c/urban-gardening

My rooftop herbs are a bird buffet now

In my neighborhood, rooftop gardens are popping up everywhere. I planted some mint and basil up there. Now pigeons visit daily for a snack. I hung old CDs to scare them, but they just stare at their reflections.

My little brother always overwaters the herbs, so I set up a simple chart.

He kept drowning the basil by giving it too much water, so I drew a weekly chart with pictures of each plant. I added colored dots for the days each herb needs watering, and now he checks it before grabbing the can. It has saved our small balcony garden from soggy roots, and he likes having a job. What simple methods do you use to include kids or siblings in garden care?

Remember when balcony gardens were just a few pots?

Now my whole building has them, and we swap seeds like trading cards. It feels like a different street.

The heavy metal surprise in my rooftop herb garden

Spent months nurturing basil and thyme only to discover the soil is contaminated with cadmium. Probably from industrial runoff decades ago. Now I have to ditch everything and source clean substrate, which feels like a massive waste.

TIL that painting the inside of my planters with leftover sealant from a bathroom reno stopped water damage on my windowsill.

Herbs were rotting on my balcony until I stole an idea from my coffee routine

I noticed my basil and mint were always waterlogged, even with drainage holes. Turns out, placing pots directly on concrete prevents proper runoff. I started using old wine corks under each pot to lift them slightly. Now, water escapes freely, and my plants are thriving.