A while back I started to try and cover a small shed in my garden with a green roof - they are meant to be great for insulation and personally I think they look great.Sadly this first photo is not my shed - but a great pic from an excellent slide show by Grist - see it here with a roof that also has vegetables growing on it!
The next series of photos though is me at work in the garden. First up the solid timbers - all from a local skip (with owners permission) - about 5 inches high edge around using a corner bit of lathe to fix - hey you can tell I'm not a carpenter - then a liner - it needs to be something that can cope with some moisture - next up the butyl pond liner.
Then depending on the angle of the roof you will need gravel - I had a couple of centimetres depth - then a layer of weed suppressant material - this lets water through but not the soil. Then I needed to make a good waterproof fix with the wall - used flashing tape that you peel off the back and it sticks wonderfully - in a few places used some gutter sealant stuff that I had left over from a previous job.
I did also add a hole in the roof for the water to go into a water butt - it is working OK but I will need to make some adjustments - basically rain goes through the soil and membrane into the gravel then filters it's way to the corner where it goes down the pipe - see photo.Next up the growing medium went in - organic soil conditioner and compost with lots of vermiculite. Then a wildflower mix without the deep-rooted stuff and hey presto...had thought about sedums like the photo below but they take a time from seed and are expensive to buy - not sure about adding grass next year or trying something else?
There are many sources of info on the net - this pic left was one I took at the CAT centre in Wales where they describe one of their green roofs.Some useful design websites I found include:
Green Roof Forum
Natural England
Green Roof Centre
Grass Roof Company
In other countries green roofs are much more common - I hope they take off more here as I think they look great - it has certainly softened the look of our shed.
3 comments:
It looks great. I've been meaning to try and put a living roof on my garden shed for about 8 years now, but still haven't got round to it!
Yes, the green roof on your shed looks charming. Did you build that green roof by yourself? I think doing small house projects like that is a good way to bond with family members.
That’s awesome! I’ve read an article stating that green roofs have some benefits to the environment. For one, it can regulate the temp of the building and help insulate the sound. It also filter the pollutants out of the air, which helps lessen the risk of having lung diseases. Lastly, it can increase agricultural space.
Nelson Mcglaughlin
Post a Comment