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Potted plants will need water and occasional fertilizer.
That's not true. There's tons of plants that grow gangbusters in unattended street planters, and heck even cracks in the sidewalk
Water flows down. There is more shade at street level, and it is more humid. The bustle of life brings detritus to these cracks, providing nutrients.
The top of a tall building is going to be more arid, and-unless you have some way to attract birds-a limited amount of nutrients.
Instead of a pot, consider a trough or elevated garden.
I suggest finding companion plants that go with plants called out in these types of sites: https://www.nycgovparks.org/learn/trees-and-plants/native-plants-of-new-york-city. Call small suburban greenhouses and chat people up to find hardy shrubs. Consider collecting rainwater and putting the distribution on a timer over night.
Attract birds with fruiting plants and pollinators. Bird poop, insect carcasses, etc. If you can compost, that will help, too. Worms and food waste will also help.
Good suggestions, thanks!
A trough or elevated bed or ongoing maintenance isn't possible in the kind of quick hit unofficial guerilla action that i can do.
The thing that got me thinking it is that I've seen years-abandoned pots on nyc rooftops that have wild plants that grew themselves there. So the conditions (whatever they are) can easily support unattended plant life, so the question is which ones will work there that are good for pollinators or the environment?
I think LibertyLizard's suggestion to check with a local native plant society is spot on. A place like Lemmy is great to ask a wide variety of opinions, but specialized knowledge is best gleaned from the experts.
I know it's an oxymoron, but think about creating an open terrarium.
Also, I love the idea of guerilla gardening.
They're in the ground though. Maybe some weeds could survive in a pot but it's a much more challenging environment than even a pavement crack.
That said if you can get a container big enough that it won't dry out between rain events you may have success.
Zillions of wild plants grow extremely well in unattended planter pots in nyc. They're all over the place.
And there's no such thing as "weeds". A weed just means a plant that grew itself in a spot where a person didn't want it to be. A weed is just a plant.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weed
When people set out empty planters of soil they always wind up growing lush with random plants. The question isn't what plants can grow by themselves there, because that does itself. -
My question is what plants can i plant there that would be especially good for the environment?
I know what a weed is. I'm not using it as a derogatory term. It's just a perfect description of the kind of plants that might work here.
I would contact a local native plant society and see what "weedy" native species are going to be best adapted to a hot, dry, windy rooftop.