Creating Gardens in the Skies

Roof gardens have become more and more popular in recent times. Roof gardens are literally gardens grown on the roofs of houses and buildings and these can be found in countries all over the world, in both cool climates and temperate zones. These are usually found in cities and towns because of the lack of green space in these areas. If someone wants to have a green area in their environment and they have a tiny garden, or no garden at all, then it makes sense that they should use any space that is available on the roof for their gardening projects.

Roof gardens can take many forms. It is very common to use pots and planters. These do not have to be small just because they are on the roof. Some roof gardens have huge planters and even have trees growing on their roofs. Roofs are reinforced and are built to be able to take a large amount of weight.

But the types of plants that can be grown are limited only by your imagination. Because you are responsible for all the soil up there, there will be no problems of the soil being too acidic or alkali or too full of stones. It is advisable to get the best type of soil possible and to get good quality pots which will withstand the elements and the birds. Plants can be grown from seed and planted out into the containers, or they can be bought fully-grown and transplanted out.

The best thing about a roof garden is that there will be very few natural predators. It will be very difficult for slugs and snails to reach up onto the roof to get at your plants so all the delicate plants which normally need constant attention can be grown more easily. It will be necessary to provide protection from the birds if their favorite meal can suddenly be found on the roof! Another good thing about a roof garden is that you can build raised beds as large as the area available. So there will be no more back-breaking bending to dig the ground.

Roof gardens are very ecologically sound. They can reduce heat loss from the building in winter and they can keep the building cool in summer. A roof without a garden or any types of plants absorbs the heat from the sun and heats up all the rooms below. This is why the top rooms of your house are usually hotter than the lower rooms. This is called isolation and can be quite a big problem especially in hot countries. But plants use the sun’s energy themselves, so rather than getting hot, they stay a few degrees either side of the natural environmental temperature. They do not absorb the heat and pass it down below.

The more people who can grow gardens, the better it is for our planet, and if the only space available to them is on the roof, then so be it. Roof gardens are attractive, pleasant environments and can add a huge benefit to ecology.