Garden shed living roof.

[Rixy]

I'm in the process of moving the shed on my allotment, which neccessitates me dismantling it. On rebuilding it I shall be strengthening the roof supports and fitting a new roof to it. I would really like to incorporate a "living roof" into the structure but am at a loss as to how to go about it.

Can anyone point me in the right direction of any plans/photos/diagrams ?

Many thanks.

[Bigmallly]

Not sure if this is what you're looking for Rixy.

Scandinavian Green Roof

[Rixy]

That's exactly the type of thing I'm looking to create. Most of the examples they have though use a prefabricated mat, being a tight Yokshireman though I want to build mine from scratch with minimal outlay but can't seem to find plans/diagrams anywhere .

[Bren In Pots]

Rixy I've had a bit of a search and found this site ;-

Living roofs

[pdblake]

That's exactly the type of thing I'm looking to create. Most of the examples they have though use a prefabricated mat, being a tight Yokshireman though I want to build mine from scratch with minimal outlay but can't seem to find plans/diagrams anywhere .

Could you maybe put chicken wire over it and stuff it with moss or layer it with turf?

You'd need to waterproof the roof properly though to stop it rotting and then make sure you have plenty of ventilation to stop condensation. I was thinking about this for our small shed but decided it was too much bother, moved it and turned it into a brewing shed instead. Not as wildlife friendly but more satisfying on a Friday night

[Rixy]

Could you maybe put chicken wire over it and stuff it with moss or layer it with turf?

You'd need to waterproof the roof properly though to stop it rotting and then make sure you have plenty of ventilation to stop condensation. I was thinking about this for our small shed but decided it was too much bother, moved it and turned it into a brewing shed instead. Not as wildlife friendly but more satisfying on a Friday night

LOL.

The idea i have in mind is to reinforce the shed roof with a few well placed joists (it's a traditional sloped roof rather than a flat one). I was then going to cover the roof with a roll of shed felt I have lying around waiting to be used. To the roof I was going to attach a couple of battens either side to decrease the chance of subsidence. Once the battens where in place I would then cover the roof with traditional Visqueen damp proof membrane, this would then be held down in place by the addition of upturned strips of turf. The whole lot would them be covered in chicken wire and planting of the green roof could commence.

Can anyone see anything wrong with my intended plan or point out any particular pitfalls I might have overlooked?

[HeyWayne]

I'm sure Joe did this on GW last year.

One of our sister companies manufacture/install living roofs - but I think on an ever so slightly larger scale than you're talking about.

[pdblake]

I'm sure Joe did this on GW last year.

One of our sister companies manufacture/install living roofs - but I think on an ever so slightly larger scale than you're talking about.

Can you blag some offcuts?

[jayjay giant]

I am sure this was done on gardeners world ?
Anyway you can do it simply and cheaply by running decking timbers round the outside and lining with plastic and growing in that.
Plenty of good compost / soil and then cover it with lettuce.
Good luck

JJ

[Lovage]

One I looked at when contemplating making a living roof myself used pond liner as the waterproof membrane then had a drainage layer of expanded clay/flyash granules. This was covered by terram to prevent the soil/compost washing out.
The compost included perlite and crushed brick but was designed for sedums & sempervivums so was only 2in deep. I think if you want to grow turf or other plants the compost layer needs to be much deeper.
Many of the sedums would grow and spread without trouble and some of the small ones are still attractive to bees and butterflies - easy to propagate too.

Good luck with the project Rixy - will you keep us posted?

[Rixy]

Yes I'll keep you posted, I'll even take some pictures . Need to move and organise the shed first, that will probably be this weekend weather permitting.

[Bobthebuilder]

There is a certain amount of information here on doing your own living roofs

Bob

[Sheikh Yerboutti]

If theres not too much of a pitch on roof, cut old car tyres to make rings 50mm high. tie rings together to cover the roof. fill the rings with very gravelly sandy perlite mix compost. Plant sedum album, sedum sexangulare, or similar. This plant thrives on neglect and survives the droughts which will kill the weeds on it. I havent watered mine in 3 years.If roof is corugated, lay weed fabric before aggregate to stop the aggregate washing away. The midsummer golden flowering is amazing,and as Lovage says, perfect for insects

[Sheikh Yerboutti]

Forgot to say, you can buy carpets rolls of the sedum but not cheap. I started with 8 3" pots from garden centre and now have about 4 sq mtrs in 3 years. Its easy to propagate, just rip some off and throw it at some gravel at this time of year.

[sqweek01]

'being a tight Yorkshireman though I want to build mine from scratch with minimal outlay'

I thought a similar thing about my shed roof. It needed to re-felting but after working out how much I'd need to spend, plus the fact I don't have a roof rack to get the pieces home I wasn't going to bother blah, blah, etc BUT! I then realised I had a large tarpaulin sheet floating about so I used that instead, a mere fraction of the cost as I got it for nothing!

Regards

Clare