Rooftop Horticulture: 5 Factors You Must Consider Before Starting a Rooftop Garden
It may sound fresh to some, but rooftop gardening is nothing new. People living in the city have been tucking plants on fire escapes and roofs for years. Even roofs covered with plants and soil have been around for some time as well.
It appears that despite the huge land a gardener owns, we tend to look for more area, and of all sorts, rooftop gardens are greatly gaining popularity. Why? Because there are a lot of great reasons to appreciate a rooftop garden:
- They make good use of underused or unused space.
- They can promote privacy.
- They can be friendly to the environment.
- There is regularly a great sun exposure.
If you are considering a to have a rooftop garden, then there are a few directions you have to consider.
Adequately planted green roofs, where soil covers the roof, and the plants placed in the ground, make excellent environmental sense, though they are somehow challenging for householders to try on their own.
You would want to hire an architect or structural engineer to perform a study of the structure and possibly a professional institution to install it.
The simplest and most personal method to rooftop gardening is the application of raised beds and containers. You can establish any design of a rooftop garden with container plants, from a couple of plain herb plants to a formal, beautiful potager.
Containers are ideal for rooftop gardens since they are portable, flexible, light, and affordable. While tending for container plants on your rooftop is much the same as managing container plants on the ground, there are some rooftop features you need to consider before you begin bringing your pots outside.
Table of Contents
Structural Integrity
Assure the roof can handle the load, and it is best to have a licensed professional to perform this. Pots and soil are already heavy to start with and will eventually become heavier too as the plants grow and not to mention the weight of water can add to it.
Water
Are you able to a hose out to your roof? Opting for watering cans can be a bother and containers will need plenty of water. You may consider installing drip irrigation and rain barrel.
Sun Exposure
Is your rooftop shaded by nearby structures or the terrace above? Even sun can be a concern when the plants are scorching over concrete.
Heat
In addition to the sun hitting down on your roof, there is an amount of heat being reflected from the surface of the roof, surrounding structures, vehicles and metal exhaust, and utility buildings. You will possibly want to give some shade for the plants, if not, then for yourself. Here is an example of a condo with a new roof on Zillow.com: https://www.zillow.com
Storage
There is a lot of equipment needed for gardening such as compost, fertilizer, tools, and buckets. Additionally, space on the rooftop is not that expansive, and it is difficult to hide a storage area. Few rooftop gardeners settle on small closets. Another alternative is bench seating with inbuilt storage, to perform double duty.
Takeaway
A lot of people love gardening, but only a few have an adequate ground to grow plants which makes other gardeners settle on an elegant rooftop garden in G Store.
Establishing garden on your rooftop may look simple, but it has its fair share of considerations particularly in time and money. On the bright side, having a rooftop garden will surely improve air quality, reduce overall heat, and many more.