Growing Plants On Your Roof

Options for your rooftop garden.

Growing plants on your roof.

Fully planted green roofs where the roof is covered with soil and the plants are in the ground make great environmental sense but they are too difficult for homeowners to undertake on their own. An all purpose soil less peat free potting mix is fine for growing herbs and other edibles but mix in plenty of perlite to both improve drainage and save on weight. Green roof plants need to be chosen with care however as not all plants are suitable for growing in this way. Tropical milkweed 7 joyful.

Hardy in zones 5 9 the evergreen brightens corners on a rooftop garden or works well with other plants in container combinations. Monarch caterpillars will eat the foliage of this plant so don t worry if you spot a few holes in the leaves. Plants can t grow without moisture. Now comes the growing medium which for a sedum roof should be at least 8cm 3in deep and for a roof of wildflowers herbs salad and strawberries at least 15cm 6in deep.

To 3 feet or more. Meadow saxifrage saxifraga granulata erupts in snow white blooms between april and june and the kidney shaped leaves offer a stunning display for a green roof the plants grow up to 50 cm tall offering volume to your home. Also be careful when handling this plant because the milky sap can irritate skin. When roof drains scuppers and gutters are blocked by environmental debris and growing plants they cannot divert water away and ponding water and or leaks are likely.

It needs a regular watering schedule but is otherwise wonderfully low care. 10 easy to grow vegetable plants on your roof top vegetables are plants consumed by humans on daily basis as part of food and play an important role in human nutrition. When choosing plants for a green roof they need to be able to withstand wind and frost be drought resistant tolerate living in poor soil and be maintenance free. Here is the list of easiest vegetables to grow indoors some of them are seasonal and even you can grow mushrooms indoors along with spring onions peas chili pepper and colocasia.

Finally moving onto installing the growing stuff. Lay out the bark on the roof this is another layer of damp goodness to stop the soil drying out too much when buying the bark make sure its not chemically treated to stop weeds etc as this will not be good for the plants. Green roof plants should also be attractive and offer food and. Rooftops are tough place for plants.

Extremely slow growing the evergreen will reach only 3 feet tall at its mature height. Plant in well drained soil. If water isn t draining off your roof properly there s an opportunity for seeds to germinate.