This summer and fall, I had the opportunity to work with a wonderful client downtown on Hudson Street. I took a lot of pictures – it’s the largest garden we’ve done to date in New York, and I hope to do more.

The client had moved into this gorgeous building a year prior. Her daughter and grandchildren live on a lower floor, and she wanted to make the 1000 sf roof space into a garden for them to use. On the list of uses was family dinners, play/flex space for the grandchildren who range in age from 18 months to 14 years, a place to plant herbs and veggies in the summer, fruit bearing plants to snack on, something to screen some views, and something to discourage the smallest grandchild from the edge. In addition, the daughter of the client wanted to throw a large catered gathering yearly there – and the first one was scheduled for September 14th of 2012.

You can click on the photos below to see them expand for more detail.

Again, the views were excellent, but the idea of sitting out here was fairly depressing.

The building is quite old, and land marked. As such, it had a lot of requirements about weight on the roof, where weight could be applied, and movability. Everything had to be able to be moved in case of an emergency leak. This meant lightweight planters, lightweight growing medium, and a deck that was built to be easily disassembled.

View facing south – gorgeous views, but who would want to sit on black tarp and drainage mat?

My client’s neighbor is architect Michael Schmitt, and he generously offered to design her decking for her. We talked it over, and he made adjustments to his design to accommodate my planting scheme.

The original owner had 12 fiberglass planters up on the roof, more or less scattered about. There was no irrigation system, so the plants were not in the greatest shape. Without decking, the surface was hazardous to walk on – one ended up slipping on root barrier cloth, and of course, worrying about puncturing the waterproofing. It was also hot! Black absorbs heat tremendously, and the roof was uncomfortable to be out on as well as bare feeling.

The client’s rooftop deck looks out over a common area that is not used for much else than maintenance, so a fence was requested to screen the view and keep visiting contractors out.

But the views were marvelous.

We got to work!

I ordered 37 fiberglass planters from Fiberglass Engineering. They promised delivery on September 7th. It would be close, but doable!

5.75 cubic yards of specially formulated lightweight growing media was ordered from a well-known company. This came out to 250 bags of soil.

Over 150 plants were ordered from an excellent nursery in Brooklyn.

Not the most professional photo as the blob on top is my finger – but an excellent view of the planting materials from above. Left: planting materials, middle: awning, right: growing media.

What 5.75 cubic yards of growing media looks like.

The contractors installing the decking finished at the end of August, and came back to assist my team and I in getting everything from the ground level – up to the roof! 10 guys, 3 women, countless trips in the elevator, and then we formed a human chain to pass along bags of growing media up the final flight of stairs, onto the roof, around a corner, and into the patio area! It took 4 hours total to get it all upstairs, and I was extremely impressed. I had thought it was going to take all day, honestly.

By the end of the first day, we had installed half the planters.

Planters by Fiberglass Engineering, unpacked and ready to be installed. Bags of growing media ready to be put into planters as soon as they are placed!

It took a total of four days to install all the planters, fill with soil, and plant them. During that time, Life Source Irrigation came out 3 times to install piping, and drip emitters, as well as lights, in the planters. They were wonderful to work with.

Rather than get rid of all the old planters, I decided we would rehabilitate them.

One of my assistants, Holly, spraypainting the existing pots after cleaning and drying.

Pots all done! Holly and Rebecca did a fantastic job!

Irrigation was installed by Life Source Irrigation. They were a JOY to work with! The large blue planters have Prunus americana – a shrubby plum. The small blue and brown planters hold annuals, and in the spring will be planted with herbs & vegetables.

I’ve been told the gala was a great success, and the client has gushed to me several times about how pleased she and her family are with the garden. I’m looking forward to teaching her grandchildren in the spring – they want to learn how to plant veggies!

Chairs sit next to the blueberry bushes that frame the skylight. Beyond, the small plums and potted annuals provide visual depth and complexity.

Area after fence, plants and furniture were installed. A much more soothing view.

Northwest corner. Grasses screen the neighbor’s garden, and there are blueberries in the foreground, around the skylight. Their leaves will turn scarlet in the autumn.

The roses began to bloom right away. They provide a beautiful border, as well as a prickly one to discourage little ones from getting too close to the fence! The carpet rose is extremely hardy and will be able to withstand the harsh environment of the roof.

Detail of grasses. They invite you to touch them and listen to their swish, swish, swish.

From the moment we got the plants up on the roof, the bees and butterflies started coming. When installation was done, they were everywhere! I have high hopes for next summer’s blueberry & plum crops.