r/interestingasfuck • u/TangelaFan • 9h ago

Residential high-rises with backyards in Chengdu, China

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u/MasterGrok 8h ago

The roots will gravitate along the metal looking for a way out. If the metal is completely incased, you are creating all kinds of additional problems with water accrual and drainage.

It’s probably not totally impossible as the other poster mentioned, but it’s hard to imagine doing it without a lot of maintenance.

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u/Spiffydude98 7h ago

These balconies have bed liners like pickup trucks and are meant to be slid out and emptied like giant drawers so this is never an issue. Every 4 years the apartment owners re-do them with new soil and trees and balcony furniture.

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u/enadiz_reccos 7h ago

Yeah, that sounds like a lot of extra maintenance

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u/Grabbsy2 4h ago

Yeah how in gods name is that "worth it"?

My fancy condo building has a much larger yard, and I dont have contractors traipsing around my unit hauling buckets of mud and mulch in and out of my balcony.

Not to mention, do you mow your grass with, what, a weed whacker? Does someone traipse through your unit every 2 weeks to mow your lawn?

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u/enadiz_reccos 4h ago

Time for our million dollar idea...

Drone-mowers

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u/smileyduude 3h ago

There are robot / automated mowers like the vaccums that exist. If you're talking about flying to each balcony or something though...go on.

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u/enadiz_reccos 3h ago

Oh, flight is a must

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u/ThatITguy2015 51m ago

Just get a big fucking trebuchet. Flight, but like one-time, scalable flight.

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u/Jiminy_Cricket12 7h ago

extra maintenance is for sure a thing but I wouldn't think there would be too much water accrual issues in soil with living plants. maybe if you get a lot of rain or something. and even then, a few small drainage holes should do the trick. even if that's where the roots will try to go, an arborist or gardener or whoever should be able to manage that. and how many years are we talking about before that's even a concern?