Does Anyone Else Have a Green Roof?

Have been designing out a pergola for my garden. We were originally going to have normal rafters and allow the plants to cover it for some shade. But as our garden is south facing we would like some instant shade.

I could just go and use some roof felt but do quite like the appeal of a green roof. I did this design of the pergola with a green roof on top, but I'm not sure if this would be enough to support the whole weight of the soil and extra water.






Dave (OH) doesn't like the idea as he thinks it's too much hassle with the supports etc etc.

Does anyone else on here have a green roof on their sheds or pergolas? I understand the initial cost is more than roofing felt but I like the idea of having a soft roof over a hard one. Also are there really any wildlife benefits to these things? Also are they high maintenance?

Any criticisms on my design are also welcomed.

 

I have sown Sempervivum ( House leeks, Witch bane, Ice plants) in order to either do a green roof or a green wall. They are light and will grow anywhere. I have seen them on walls and tiled rooves where there would appear to be no soil at all. They also come in a large variety of shapes and colours.

 

I have a mini strawberry field on my shed roof. I've not updated my thread on it for a while but here it is as at when I first started it off. Note the use of cut up milk bottles to retain the compost, which are still visible but much less so now than when I first started it.

http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/my-shed-roof-strawberry-field.48865/

There have been lessons learned since setting it up. Watering has been the biggest issue. Its not difficult of course because I just point the hose up there, but it dries out very, very quickly. I guess being raised above most wind breaks, and south east facing, a combination of wind and sun dries it out very rapidly. The result is the plants haven't done as well as I'd hoped, but they are alive and growing and producing a few strawberries.

I was worried about the weight of plants and wet compost caving the shed in if it rained hard. Well so far its stood up to everything the weather has thrown at it and I never did get round to reinforcing the roof, which is just thin, probably 1/4 or max 3/8 inch thick boards and a bit rotten. Obviously it would need to be much stronger if it was closer to level, because my sloping roof distributes much of the load down onto the shed wall whereas a level roof would have to take all the weight bearing straight down.

 

Nice idea but my thoughts are that it would prove to be too much hard work, drying out rapidly being the biggest problem.

Val

 

Yes, that is why I went for the Sempervivum. Drought happy things.

 

Drying out is a problem, but I still think it can work. Because the first attempt doesn't go quite right doesn't mean it can never work, it just means we have to learn from it and move on, and hopefully pass on anything we learn to other that might be about to try something similar

I wonder if water retaining gel crystals might be the answer. The Eden Project have a most excellent green roof. It is not the usual alpines, but a grassy meadow. It looks fab, and covers the whole of the building that sits between the two biomes. I bet they had a few setbacks before they got it right.

 

I wonder if it would be better sloping? It could shed some water when really wet then, whereas flat I can see the weight increasing significantly?

 

Hi, yes our 'out building' has a flat roof and is recessed and filled with a layer of gravel, when we moved in 5 years ago there was already a healthy covering of some variety of sedum (?) growing on the roof and its still going strong now It looks wonderful when in full flower, the brightest yellow you could imagine

 

How thick is your roof then roughly? My main concern is the weight of the whole lot hover on top of me on only 4 legs, compared to 4 walls of brick. This will only be about 4m2 but I still worry about it a lot. Also do you need to maintain it? I doubt I would be able to get up there very easily once it's done, which is what I find off putting, but it's still something I want to give some serious thought.

I saw an open garden recently that had a green roof on their outbuilding and had drainage holes drilled all the way along the retaining boards. Is this necessary as well?

Also is weeding a problem?

I completely agree. I couldn't really put a slope in the design I drew up but it will be indeed be included.

 

Well thanks for asking permission first.

This is a privately funded forum and unless you are willing to contribute financially then please desist.

 

I should have updated this thread ages ago. But I was persuaded by the other half not to press ahead with this idea.

This is how the design for the pergola currently looks.



I've got this idea of growing apple cordons up and under the framework. I've seen people do it with archways so I'm assuming I could do it with a pergola.

I still want to have a little green roof in my garden. I just built myself a very small log store for my salvaged logs for wood carving but it doesn't have a proper roof on it yet. I would have started green roofing it by now but finding recommendations for plants for a green roof that's in permanent shade don't seem to exist.

 

Moss? Some of the Japanese moss gardens look amazing, maybe you could use your artistic skills to translate that into a green roof concept that would look nice? I know I couldn't!

 

[QUOTE="Jungle Jane, post: 701522, member
Does anyone else on here have a green roof on their sheds or pergolas? I understand the initial cost is more than roofing felt but I like the idea of having a soft roof over a hard one. Also are there really any wildlife benefits to these things? Also are they high maintenance.[/QUOTE]
Hi JJ
We have had one for about 5 years now
Re-enforced inside of shed and added more roof support (timber)
Made 2 trays, lined with pond liner and an absorbent material to retain moisture to get the roof going (old towel did the trick) seep holes into the gutter. We used soil, compost, vermiculite and grass seed and let nature take its course. All wild flowers have just arrived naturally.
Chop down each Autumn otherwise do nothing. Attracts loads of wildlife so I really like it.
The White on the shed are webs, tons of spiders!