Cape Honeysuckle. I knew that, just typed in the wrong plant name. Thanks for catching that mistake! Unfortunately, the Cape Honeysuckle is growing back from the ground up and is a mess right now. It took me several years to train it into a standard tree form and I loved it! But now it's back to training it again. My hummers loved the blooms, too! Thanks for the compliment on my mini-pergola. If I could do things differently, I'd have put electrical outlets outside around the back of my house. I would love to run some of the small twinkling Christmas lights up it. That would look so pretty at night. And I'd have added another mini-waterfall back there, too! I am a sucker for water features.

That's the thing about gardening and nature ... nothing stays the same. Every year my gardens look different. Some plants make it, some don't. Some plants come and go and some seem to root and stay put for at least a few years. My garden is always evolving as I am sure everyone knows that feeling...

Well.. lets see.. there are basicly three sections of the garden here.the central area is where there was to be a small building on the roof w/sliding glass doors on two sides.. but the ;\lawyers on the ground floor called the buildings department on my plants.. so instead of a nice entrance room up a spiral stairway.. I have the stairway up into a big skylight,, [ skylights are unregulated ] with a door to the outside.. and I was left with two summons for illegal plant storage.. one I beat and one I paid a fine on 14 years ago...and two new Anderson 8' sliding units..which I sold to a friend..
so I have an elevated section.. w/a raised holder for a chase cushon..where I recline and often sleep.. that's how it came to be as it is

here's the start of the lower section.. new rug chair and table so far.. it's the location of the winters cool room.. some might have seen on other threads..

I didn't have a good picture of the front section.. guess if it was a room.. it would be the dinning room..so this is it from last September..

wow! beautiful!!

Gordon - I am still in awe of your rooftop garden and the beautiful rooms you've created every time I see a photo! Did you plant a lawn? I thought I saw a small section of grass in one photo. If so, how did you do that? Also, how do you secure the fencing? Did you make a false rooftop floor to secure structures to? I hope I am not being too nosey? I am amazed at your rooftop paradise. A garden with a view, no less! Your rooms are created with privacy and beauty and comfort. Nice job, Gordon!

Becky.. and AnjL..well thanks....
Yes.. there's a lawn... small though it is... it was an early green roof application...AT first I spread a inch of sand down.. and rolled out some sod and dirt on it... this lasted for maybe 10 years then it started to mush out in the rain... so I rolled it up... and found the sand had compleatly become sedimented with the soil so was providing no drainage ..and put down this green roof system... now that manfacturers had caught up .. it's a plastic egg crate type thing... it allows water to run underneath it... as well as it catches water in the top of the eggcrate things... it has a felt cloth over it to keep the dirt out of the eggcrate openings on top... which do hold excess water for the roots to grow into.. It's kind of a joke also.. I got the sod from this company that does the sod for Yankee Stadium... so I laid down the marble tiles for a walk way... the white squares look a bit like the bases of the ball field... on the stadium sod... a small peronal joke...
the fencing hangs on the back of the planters.. which just sit on the common bearing walls on the sides... the front and back planters are a 22' long box beam... the top open for dirt and planters... it spans the distance from one bearing wall to the other side so there's no real weight on the roof... of all the peremiter planters and fence... I did do some supporting of the roof joists from underneath... and there's a wall underneath the center going down to the floor of my house... to double the supports... which is also the hallway wall in some places... which is supported underneath on each floor... all the way to brick columns in the basement.. hhere's a better view of the lawn.. looking pretty good this year with the new system...

Gordon - I really like how you arranged your rooftop garden and outdoor rooms. You must be the envy of the building ... and maybe the neighborhood! Your small area of lawn looks so inviting! You've really laid it all out very nicely. I'd never know it was a garden/yard on top of a building if you hadn't told me a year or so ago. You could sure fool me. It must be a real joy to sit out there in evenings and get a whiff of all the Brug blooms! Your seating area is great. It's giving me some ideas!

I envy you being in the city like that. I bet you don't get mosquitos, do you? They are manhunters here! Ugh!

MMMMM well..not no mosquitoes... there's a few.. got to keep mosquito dunk pieces in some of the larger saucers.. and keep the pond free of them.. and there's the malathion run off and over spray.. it helps.... about 15 blocks from here... I've a client with a back yard.. they are terrible there..starting at about 2 PM.. onward.. then I noticed after a few days.. right over her fence the next yard had a pond full of water hyacinths.. and it was teeming with them... so I tossed a few dunks over the fence into her pond to help kill them...
Becky... few in the building or neighborhhd know of the garden,,, as I'm up higher ... on a small rise as it comes up from the harbor.. then falls away after my house to a canal some 6 blocks behind...and the buildings are about the same height.. so the roof top is higher than most anything around... so there's no looking down onto it from anywhere.. it does allow for some naked gardening.. I have had a few garden complements.. like from a guy a
1/2 block away that raised his homming pigions on his roof.. he races them.. they time the birds from a release some 300 miles away.. to his house.. and handicap the distance/time with other racers.. he spends time up on his roof with the birds.. and releases 20-30 of them daily for flights around the neighborhood.. before they return to their pens on his roof.. mostly my online friends know more about it than the neighbors.. so I really appreciate the complements from all...ya'll.. THANKS>>>

oh.. there is a church... that sold out to a co-op across the street,,, they are taller...but just from the steeple...they are usually not up there... watching down on me... ..and if the cranes are in a good position.. you can see the Statue of Liberity.. and a bit of the harbor water

WOW is the only word that comes to mind.

I forgot you were in one of the tallest buildings in your area. You've probably got the best kept secret in the city!

Nude gardening! LOL! Watch where you get sunburned at. High up there on that rooftop, you are closer to the sun's rays!

I know you have a nice collection of Brugs. I am curious ... what size container do you grow them in. I lost all but one Brug that was in the ground. (I'm gonna have to dig that one up as it isn't doing so well and plant it in a container.) Right now I am using 5 gallon buckets (self-watering containers). I received cuttings from a very kind cubiteer! They are supposed to be different colors, some doubles and maybe a triple. But they are NOIDs, which is fine with me. I am not a collector of named varieties, I am a collector of beauty. The ones I have in the buckets are doing great! Better than anything else I have grown them in, in the past. In looking at some of your photos, it looks like you made some long narrow containers to plant some of yours in? How much root room do they need?

Here is a photo of two of my Brugs in the buckets. Not such a pretty container, but it does the job very nicely for now. I am concerned about the bucket tipping over as the brugs get bigger. I'm trying to come up with a solution for that currently. That is a Firecracker plant in the center. (A hummer favorite.)

Hi Guys, long time since y'all posted. There are some really nice gardens here and I would like people to see them!
Please keep em coming. Here's a few shots of my developing garden, looking for some inspiration here.

Jon

Jon

Jon - Your backyard and side garden beds are shaping up very nicely. I love your trellis and gate on the side as well as the other trellises and curved beds! It's looking really beautiful!

Thanks for posting! Hopefully others will come visit and share their garden areas!

Hi Becky, thank you! I'm planning to divide the garden into three areas using similar trellising I made last year.
On one side a water feature separated by a trellis and gate, similar to the one I have at the side of the house.
then a play area for the kids separate from the side garden. Lots of trellis to make. Tons of room for vines!

Your additional garden room and play area sounds perfect! I can't wait to see it all when you are able to get it completed. I've tried to add garden areas/rooms every year. It's taken me 5 years to get my backyard to what it is currently. You know how it is ... lots of work and some expense every year. I think your trellis plans are marvelous! Lots of MG vines!

Yes Becky, mine is also part of a five year plan due to expense, the work I love, the money hmm! I aim to do everything from cheap recycled material which first has to be sourced, scrounged, borrowed whatever, say it myself, this is something I know how to do. I find it gratifying to produce something from stuff other people would consider to be trash!

Jon - I hear ya about the money. That is also my biggest issue. I'd do it all right now if I had the $$$'s. I am getting close to having the backyard done. I need to put in some gravel paths and a few more raised beds to finish it up. And then I hope to add some garden art and whimsy to add some character to my garden rooms.

I want to do the side and front yard areas too. But that is another entire project. I have a plan already. Just need the money and time to do those after the backyard is finished. I wonder if I will ever finish!

Money I wish! the kids come first every penny is spent on them right now, Akie and I need new clothes, the house needs
new appliances, I have a big expense coming up next month with the car. Nothing can stop my dreams for they are cheap and in the long run achievable.