A 1,800 sq ft rooftop on a 4th-floor apartment in JP Nagar. The challenge: weight load, wind exposure, and a client who wanted to grow vegetables.
Solutions
We used lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA) as the soil base and limited the planting to wind-tolerant species. The vegetable beds are self-watering wicking beds that use 70% less water than conventional planters.
What grows up there
- Cherry tomatoes, mint, basil, curry leaf, chilli, okra
- Drought-tolerant ornamentals: bougainvillea, portulaca, lantana
- A native bee hotel for the building's residents
The rooftop produces roughly 8 kg of vegetables per month, year-round.
