Green Roof

We designed and made a very simple green roof over 1/2 of our roof this summer. I was holding off on posting about it here until it takes off next Spring and looks more presentable, but you can get a pretty good idea of what it will look like already. It consists of individual modules with growing media and plants. This design is actually quite similar to what’s also available commercially. I wanted to be able to move it if the roof needed fixing. We planted several species of sedum and nonsedum natives, the majority grown in a nursery specifically for green roofs. We also have planted chives and thyme for the kitchen and portulaca already growing in our backyard. Our top floor bedroom, with an uninsulated tar roof over it, no longer sizzles in the summer heat. Greenroofs arer supposed to also more than double the roof’s life and insulate the roof in the winter. We’ve also noticed that butterflies and strange-looking grasshoppers seem to like sedum flowers!

The UK has several government websites that actually encourage homeowners to build their own green roofs, and provide simple recipes.
E:mail yash7@aol.com or post below.

Also check out the below link for several businesses that will retrofit greenroofs:

http://www.greenroofplants.com/green_roof_links.htm#Businesses

Here are the pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15516153@N02/sets/72157602554347016/

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