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Green spaces in the sky

There's nothing like having your own rooftop garden, says GEETA PADMANABHAN, as she surveys some cool patches of greenery on some terraces

PHOTOS: M. KARUNAKARAN AND S. THANTHONI

GREEN AGENDA Gardens have turned these terraces into charming spaces.

How much does it cost to grow a tomato in your garden? To the packet of seeds, aspiring gardener William Alexander added landscaping material, tools, fertiliser, fencing (electric!), unreliable helper, unpredictable weather, groundhogs, feasting deer, and armies of beetles, worms, maggots and grubs and calculated the price of one fine "heirloom" tomato (excluding backbreaking labour) as $64. In his hilarious crop-growing chronicle, "The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost his Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden", Alexander concluded: "The garden really for us was a kind of family member, for better or for worse."

There is also the Indian way. Just shift base. Use your roof space for a patch of viable horticultural heaven. Wander onto your rooftop early in the day, smell the flowers and pluck a couple of shiny brinjals. And, as anyone who has ever tried to grow a tomato knows, once you've tasted one from your own garden, you can't settle for anything else. "People raise roof gardens for different reasons," says Thilaka Bhaskaran, pottering around her overhead spot of green. She put up a roof shade to protect her rare ferns and succulents from the summer heat, but eventually collected greens that lean towards herbs she uses in her continental cooking. The benefits now go beyond the dining table. "The shade and the pots keep my bedroom below cool on the hottest of days," she says. This year, Dr. Victor Solomon's friends will miss the organic, rooftop drumsticks, brinjals, tomatoes and chillies they've enjoyed for decades. Thirty years ago, he built the house with an extra layer of roof to accommodate a lily pond and a large area for vegetable beds. As neighbours watched in amazement, truckloads of bricks, soil and sand were hoisted, spread out and soaked for three months to leak-proof the roof. Broken tiles, gravel, sand and a generous mixture of red earth and compost went in before it was declared ready for the seeds. Tiny canals were made to drain off excess water. "Yes, I'm planting this season," says gardener Chinnappan, turning the soil.

"My son suggested that we convert the roof into a sit-out garden," says Mr. Joseph posing for photographs on his landscaped paradise. For six years, the family has enjoyed this L-shaped piece of soft grass and shining flowers, overlooking the sea. "It cost us a packet and is maintained by Green Covers. This is a great place to have parties."

"All you need is passion and 2 feet of soil with draining facilities," points out Mr. Sivaraman who nurtures a neighbour's-envy assortment of orchids, cacti and bonsai-ed peepul and juniper up his two flights of stairs. "The orchids bloom throughout the year. And so do the hibiscus and the adenium." On a semi-shaded roof you can grow anything from vegetables to decorative palms. It's easy as the roof is free of pests and mice. "Have one. Is there a better way to spend your Sunday mornings?"

For Exnora's Indra Kumar at Pammal, tending to an ever-growing roof garden has become a full-time job. He also runs free classes on how to do it. "Calculate the direct and indirect benefits and decide if the effort is worth it," he says. This organic zealot's sky farming follows a city model — keerai and katharikkai grow in racks and in vertical pipes with holes for draining. The produce is pesticide-free and profitable, he claims.

His plants fall into four groups — ornamental, medicinal, food and flowers. The magnificent manoranchitam vine on a trellis keeps the rooms cool, while herbs such as nannari, vettiver, chittarathai and toothuvalai anti-dote a variety of ailments. "Rain water pours down these herbs into the ground. The air we breathe is pure. Gardening keeps me fit and vermi-composting gives me a business."

He knows the objections. "No, it won't spoil the roof. I have mosaic tiles and the floor is always dry. No, it won't bring insects if your process is right. Biological control is a simple method." Apartment buildings? "Pile residents into a van to visit my garden. They will convert in no time." Can't be away for long? "Why should I leave this place?"

"School kids can be encouraged to have a plot of green on the roof," says Dr. Sultan Ismail, the vermi-compost expert. "Cut a piece of karpooravalli and plant it in a pot. It grows, that's encouragement. Old tyres filled with homemade compost are excellent pots. So are standing cement bags filled with bagaas (sugarcane waste) and soil. Put in 5 vendakkai seeds in a foot diameter space. Remove the weak-looking two when they germinate. Fabricate a shelf, put old trays in the north-south direction and grow vendiyam, katharikkai and pavakkai. Pass your kitchen water through a pebble/gravel chamber (Rs. 7000-10,000) and use it to water the plants."

You may not make endless meals from the produce. You may not have a shelf lined with pickles of home grown tomatoes. While you harvest, the market may be awash with the same vegetable. But view your roof garden as environmental education for kids. Do it for the activity, the freshness of home grown food, the exotic variety you can grow and for bragging rights.

Some tips

See that your roof is treated before you fill it with soil.

* If you're uncertain about the load, restrict the growing area to within 3 feet of the main wall.

* Do not use heavy containers.

* See that the excess water drains off. This can join the water-harvesting outlet.

* Start with greens. Make the compost at home with kitchen waste.

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