Gardens Every home needs a spot that provides you that connect with nature. A Dyuti writes on how to make the perfect rooftop garden and allays fears about damaging the home.
You're longing for a rooftop garden, but put off by the warnings of potential for damage to your home? Let's allay your fears.
Rooftop gardens enhance the building's appearance, lower its overall heat absorption by decreasing energy consumption, reduce rainwater runoff and provide bird habitats. Rooftop gardens form a practical means of dealing with land scarcity, especially in urban areas, while bonding with nature.
If, in some cases, plant growth has affected the structure, it is largely owing to improper growing methods as well as inadequate precautions in firming up the terrace before embarking on this venture. So, what care should be taken to ensure that rooftop gardens won't be detrimental to your structure?
Structural factors
First, seek professional help to determine the possibilities your rooftop offers. Check the permissible garden size and the occupant load i.e. the number of people whose weight your terrace can support along with the garden's burden.
You can cover half the terrace with plants and earmark the rest for seating. Other limiting structural factors include the feasibility and number of exits, location of pathways, placing of water sources, possibility of and provision for the harnessing of rainwater, effect on overall building height and number of enclosures.
Besides these considerations, aesthetic additives like rocks, gazebos, water bodies and other artefacts must also be looked at. If you live in an apartment, condo or penthouse, check whether the building code allows rooftop gardens. If you live in a rented dwelling, obtain the owner's permission.
Types of gardens
Two types of terrace gardens are possible - one, the terrace flooring is tiled up and container gardening is undertaken or two, a full-fledged garden is created after properly strengthening the terrace surface.
Ask the engineer which of these is safer for your particular roof. If it's the latter, you need to prepare the surface prior to planting by waterproofing it. Proper drainage pipes should also be laid over the roof slab. If water doesn't drain properly, stagnation can damage the roof. Next, a layer of burnt bricks with a wire-mesh network nestling upon the waterproofed surface is essential.
Only then can you cover it with a blend of lightweight soil and manure and begin planting. Ensure these basic facilities are provided - water source, drainage, enclosures and comfortable seating. Today, hydroponics, automated drip irrigation and low-flow irrigation systems can also be used for watering.
Choose if your garden will be merely for aesthetics or for utility or a combination of the two. Flowering/ornamental plants are for those who wish to convert the bare terrace into a spot for relaxation. Vegetables, herbs and fruits are suitable for turning the rooftop into a productive unit, helping cut down food expenses. The Japanese dry landscape model, consisting of rocks and raked gravel, is another idea for aesthetics.
For container gardening, locate the load-bearing joists to place heavy containers on. You can supplement the garden with hanging baskets and topiaries.
The conventional garden can accommodate a lawn, shrubs, ground cover and little trees. But, select only plants with fibrous roots here since the danger of the tap-root growing through the roof exists! The crop rotation method helps maintain soil fertility. Go organic. Avoid chemical pesticides.
Do surrounding tall buildings hamper sunlight on your terrace? Identify the amount of sunlight that different areas of the terrace receive and choose plants for those spots accordingly. Grow vines on lattice trellises in shady areas. Sundials, terracotta sculptures, birdbaths and wind-chimes are optional accessories.
You're longing for a rooftop garden, but put off by the warnings of potential for damage to your home? Let's allay your fears.
Rooftop gardens enhance the building's appearance, lower its overall heat absorption by decreasing energy consumption, reduce rainwater runoff and provide bird habitats. Rooftop gardens form a practical means of dealing with land scarcity, especially in urban areas, while bonding with nature.
If, in some cases, plant growth has affected the structure, it is largely owing to improper growing methods as well as inadequate precautions in firming up the terrace before embarking on this venture. So, what care should be taken to ensure that rooftop gardens won't be detrimental to your structure?
Structural factors
First, seek professional help to determine the possibilities your rooftop offers. Check the permissible garden size and the occupant load i.e. the number of people whose weight your terrace can support along with the garden's burden.
You can cover half the terrace with plants and earmark the rest for seating. Other limiting structural factors include the feasibility and number of exits, location of pathways, placing of water sources, possibility of and provision for the harnessing of rainwater, effect on overall building height and number of enclosures.
Besides these considerations, aesthetic additives like rocks, gazebos, water bodies and other artefacts must also be looked at. If you live in an apartment, condo or penthouse, check whether the building code allows rooftop gardens. If you live in a rented dwelling, obtain the owner's permission.
Types of gardens
Two types of terrace gardens are possible - one, the terrace flooring is tiled up and container gardening is undertaken or two, a full-fledged garden is created after properly strengthening the terrace surface.
Ask the engineer which of these is safer for your particular roof. If it's the latter, you need to prepare the surface prior to planting by waterproofing it. Proper drainage pipes should also be laid over the roof slab. If water doesn't drain properly, stagnation can damage the roof. Next, a layer of burnt bricks with a wire-mesh network nestling upon the waterproofed surface is essential.
Only then can you cover it with a blend of lightweight soil and manure and begin planting. Ensure these basic facilities are provided - water source, drainage, enclosures and comfortable seating. Today, hydroponics, automated drip irrigation and low-flow irrigation systems can also be used for watering.
Choose if your garden will be merely for aesthetics or for utility or a combination of the two. Flowering/ornamental plants are for those who wish to convert the bare terrace into a spot for relaxation. Vegetables, herbs and fruits are suitable for turning the rooftop into a productive unit, helping cut down food expenses. The Japanese dry landscape model, consisting of rocks and raked gravel, is another idea for aesthetics.
For container gardening, locate the load-bearing joists to place heavy containers on. You can supplement the garden with hanging baskets and topiaries.
The conventional garden can accommodate a lawn, shrubs, ground cover and little trees. But, select only plants with fibrous roots here since the danger of the tap-root growing through the roof exists! The crop rotation method helps maintain soil fertility. Go organic. Avoid chemical pesticides.
Do surrounding tall buildings hamper sunlight on your terrace? Identify the amount of sunlight that different areas of the terrace receive and choose plants for those spots accordingly. Grow vines on lattice trellises in shady areas. Sundials, terracotta sculptures, birdbaths and wind-chimes are optional accessories.