Anyone made a small roof top garden on their shed?

[Samuel1988]

Evening all,

Currently I am having a shed built for me on my patch and was thinking of utilising the top space to help some wildlife by having a mini roof top garden.

I was just wondering if anyone has built a rooftop garden/utilised the space on top of their shed and what were their problems, what did you do, any advice etc?

Many thanks for your help,

Samuel

[rustylady]

Personally I wouldn't Samuel. Not sure what you are intending to plant on your shed roof, but wet compost / soil weighs a lot and the moisture could easily penetrate the roofing and rot your shed.

On the other hand, if you line your roof garden with plastic to stop the moisture going down to the shed you would have to water often in dry spells and in wet spells it would hold even more water.

[Scarlet]

A friend of mine has a "living roof" on her garden shed. I'm not sure how it was done but you could start here:
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/...e.aspx?pid=289

[Bren In Pots]

Samuel have a read at this thread :-

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...oof_41372.html

it might give you some ideas.

[Potstubsdustbins]

A traditional wooden shed built to ordinary specs would not be strong enough to support any meaningful depth of soil before collapsing. You would have to use vertical props to keep the roof up.

Potty

[Bigmallly]

If it's on an allotment Samuel, you may be best utilising the roof space for water collection.

[Veggielot]

Its a nice idea but you will your shed to be a lot stronger than normal. What were you thinking of growing?

[Olorin2001]

I have a metal shed with a pent roof, I threw some houseleeks on there and they survived, trapped enough detitus and now are growing well.
Not exactly a crop but home to lots of insects, siders etc.
Traditionally these were planted on roofs to protect the building from lightening and witches - I have had no problems with either so it must work.
And the water run off is collected

[Samuel1988]

The shed is being built by someone as opposed to those you buy from BNQ and, from what the guy has been telling me and looking at the others he has built, it lasts for 20 years so I presume it has a bit of muscle to it.

I was thinking of along the lines of having a thin layer of soil maybe on top of a spongy layer (to hold some water). I don't mind watering it with some compost tea to help stuff grow.

I was thinking of planting some plants which could handle the drainage and thin soil conditions - mainly for bee's etc. Maybe even a few mixed salad plants. If you can grow some plants without soil (hydroponics I think it is called if I remember) then I assume plants can be grown with a shallow amount of soil (say between 5-10cm depth) with a little bit of liquid tea?

Its just an idea at the moment but I would love to try it out.

Samuel

[Mikey]

Samuel to give you an idea of the additional weight if your roof is 1 metre by 1 metre and you put 10cm of soil on top of it. You'd have a metric tonne of weight on the roof, the equivalent of a builders bag full of soil.

If this is your intended path a 4ft x 3ft shed would hold 1.1 metre tonnes of soil at 10cm, I'd make sure you warn the builder, it would need to be a lot stronger than the normal 2 x 2 timber to support that.

[Glutton4...]

I once watched a Sedum roof go on a shed. Granted it was a BIIG shed, but the chap who built it, said it was more sturdy than the Mansion that the customer lived in, and that it had to be to support the additional weight.

I wouldn't...

[Samuel1988]

Ah I see, well I guess a much smaller amount it is/small area for a mini rooftop garden!

[rustylady]

I really do think you would be better to keep your shed roof clear Samuel. Fit guttering to your shed and funnel the water into a butt or butts instead.

[Bill HH]

I have a large flat roofed double garage and i intend building raised beds on it next year. The timbers in the roof are huge. It's a terrible waste of valuable space. I have no doubt i will be infringing some planning reg or other but that just adds to the fun. But its all down to the strength of the roof and quality of the covering. Imagine the soil soaked in water, then a foot of snow then you or your children sat inside the shed when it collapses and plan accordingly. I think I shall make it a rule that only my mother in law will be allowed in the garage.

[Two_Sheds]

I was thinking of along the lines of having a thin layer of soil maybe on top of a spongy layer (to hold some water). I don't mind watering it

And the roof is wood?

Wood + water = rotting