HAI PHONG – In mid-July, when farmers across the North went to the fields to harvest rice, Mr. Hong and his wife also went to the terrace to harvest ripe rice.

In early 2016, the family of Mr. Do Van Hong, 59 years old, moved from an apartment to a house in the Hong Bang district. This is an opportunity to make the idea of ​​​​building a house with enough trees and fruits that he cherished since his childhood into reality.

Due to limited land area, and not enough for gardening, Mr. Hong decided to design a house with a rooftop garden. After a year of construction, the house and garden were completed. The garden has a total floor space of 100 m2, including 40 m2 of 2nd floor and 60m2 of 3rd floor.

On the second floor terrace, Mr. Hong made waterproofing, installed electricity, water supply and drainage, and then poured the entire floor with 2 m3 of honeycomb slag, 10 m3 of alluvial soil. The depth of the soil on the floor is 35cm, which is suitable for a variety of crops to grow.

After leveling the ground, Mr. Hong designed a path around the garden with two functions: Pumping water into the circulation to form a small winding stream, and draining the water into a winding gravel road. In the middle he placed the coffee table.

The garden on the second floor grows many perennial plants such as: longan, jackfruit, guava, toad, pomelo, sapodilla… and two ancient coriander trees along with spices and medicinal plants.

The small stream is hidden under ancient trees, ferns, vegetables and flowers, creating a feeling of closeness, not setting. “My criteria is that the terrace garden is as natural as the ground, literally a garden of the Northern countryside,” said the retired man.

The entrance to the third floor terrace is covered with vines, softening the space. This is the place where the owner’s enthusiasm is placed, surprising the guests who come to the house.

With an area of ​​60 m2, the third floor terrace is used by Mr. Hong to grow climbing fruit trees, seasonal vegetables, sugarcane, bananas, strawberries, apples, star fruit.

“When the new project was completed, I planted temporary vegetables in plastic trays. After a year, I built the tub around, waterproofing each tub to replace the plastic tray,” said the gardener.

He made thatched-roof huts, semi-natural birdhouses. In the middle of the garden, he placed a basin planted with lotus and rice in rotation. The volume of soil poured on the roof deck of the third floor is 3 m3.

Mr. Hong and his wife planted rice during the Lunar New Year, which is now ripe. Every day, his whole family goes to the hut to drink fresh tea, watch the rice ripen, and smell the faint aroma of rice.

On average, he spends two hours a day gardening. Small worms, small aphids, he uses biological products that are safe for humans and pets to prevent. Large worms and snails he mainly caught by hand. If there are yellow flies, you use bait traps.

Garden owners buy rotting chicken manure and cow manure and make their own fertilizer according to the formula: one kilogram (shrimp, shrimp, small fish) mixed with one kilogram of soybeans, leftovers, one tablespoon of NPK, one spoon of Potassium, 20 cc calcium, put it all in a blender into 8 liters of mixed solution. For each liter of this solution, he mixes with 8 liters of clean water, always watering the crops without soaking.

A month, he watered the solution 3-4 times, depending on the growth of the plant, daily watering with clean water. In addition, the garden is installed with an active irrigation system, controlled via the network so that when you are away from home, you do not have to worry about plants lacking water.

On the hot terrace, according to Mr. Hong, water is a prerequisite for the growth of plants, especially the leafy vines. “You have to monitor the soil moisture, the condition of the plants. If the ground is dry and the plants droop, they must be watered immediately. Thanks to that, everything in my garden is green,” he shared.

In addition to water, in order to have a beautiful, green, sustainable, seasonally harvested garden, the soil must be good, free from pathogens, and have the necessary amount of soil for the plant to develop its roots, enough sunlight, nutrients, and seeds. good and sown in the right season.

After 6 years of attachment, the garden is a close friend of Mr. Hong’s family. In the garden, fragrant flowers, sweet fruits, and vegetables all year round. The house has shade, fresh air and open space for friends and relatives to play and relax.

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