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The most popular questions related to terrace gardening are listed here. Browse through it and be on your way to setting up the perfect terrace garden.
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Also called a roof garden,it is a garden in which vegetables, fruits or flowers are grown on terraces, balconies or roofs of buildings. The kitchen garden, a standard in every Indian household, has now shifted to the roof due to constraints of space, and is called a terrace garden. Increasing pressure on land and escalating costs have also added to its growing popularity.
These gardens can be created on almost all kinds of buildings like residential flats, individual houses, commercial hubs, godowns and factories.
A simple water proofing of the roof is enough. Various water proofing products are available in the market that will ensure that the roof is protected, water-resistant and leakage-free.
Plants with fibrous roots do not cause any harm to the roof but avoid plants with tap roots (like mango) as they may penetrate the roof and harm it by growing its roots in the structure. Sometimes the wind or birds may bring seeds that can germinate and take root on the roof itself. These should be checked for and removed.
You can begin greening your terrace with these simple steps, and then move on to bigger ideas:
Containers of all sizes, shapes and material, (plastic, ceramic, metal or mud) can be used. If you are an environment buff, you just need to use your imagination! Your Coke bottles, take-away plastic boxes, old sacks, coconut shells, old broken buckets, dented kitchen pots and pans, just about everything can be recycled and used as containers.
You can start with something from your kitchen shelf, that is available and used in everyday cooking like coriander (dhaniya), fenugreek (methi), gram (chana) and chilli (mirchi). Once you gain confidence you can move onto vegetables of your choice and even grow fruit trees like banana and pomegranate. Almost all vegetables can be grown (creepers, drumstick, lime, tomatoes).
You can grow at least 6 vegetables per season. Your 1 sqm of terrace area can give you anywhere between 25 to 50 kg of vegetables in a year.
You don't need any farming background to start a roof garden. It only takes enthusiasm for green living and and willingness to get your hands dirty.
Some of the benefits to health, aesthetics and environment include:
It can take as little as a week to set up and you can begin harvesting your greens in a months time.
Once your garden is established, an hour a day is more than enough to maintain your green area. It is the perfect area to exercise in and improve your fresh air intake.
If you plan to start a terrace garden at one go, it will cost about Rs 20,000, which will be the investment on seeds, saplings, containers and the soil bed/manure. The set-up cost will reduce if you begin small and stepwise, invest a little every month, and use recycled containers.
The joy of watching your plants grow and thrive will outweigh any nominal expenses in terms of seeds or saplings that you buy. Look at it as a 'green' investment, where after the initial burst of energy and time, you can expect healthy returns!
You can make your own organic manure at home by using your kitchen waste, and even learn how to prepare Panchagavya and organic pest repellents for use in your garden.
IWP requests users to view the same as a starting point in collating information on understanding and starting a terrace garden and to add more suggestions, information as responses in this thread.
Download FAQ on Terrace Gardens