Florida-Friendly Patios and Rooftops

Is it possible to have a Florida-friendly yard -- without a yard? Yes, you can grow a NatureScape even if you only have pavement to work with. Urban settings are ideal for container gardening on your patio or rooftop.

One advantage of a container garden is that it is moveable, so you can easily adjust the plants, as their sunlight requirements change. To plant a container garden, just start with the basics. Consider how much room you have to use, and how much light and rain reaches that space.

You can be creative with the containers; planter boxes, wooden barrels, hanging baskets and large flowerpots are just some of the containers that you can use.

Go ahead -- create an urban oasis on your patio that offers you refuge at the end of a long day.

Rooftop gardening seems like a contradiction. However, this type of gardening is becoming more common and plays an important part in adding healthy areas of green in urban settings. Rooftop gardens' soil and vegetation help reduce stormwater runoff by absorbing rainfall. Rooftop gardens also help combat the urban heat load that builds up from asphalt and concrete that dominate the urban environment. Your NatureScape rooftop garden can be functional for growing vegetables, or it can be ornamental and serve as a place to relax.

In addition to vegetation, these gardens in the sky can include water features such as waterfalls and fountains. Water features add an unexpected element to your NatureScape and also dampen city noise around you.

Here are some guidelines to get you started:

1) Establish the Size of Your Container Garden - Take into account the mature size of the plants and their growing habits. Upright growers will need a wide base for balance, whereas sprawlers will need a pot deep enough to drape over.

2) Provide Good Drainage - Always have drainage holes or at the very least, a 1-2 inch layer of gravel at the bottom of the container. If you are using a decorative pot without drainage holes, consider planting in a plastic pot with drainage holes one size smaller than the decorative pot, using the plastic pot as an insert.

3) Soil Requirements for Container Gardens - A good potting soil mix with peat, perlite or vermiculite will retain moisture longer and drain well. Using a chunky-style potting mix in a container of 5-gallons or more will help the soil mix remain loose even longer.

4) Favor Drought Tolerant Plants - Most container gardens require daily watering in hot weather. Give your container garden a fighting chance by favoring plants that can handle the intensified heat and dry soil of a container garden.

5) Balance the Size of Your Plants and Your Container - Try to make sure your tallest plants are not more than twice the height of the container and that the fullness of the plant is no more than one and a half times the pot's width.

6) Judging Sun Exposure - Try not to site containers in full mid-day sun. Container gardens get hotter faster than ground gardens. When you position a container in the shade, consider putting it by a wall that can reflect light back.

7) Watering Container Gardens - Unlike plants grown in the ground, container plant roots can't move down deeply in search of subsurface water. Check your containers daily for water needs; twice daily in summer and when using smaller containers. Consider using drip irrigation to efficiently water your containers.

8) Fertilizing Container Gardens - Some potting mixes come with fertilizer already mixed in. For supplemental fertilization, use a time-released fertilizer or a water-soluble fertilizer every two-four weeks.