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Am thinking of adding one of these to my small garden shed. Currently the roofing felt is patchy and needs replacing so this presents an ideal opportunity. I wonder if anyone has any experience of fitting/laying one of these and can advise me of pitfalls, problems, etc as I'm sure it's not as easy as it seems. I bet they can look stunning though if done properly - much better than the moth-eaten, grey felt adorning said shed - and brilliant for all sorts of small critters.
Thanks
Watch out for swifts
That's a great idea. I have zero experience but had a little surf around - this website looks like it might be helpful http://www.livingroofs.org/domesticgreenroofs.html
My blog: http://mazzaswildside.blogspot.co.uk/
My Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124028194@N04/
Thanks aiki
have had a quick look and the pdf looks really good - just what I need, I think.. Will check it out more fully - I can't wait to get started now.
Sorry I have no experience either but just wanted to say wonderful idea!
Aiki, thanks for the thread, I will save it and have a good read later.
Kind regards Jane.
It is something I have been looking into. It is not quite as straight forward as it first seems.
We have a 2m x 4m flat roof which needs replacing and I wanted to lay a green roof. The more we looked into doing it properly the more expensive it became until it reached the point where it was not financially viable.
A shed will be nowhere near as expensive but you do need to consider the weight of a green roof. Your shed will be built of timbers strong enough to hold the existing roof, once you add the weight of the green roof the original timbers won’t be strong enough. The roof its self would also need to be strengthened. Even if you went for a thin sedum roof you have to consider the amount of water that can hold.
I wish I kept all the information we found. There is a site on the internet which takes you through all the different types of planting, their weight per square foot and the size of timbers required to hold it. It would be worth searching for this or similar sites. The last thing you would want is a flat shed after a rainy day.
Build it and they will come.
Yes, a flat shed, not really what I had in mind! Can quite see that this needs some careful thought as you have discovered. You tend to forget about the extra weight but of course sodden plants and soil get very heavy. The shed does look fairly sturdy but it needs closer inspection. Will definitely check out other similar sites and not embark on anything until I'm sure that my roof will be well-supported. Will keep you 'posted' as to progress - thanks for the advice.
hi ValO
Cannot give you any help here but I would be interested to see to see the results of the Green or Living roof that you have.
It will be interesting to see here
Regards
Kathy and Dave
Will do Blackbird - need to see what OH thinks as he'll be doing the bulk of the work! Not sure that he'd appreciate his shed being reduced to a flat-pack. I have my fingers crossed that it will be viable but will let you all know, eventually. Thanks