Techniques

Look inside our gardens and see all of our innovative soil-less grower designs. The Rooftop Garden Project has developed many beautiful growers that are simple to use and build, and can be constructed entirely from recycled materials!

Soil-less gardening is an exciting new way to green small urban spaces such as rooftops, balconies and terraces. The gardens are extremely efficient, requiring much less water than conventional garden techniques, and can be significantly more productive in the same space.

Soil-less gardening is not new. It is based on hydroponics, which refers to systems where plants are fed only by nutrients dissolved in water. Our methods combine hydroponics with organic gardening and permaculture principles to create simple to use and affordable gardens that rely solely on human energy.

Soil-less gardening is ideal for Montreal’s flat rooftops. The growers can be drained in the fall ensuring that no additional strain is put on the roof when winter snow loads arrive.

There are also many homemade spin-off variations of this container style that operate under the same principle of irrigation by capillarity. We encourage you to read our comprehensive Guide to Setting up Your Own Rooftop Garden for more ideas!