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Green Roof

Last post 26-06-2009 7:44 PM by roon. 5 replies.

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  • 24/06/2009 04:04 PM
    • lilylake
    • norfolk
    • 24 Jun 2009
    • 2
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    Is there someone who can think 'outside the box' for me?

    We are building a house with a roof garden but as we are set into a hillside (well a slope - this is Norfolk after all!) this roof will be beside the entrance of the house. I think sedum will look a bit bare/brown after a while and really would like a type of succulent perhaps set into say a camomile lawn. I would also love some colour if poss but have to be aware of the weight as it is on a roof. I could probably put a max of 4" of planting medium in some sort of tray to cover the roof and rather than just soil, would I be best to have something else?

    It will not be walked on and in the middle will have a roof lantern looking down into the sunroom below. It is south facing with a backdrop of part of an old arboretum.

    I don't suppose anyone has come across a similar situation or can you think how it is best for me to proceed?

     

     

     
  • 24/06/2009 04:29 PM
    In reply to
    • miranda
    • Oxfordshire
    • 17 Nov 2004
    • 2,977
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    Hello lilylake,

    We have a green roof on our shed which seems to have developed on its own. It's corrugated something (probably asbestos!) and the plants are a mixture of mosses and a low growing sedum. They haven't gone brown and it's been looking really nice. From what I've read, sedums are ideal for green roofs but there are many choices, depending on the site.

    There are various methods - you can build a sort of plant bed, held in place by boards and you can get matting that already has the plants in it. Or you can spray on something that will encourage plant growth - watered down manure is supposed to be good (!) but I believe you can also use milk and yoghurt. 

  • 24/06/2009 05:40 PM
    In reply to
    • sue1002
    • Ipswich, Suffolk
    • 06 Sep 2005
    • 5,200
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    Hi lilylake, a similar question to yours was asked a few weeks ago, if you would like to have a look at the thread, it gives some suggestions on what could be used and there's also a link in one of the posts that gives instructions on making a green roof but I think this is on a smaller scale than yours probably would be.

    http://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/forums/p/21558/35950.aspx#35950

    Do let us know how you get on with it, we would love to see a photo of the finished project.

    sue1002
  • 26/06/2009 03:11 PM
    In reply to
    • lilylake
    • norfolk
    • 24 Jun 2009
    • 2
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    Thank you very much for your help. I have also asked the local wildflower supplier and he can provide english stonecrop sedum plugs which I think I can make a feature of, with perhaps alpines in gravel in between or 'house leeks' which have a purpley colour which will match our new bricks! I will post a picture when its done but probably looking at planting early autumn now. Thanks also for letting me know about the previous threads (which I should have looked at before!)
  • 26/06/2009 06:13 PM
    In reply to
    • sue1002
    • Ipswich, Suffolk
    • 06 Sep 2005
    • 5,200
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     It sounds like it's going to look well lilylake and having a local supplier for the plants is great.

     Don't worry too much about not looking for other threads on the subject, unless you know where they are, you could spend all day looking Smile

    sue1002
  • 26/06/2009 07:44 PM
    In reply to
    • roon
    • Wales
    • 12 Jan 2009
    • 22
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     Hi Lilylake,

    I work with a colleague in mid-Wales doing eco-building amongst other things.  You can put just about anything on a green roof; we have a small office (ex-garden shed) with a shallow sloping roof planted with field grass and poppies on top of the original roof.  It re-seeds itself every year.  At the other end of the spectrum, we recently built a very comtemporary house with a large flat roof, and it was covered in sedum which came on a roll from a specialist supplier.  This was accompanied by various decorative stones etc, and was all accessible by the residents for recreation.  Your structural engineer will be able to design the roof to take whatever load you decide, but you obviously need to decide on the roof covering before you start the roof structure; retro-fitting rafters and beams will cost far more than putting them in from the start! pm me if you need more info.