If you have a green thumb, you’re going to love this. A growing gardening spot is the rooftop garden. Whether you’re limited on space or you just want to make the most of an area that’s privately high above everything, the rooftop garden is creating the ideal environment for horticulture.
These rooftop gardens are sprouting up on roofs and balconies throughout the country, making an impressive statement about how important gardening is to homeowners (even those with only little land).
Rooftop gardens range from an entirely vegetated roof cover where the plants or the engineered soil actually take the place of a regular concrete, tile, or shingle roof to a small quaint garden that’s planted in containers. Watch this video to see how one homeowner had Marrokal Design & Remodeling create a rooftop garden for his home in Pacific Beach.
Rooftop gardens are sprouting up in cities to help soften hard edges on buildings with hanging or sprawling plants. They’re being put on top of luxury condos as an added amenity. They’re touted as enhancers of energy efficiency and a way to grow fresh herbs and vegetable crops.
These gardens become an extension of the home. Those who have developed their rooftop or balcony garden tend to spend more time relaxing there. Patio tables and chairs, chaises, and candle sconces turn this garden in the sky into a livable room.
Ideally, a rooftop garden will have some sort of irrigation system–a way to get water to your plants; otherwise you’ll have to haul it up.
Also, the type of plants you place on your rooftop garden must be given careful consideration. This exposed location can quickly burn even a drought-tolerant plant. It’s best for slow-growing plants that don’t need a lot of water. Another consideration is how windy it gets. Plants like some breeze but when you have a rooftop garden, even with surrounding walls, it can get very windy. Don’t place extremely tall or fragile plants on a rooftop garden.
Container gardening systems can hold plants, herbs, and vegetables. They can be tricky, though. Potted plants require a lot of care because the soil tends to dry out quickly and keeping them pest-free can be challenging. However, a big benefit with container gardening is that weeds are less likely to pop up. When they do, they’re fairly easy to pull up.
The first step to creating your rooftop garden is to spend some time writing down how you’d like to use the space. Is it to grow herbs and food? Do you want more recreational space? Are you interested in a mediation or quiet spot to have a happy hour?
Once you have your ideas together talk to experts who have worked on rooftop gardens. Design-Build firms can help you understand what’s possible. Remember, you might not realize just how valuable and useable that roof is until you speak with expert remodelers who can show you the sky is the limit. Drop us an email with your questions about your remodel project.