The Living Roof
a greenhouse diary
Free-cycled concrete paving slabs are cut down to form an edging to the proposed new living roof. The slab are laid on drainage mats cleared from the original roof.
(21/01/2012)
The gutters will channel rainwater run-off to downpipes and to collection barrels for watering the garden.
(21/01/2012)
With the new skylights in place and the walls finished with a row of bricks we are ready for the living roof to be constructed.
(23/03/2012)
429 x 25kg bags of special mixed substrate is delivered from Shire Green Roof Substrates Ltd.
(23/03/2012)
Dusty Gedge is a green-roof campaigner and founder of LivingRoofs.org, an independent green-roofs association that promotes vegetated roof structures in urban and rural areas. He is president of the European Federation of Green Roof Associations and an old chum of mine from Greenwich days. He was good enough to be our consultant on this installation. With his colleague Blanche Cameron they start to lay out root barrier blanket.
Find out more about LivingRoofs at: www.LivingRoofs.org
(06/04/2012)
We are joined by Robin Oakey of Green Roof Options with a second substrate composed of 'shoddy' - the waste from the woollen carpet industry that is very light and a slow release fertiliser. In total around eleven tons of materials need to be lifted up onto the roof.
Find out more about Green Roof Options at: www.greenroofoptions.com
(06/04/2012)
The root barrier blanket is carefully fitted around the up stands and to the roof edges. This will ensure that the EPDM rubber membrane is not compromised by any of the plantings.
(06/04/2012)
The scaffold supports a winch for raising the vast quantity of substrates. It doesn't prove to be the most effective lifting option. Any overlooking from the main house will soon be of plants.
(06/04/2012)
The 'shoddy' goes down first. Over it will be laid the special recycled brick mix.
(06/04/2012)
Robin's system solves the weight problem of most roofs and also recycles an inert waste material that otherwise goes to landfill.
(06/04/2012)
Large sheets of cotton mesh keep the product under control.
(06/04/2012)
The second substrate to go down is a special mix that contains waste brick, waste ragstone and some waste concrete.
(07/04/2012)
Everything is eventually lifted by hand.
(07/04/2012)
The special mix also contains elements for retaining moisture.
(07/04/2012)
It was decided to leave a proportion of the roof to the North uncovered. We want to capture and store as much run-off rainwater as possible for the edible Forest Garden being planted below.
(07/04/2012)
The card tubes that held the root barrier are filled with 'shoddy' and buried. This gives a variety of environments for the wildlife to come.
(07/04/2012)
Dusty has invited Charles Fentiman, the owner of Shire Green Roof Substrates Ltd, to join us. Charles designed and supplied the special mix substrate in collaboration with the University of Greenwich at Medway. Find out more about Shire Green Roof Substrates Ltd at: www.greenroofsubstrates.co.uk
(07/04/2012)
Only a few more bags to lift.
(07/04/2012)
With the help of some volunteers we get the job finished.
(07/04/2012)
The seeds for planting are added to buckets containing substrate and kitchen flower. Dusty's idea for distributing the plantings evenly across the roof.
(08/04/2012)
Two mixes of seeds were ordered via the internet from a seed supply company called EmorsgateSeeds. The first is a 400gm rich mixture suitable for sowing onto thin lime-rich soils of low fertility and with a significant chalk or limestone content.
Find out more about EmorsgateSeeds at: www.wildseeds.co.uk
Dusty's mum and Mariette join us on the roof for sowing the seeds.
(08/04/2012)
Locally gathered sedums are placed amongst the stones.
(08/04/2012)
Two weeks after the seeds went down there are signs of life.
(22/04/2012)
Some of the mashed carpet substrate was rolled into the cotton mesh to form giant sausages. Weighted down with logs they add extra micro environments for wildlife.
(30/04/2012)
Spare log off-cuts, and many other materials, left on the substrate will give an opportunity for wildlife diversity.
(08/05/2012)
The whole roof dries out relatively quickly in prolonged dry weather but seeds designed for poor dry soil were chosen. After some rain several species started to sprout.
(08/05/2012)
Before long it's looking good all over the planted section of the roof.
(13/05/2012)
Looking South.
(13/04/2012)
The South end of the roof is shaded by trees during some early parts of the day and therefore retains more moisture.
(13/04/2012)
We decide that the roof must be self-reliant. It is not sustainable to use the mains supply to keep the plants artificially watered. Besides that, a hosepipe ban is introduced and our stored rainwater supplies are needed for the edible Forest Garden being established South and West of the house.
(13/04/2012)
A spell of dry weather is not kind to the seedlings.
(30/05/2012)
It's difficult not to intervene but if these plantings are meant to survive, they will.
(01/06/2012)
The difference that a drop of rain makes.
(17/06/2012)
Survival of the fittest in the second week of summer. The darker area of substrate is from a bag of compost added to encourage biodiversity in a small area between the skylights. The Oxeye daises seem to like the East edge by the wall capping.
(01/07/2012)
A sedum gets ready to flower.
(01/07/2012)
A flowering sedum tries to crowd out a growing Corn Cockle.
(01/07/2012)
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Lots of Fat-hen - Chenopodium album. Where did that come from?
(03/07/2012)
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Strawberry flower.
(16/07/2012)
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Dusty Gedge returns to see how we're getting on. He is surprised about the amount of Fat-hen and advises that we start pulling it out.
(24/07/2012)
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(06/09/2012)
I decide it's time to reduce the area of the roof dedicated to water run-off and collection. There are sufficient materials and just hard work is needed. The North and East walls will now be bordered with the growing substrates like the rest of the roof.
(19/09/2012)
Repeating the original procedure the mashed up wool carpet mix is laid onto of the root barrier blanket and a cotton mesh laid on top of that. The special brown mix spread on top completes the job.
(20/09/2012)
The strip along the East wall is completed.
(16/10/12012)
The more shaded Southern part of the roof is still quite green.
(30/10/2012)
(30/10/2012)
Nearly severn months after beginning the Living Roof project we leave it to over-winter.
(30/10/2012)