New member

[Keithtug]

Hi everyone,
just joined the forum after purchasing Flower Genie.
I'm just trying to get as much info as possible about flowers and herbs that would be suitable for pots and boxes on the roof of a narrowboat. My wife and I have retired onto a 70 foot narrowboat named "The Owl and the Pussycat" and would like to brighten it up a little. I know that our space for growing things is tiny compared to most gardens, but would appreciate any help and suggestions that anyone can give me. Apart from space restrictions we have to be carefull about the height of plants as some canal bridges are quite low. To start with I think we should stick to plants up to about 40 cm.
Hope you can help.
Regards,

Keith     

[NightHawk]

Welcome to the Forum Keith.

A narrowboat is certainly a most unusual take on a gardening scenario - at least on our Forum anyway.  You're the First. 

I'm sure that is going to test the ingenuity of our members here, and hopefully you'll get some very useful suggestions.

One suggestion from Kathy and I is a grass - Molinia Caerulea subsp. Caerula Overdam.  It grows to about 18 inches and looks beautiful with the wind blowing the fronds.
It has a neat clump habit and would look great in a pot.  We bought this grass two years ago from a plant shop at a visit to a walled garden in North Yorkshire, I hope you can find this variety as it's absolutely gorgeous.

We'll get a photo of it tomorrow and post it on the Forum for you to have a look at.  It's definitely one we would recommend.

Have a great time here.

Laurie.

[ideasguy]

Hello and welcome to the forum Keith.
What an interesting challenge you have set!

Is this something new in the world of narrowboats? Have you seen it or read about it before?

[Trevor Ellis]

Hi Keith and welcome,

maybe some herbs such as chives, basil, marjoram and some thymes might be useful and you get the benefits of flowers, leaf variety, scent and of course the dietry additions. Sedums are also good where plants that will grow happily with a minimum root run are a necessity and would provide interesting height variations within a limited range. You can also buy these in ready sown 'sheets' http://www.enviromat.co.uk/pages/faqs.php. It might be worth checking out http://greengarage.ca/greenroofs/plants.php. It's a site intended for those of us wanting green roofed garages but I'm sure the situation is close enough. You might get some ideas there. I haven't checked any sites out but my mind goes back to the wonderful displays on boats in the Netherlands - especially in Amsterdam. May be worth searching there on the net. Maybe Dutch members have some useful leads.

Best of luck and best wishes for your new life afloat,

Trevor

[NightHawk]

Keith, as promised I've taken two photos of the grass I suggested to you.
Just click on this link here to view them.

So as not to clutter up this thread I've placed them in a new topic I started.  The questions with these photos are actually intended for our other members to answer, so don't panic.
If you are familiar with this grass though, and can answer the questions it would be much appreciated. 

Laurie.

[Keithtug]

Thanks everyone for your welcome and info. I hadn't considered  using grasses, but will look into that. The idea of the roof matting sounds good but I don't think it would be too good for the paint on the boat roof and I also need to be able to walk along the roof when negotiating locks.
I have seen lots of boats with flowers on their roofs so I'll just have to have a chat with the boaters about their experiences with waterborne mini gardens.
Thanks again.

Keith   

[ideasguy]

Do you have any photos of boats with flowers Keith?
If you have seen something you'd like to recreate, that would be a good starting point for us to suggest flowers.
I would imaging the popular bedding plants would be "in" as they are best for long flowering periods over summer, and could be grown easily in pots and containers.
e.g. Petunias, Lobelia, Verbena, Surfinias, Impatiens, Tagetes and my personal favourites, Argyranthemums and Osteospermum.
Perhaps even Antirrhinum (snapdragons) 

[roiphil]

A very belated welcome from me  sounds exciting and an adventure living on a narrowboat is it an all year round or just summer, one week you could be in wales next week in devon 

Phil

[newplantguy]

A very, very belated welcome from me, for those of us at work during this hot weather sounds ideal just drifting along on the canal. Interesting to see what ideas you come up with for the plants on your boat. Herbs sound a good idea with a few flowers.
Paul.