The Greenest Thumb! Contest: David's Bamboozler

(Note: This is our last voting entrant!)

Name: David
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Size: 16x23
Favorite Resource: Shannon’s , Gowanus Nursery , Gardenweb.com container forum.

Pitch:

"We moved into small one family frame house in brooklyn last year. The back patio is 16x23, all cement, much of which was cracked, chipped, etc. also, the patio featured some nice views over back fence to neighbors trash strewn cement slab. so, we needed something to block that view (golden bamboo)....." [more below]

The black mats on cement are same as those in restaurants, bars, etc.. they’re rubber, cover the crummy cement nicely, and were cheap and easy to lay in. They're comfy, too.

Garden plants are ALL IN CONTAINERS, including bamboo, which is raised on platforms behind sheet metal fence. nothing is planted in ground. emphasis is on perennials, for foliage and year round interest. these include jap. maple, golden bamboo, miscanthus grass, sea oats, zebra grass, sedums, butterfly weed, elephant ears, catmint, hostas, etc. some annuals sprinkled around, including potato vine, morning glorys, flowing tobacco, mint, lavender, lemon balm, etc.

Comments (7)

Can you tell us more about that fence?

posted by eh on 2006-07-05 14:10:01

I love it! It's my fav so far!

posted by d on 2006-07-05 15:27:02

Love it - lush garden "grown" out of concrete!

posted by char on 2006-07-05 17:55:32

shazam

posted by chris (nyc) on 2006-07-05 19:26:41

eh -- fence is just a couple sheets of thin corrugated sheet metal laid over a frame of pressure treated 2x4's, braced (and held up) by the neighbors fence. it's constructed to be easily removed to deal with re-planting the bamboo when necessary (probably next year). the sheet metal was galvanized, but we were looking for a distressed, industrial look, so i sponged the sheet metal with muratic acid to wear away the galvinization, giving a nice rust color in places.

posted by david Latham on 2006-07-06 10:07:02

The plants look great, but I'm not a fan of those mats. I can't imagine concrete that I wouldn't prefer to rubber mats. Perhaps I just spent too many years as a waiter...

posted by Jason on 2006-07-06 13:33:40

Your garden looks lovely. I'm curious about your bamboo. Is it easy to grow in NYC? Will it stay green thru the winter? And where are you going to move it to when you replant it, if you are only using containters? I am interested in planting some in my garden, also in containers, and would love some first-hand info.

posted by kryssa on 2006-07-08 22:53:37