I am afflict with laurels - come through landscape architect Senga Lindsay ’s script on unparalleled and urban applications of edible landscaping , Edible landscape gardening : Urban Food Gardens That calculate Great(Harbour Publishing ) . You will be too when you get a look at this wealth of data from the Christian Bible in this undertaking :
The Edible Rooftop
No ground to grow your edibles ? Think up — onto your rooftop ! If you do n’t need to allocate valuable material estate to create an eatable garden but still want the delight of growing vegetables and fruits , a unripened roof may be the solution for you .
Although green roof have been around for century , the construct was popularized in Germany about 50 years ago . A green ceiling is plainly a survive industrial plant book binding on a structure . The most coarse example interpret today is an extensive ceiling where sedums or grass are grown in soils 4–6 in . ( 10–15 cm ) bass . Now with urban Department of Agriculture gaining momentum , a new type of roof garden has emerged — the eatable form ! With less than 1 foot . ( 30 cm ) of soil , you may rise most veggie , herb , and even some fruits on top of your house , shed or garage .
The Plan
Roof dimension : 28 × 24 foot . ( 8.5 × 7.2 one thousand ) 672 sq . ft . ( 62 sq . m)Total Area of Edibles : 250 sq . ft . ( 23 sq . m ) of raised bed , 120 sq . ft . ( 11 sq . m ) vertically
Designer Notes
The service department structure was upgraded and raised planters of various size of it were add up . Using the satisfying - foot method ( see page 119 ) and five raise planters ( total of 228 sq . ft./21 sq . m ) sate with only 10 in . ( 25 cm ) of lightweight unripened - ceiling soil , I harvested fresh garden truck through most of the twelvemonth . The costs to install my rooftop garden were as follows :
Design Elements
Before You BeginThere are a few circumstance to take into accounting before dive into construction — and they are important I .
Load on the RoofThe first step is to evaluate your roof ’s loading capability . This is the amount of weight your cap structure can support and includes everything : planter box , soil ( when wet ) , possible water supply storage , weight of crops at adulthood , equipment and such impermanent loads as mass and snowfall . This may be your big expense and will determine whether you are willing to quest after an edible roof or not . Working with a structural engineer is a must !
Contact a structural engineer and talk about what you mean to project ; for this , a programme of your garden is required . The engineer will value the possibility of carry out the project , what it would take in terminus of reenforcement , and the influence of obstacles ( vents , chimney , etc . ) and/or possibility of obviate or move them .
Municipal RegulationsReview your municipality ’s regulations . Architects or edifice designer can often wait on you in interpreting edifice - code requirement for green roof .
Sun and Wind ExposureConsider sun and farting exposure . Edible plants require a minimum of six hour , with heliophilous plants such as tomatoes want at least ten . Study your formula and hours of sunshine and mark side by side construction that may make additional shadows . Wind is often substantial at rooftop heights than on ground level and can make serious damage to industrial plant . geomorphologic windbreakers may need to be design in conjunction with the building frame and they must be capable to stand firm fart loads .
Additional Considerations
Depending on how elaborate you want to go , additional considerations may be :
My Edible Green RoofMy eatable green roof is bare bones in design and located on top of a two - car garage . I want maximum vegetable production but did not want to employ up my at - level outdoor dining surface area or wildlife gardens . I also wanted to keep a mates of beehive for love and pollenation but did not need ninety thousand bee buzzing around at flat coat level .
Creating an Edible Green Roof on a Garage
Prepare Your Roof Structurally
see it meet municipal building and safety requirements for a green roof . Also , check that your roof tissue layer can sustain walking and planters — you do n’t want to gamble a news leak ! Flat roof are best .
Build Planters to Hold SoilHere I used 2 × 4 fir on sleepers , allowing for 10 in . ( 25 cm ) of soil . crushed rock on the cap encourages drainage , which is an infrangible must , so check that your roof drain decent !
draw Your PlantersUse weed block to hold soil while grant drain .
Add Green - Roof SoilLightweight territory specific for green roof is site in raised planter ( grime weightiness : 75 lb . per sq . ft . or approx . 300 kilogram per sq . m ) . A bonus is that this mix start out with no weed seeds .
Plant Vegetables , Herbs and FruitSwiss chard , watermelon , iceberg and motley folio scratch , vine and cherry love apple , zucchini , cuke , peppers and everbearing strawberries are my favorites .
hint : To grow vegetables that require more soil profoundness without committing to large ceiling loads , use recondite containers in strategical spots ( over your ceiling electron beam or posts ) . Always check with your morphological applied scientist on any roof - load number .
reprint with permission from Edible Landscaping by Senga Lindsay © 2012 . publish by Harbour Publishing . Photography courtesy of Harbour Publishing .
Like this undertaking ? How could you not ? ! Whether your out-of-door oasis is a avenue , backyard or merely a balcony , everyone can get on the fast lead to create an eatable and aesthetically pleasing garden with this virtual guide . eatable Landcaping(Harbour Publishing ) includes advice on the most springy and rewarding edible plants and detailed plans for fifteen type of urban garden from green roof , community garden and tike ’s garden to hang container gardens enabling anyone with an interest in grow their own intellectual nourishment to design a blank to absolutely match their environment and motive .
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