The joy and experience of building our own small green roof ...
The reconfiguration of the back of our own home included the renovation of an existing uninsulated balcony roof over an off-shot cloakroom and utility space. We decided it was a good location to self-build a small green roof as it is overlooked by bedroom windows, is relatively easily accessible from a level area in the garden and faces South West. We wanted to create a low maintenance green roof, attracting insects and birds, and to test different types of planting.
The joy and experience of building our own small green roof ...
Our roof combines a mixture of proprietary green roof materials from specialist suppliers along with locally sourced growing media and plants. Once waterproofed by our builder, it took a couple of days for us to build the green roof ourselves, including applying the growing media, the initial planting and seeding.
The roof is a test bed to try different types of planting. Over the last five years we have planted bulbs, including chives, muscari and iris, low growing sedum varieties, sempervivums (house leek) and low growing herbs. Our conclusion to date is that sedum and small bulbs seem happiest and require the least attention.
We're very happy with the results so far and continue to record the roof through the seasons. If you would like a specification for a similar roof or talk through the process, do get in touch.
