Rooftop gardening

[Tom and Bex]

Hi there,

I am looking for ideas on veg (type and variety) and flowers suitable for growing in pots on the canal boat roof top.

Hope to still be cruising so will need to be short enough to get under most bridges without having to remove them.

Advice on how big a pots I would need for this would also be welcomed.

P.s new to growing veg.

Thank you

Bex & Tom

[Water Rat.]

Hi Bex and Tom

 

There are quite a lot of plants that you can grow on the roof of your boat. The most important thing to remember is that your roof is also a working space for boating so you must consider the safety aspects, so keep pots clear of the centre lines. Next, protect your paintwork by keeping containers elevated a little so that air can circulate otherwise your paint will blister. Now you can get growing. Go for dwarf varieties of veg. Runner and french beans are good, salad stuff is great - it is all fast growing and shallow rooted, herbs, in my opinion are essential. As for flowers, amost anything in the 'bedding plant' group will be fine. Remember to water well and feed. The brilliant thing about growing on a boat is - no slugs or snails!!

 

Check out Canal Boat Magazine for tips.

 

WR

[tree monkey]

BSP grows fruit and veg every summer in pots on the roof. She grows Tumbler tomatoes; Englsh and alpine strawberries; rocket and mixed salad leaves; peppers and chills. Had no luck with purple sprouting broccoli.

 

Grow bags can work well too, as they are low down and very stable.

[Water Rat.]

Very difficult to grow any of the Brassica (broccoli, cabbage etc) family in a contaner - they need to grow in 'hard soil, ie. heeled in, so pots are no good. Also, they grow quite tall.

[Auntyfab]

It is great fun growing stuff on the roof, although unless you have transport getting growbags and compost to the boat can be hard work. We have grown potatoes in bags - you can buy special bags for this, but ordinary carrier bags will do. Using window box type tubs in rows you can plant out salad and herbs, but we also very successfully grew carrots last year. Choose a round end variety and pick out young carrots to eat in salads to thin out the rest - they will keep through the winter. We train runner beans on strings down the side of the boat. Drawf beans will grow on top. You can also grow things like celery, beetroot and peas and just use the young plants in salads and stir fries. You can still plant garlic now, although it is a little late, but it is a good plant for keeping away pests. For the winter swiss chard keeps well and don't forget wild food - nettle tops and wild garlic is around now. Even more radical try guerills gardening - plant garlic bulbs and sprouting spuds in wild ground down the towpath to enjoy when you next pass by or to leave for others to enjoy! Experiment with what you like and have fun.

[Tom and Bex]

thank you for your replys so far. can't wait to get growing. I've got my head in various seed books now. as for canal boat mag, I try to read the latest gardening bits when I can steel the mag off of tom , my hubby. lol. also like reading how to cook quick meals with it all including recipes by "rex" I think.

[IdealStandard]

I second the idea of growing plenty of salad leaves. They give nearly instant results and having fresh salad leaves is fantastic.

 

Grow varieties which you can 'cut and come again' like Rocket, lambs lettuce, chinese cabbage (I think) which will give you continuous new leaves which you can pick a few at a time whilst leaving the plant in place to produce more.

 

This way you have very little invested in them if they fail or if you suddenly have to do away with the container or are away from the boat for a long time.

[Keeping Up]

You could just plant a nice lawn to give yourself somewhere to sit on a hot sunny day - like this one we saw on the Great Ouse a couple of years back..

 

 

Grass roof by Keeping Up, on Flickr

[system 4-50]

You could just plant a nice lawn to give yourself somewhere to sit on a hot sunny day - like this one we saw on the Great Ouse a couple of years back..

 

 

Grass roof by Keeping Up, on Flickr

Trouble is, lawns like this are prone to mushroom rings...

[Ally]

Definately tumbler tomatoes..we grow them on our bow every year (Tug style so lots of bow!!) and they thrive. I have theory that the water reflecting the sun brings them on well too...makes sense to me. Last year we picked the last ones in November!!

[cotswoldsman]

To me one of the delights of moving onto my boat was that I did not have to worry about the garden.......I just do not get this wanting to clutter the roof with flowers/vegetables.

[matty40s]

 

quite, no room for plants...

 

I have a couple of planters, thyme, rosemary and chives, one is going to be a lettuce type planter once I have planted the two oak trees in a deserving spot.

[Brin Morris]

dont forget to water them

[cotswoldsman]

 

quite, no room for plants...

 

I have a couple of planters, thyme, rosemary and chives, one is going to be a lettuce type planter once I have planted the two oak trees in a deserving spot.

 

A clear channel both sides so that I can still walk up and down the roof. Lettuce....what is that?

[matty40s]

A clear channel both sides so that I can still walk up and down the roof. Lettuce....what is that?

 

 

I am suprised at you not knowing John, I thought it was ingrained on every boaters memory.

 

Moor up, now lettuce go pub.

[GUMPY]

When boats were working the only time you saw flowers on a narrow boat was when someone had died and the boat was taking the deceased to the cemetry. Oh how times have changed.

Edited April 15, 2012 by idleness

[cotswoldsman]

I am suprised at you not knowing John, I thought it was ingrained on every boaters memory.

 

Moor up, now lettuce go pub.

 

That would imply that I was going to buy someone else a drink!!!!!

[Higgs]

That would imply that I was going to buy someone else a drink!!!!!

 

 

Not if you're talking to yourself.

 

 

Lettuce just think for a minute, your six foot white rabbit can keep the stuff trimmed.

Edited April 15, 2012 by Higgs

[sueb]

Nasturtiums & courgettes make a good show

[Mac of Cygnet]

I'm with Cotswoldsman on this. Rooftop flowertubs simply would not survive the antics necessary to singlehand around the waterways. I had a pot of parsley once on the front deck and it blew away in a howling gale. Gardening is a pastime best practised in a garden (I used to be a nurseryman supplying said gardens - seen enough flowerpots, thank you!)

[Bunny]

We grow seeds in the cratch before planting out into containers on rubber matting to protect the roof. Lettuce, cue, radishes,spring onions, herbs, cherry toms, plum toms, courgettes, dwarf french beans,peppers, carrots, also a wide variety of flowers. I find you get used to driving with the garden on the roof, if you move all the time . I do have a box to stand on if I need to. Bunny

[Higgs]

We grow seeds in the cratch before planting out into containers on rubber matting to protect the roof. Lettuce, cue, radishes,spring onions, herbs, cherry toms, plum toms, courgettes, dwarf french beans,peppers, carrots, also a wide variety of flowers. I find you get used to driving with the garden on the roof, if you move all the time . I do have a box to stand on if I need to. Bunny

 

Keep an eye on the paintwork under the rubber matting, to avoid micro blistering. Flat matting will trap moisture underneath. Move matting around from time to time.

[Bunny]

Thanks for the advice, we keep an eye on the paintwork. Remove all the garden every month and the roof is washed and examined any 'patches' sanded, treated and painted. So far it has not been any different to the rest of the roof. All sanded and repainted this spring. Bunny

[Higgs]

Thanks for the advice, we keep an eye on the paintwork. Remove all the garden every month and the roof is washed and examined any 'patches' sanded, treated and painted. So far it has not been any different to the rest of the roof. All sanded and repainted this spring. Bunny

 

 

Ok - good. Fresh paintwork is especially vulnerable.

[carlt]

Lettuce....what is that?

It's what food eats.