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Greetings!
"He who plants a garden plants happiness."
-Chinese Proverb
Happy June, everyone! What a beautiful month it's been so far. Just a reminder to everyone to make sure to keep up with fertilizing your plants this month and throughout the warm months.
Potting soil in containers tends to be nutrient-poor, since a small amount of nutrients wash out through the drainage holes of your pots each time you water.
Garden soil in cities if often very low in nutrients as well, since it has rarely been improved with good compost or fertilizers. A good rule of thumb is to fertilize once a month for all plants from May-September.
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Urban Paradise
Although this roof garden is located in the busy Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan, you'd never know it. Seven floors above the hustle and bustle of street traffic below, this garden resonates with the peaceful sounds of nature.
The custom-built cedar planters are built with serpentine curves to maximize space and enhance the sculptural feel of the garden, which houses several pieces of contemporary sculpture.
The garden is also home to a beautiful blue-eyed husky named Sasha, a small bonsai garden, a fountain, a hammock, dining furniture for 8, a jacuzzi, a bar, a couple of chaise lounge chairs, and a comfy seating area with couches and chairs around a gas fire-pit.
Upon completing the installation of this amazing 1200-square foot garden, I returned to my office to find this email waiting in my inbox:
"I just want to say I LOVE EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE!!!! The garden looks amazing - I was completely blown away when I got home late last night ... One of my favorite things is listening to the wind blow through the trees - I'd thought about how the garden would look, and even smell, but never considered how it might sound!" -Arabella
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Red Japanese Maples Add Spice to Your Life
Nothing brightens up a dull corner like a red-leaf Japanese maple such as this 'Bloodgood' maple, planted here in a gorgeous blue ceramic pot. Maples tolerate a wide range of conditions, from full sun to almost total shade, although the red color will not be as brilliant looking in less sun.
The 'Bloodgood' variety will rarely exceed 10' in a container and can be kept pruned to almost any size you like. In the ground, it will reach 15-20' tall.
A smaller variety, 'Dissectum,' has finely-serrated leaves and a cascading habit to only about 6' in height.
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Celebrated Local Artist Offers Custom Planters
 
These wonderful handmade planters are created by celebrated artist Victor Stabin.
The one at the near right is comprised of metal bars attached to a wood top and base and lined with coconut fiber.
The planter on the far right (close-up below) contains a built-in trellis, ideal for growing vines and adding a sculptural point  of conversation to your garden.
The trellis is welded together out of iron with whimsical animal details, including dragonflies, turtles, seahorses, and lizards.
Victor Stabin is a representational painter whose narrative paintings
capture intersections of natural and human history. His commissions include a series of stamps for the U.S. postal service and illustrations for Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times.
His works are currently on display at the CCCP Building in Jim Thorpe, PA.
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Have Gardens, Will Travel
 Occasionally, my clients ask me about traveling to design the landscaping for their homes in far-away places.
Whenever they do, it's always with a certain amount of hesitation, as if they're expecting me to say no to a week in the Hamptons or Barbados or California. Have no fear, wherever there are gardens, we can and will go!
Who in their right minds would turn down a trip to the Caribbean in the middle of January?? If you have a second (or third or fourth, etc.) house that needs landscaping, just let me know and we'll get you on the calendar for some sprucing up.
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I hope you enjoyed this month's edition of The Gotham Gardener! Happy gardening!
Sincerely,
Amber Freda
aka The Gotham Gardener
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