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15 Rooftop Garden Design Ideas and Tips

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Whether you have a rooftop garden already or you are planning to have one, these

Rooftop Garden Design Ideas will come in handy!

In densely populated urban areas of the cities, having a small rooftop or patio is such a boon! If you want to utilize the space wisely, then take help from these Rooftop Garden Design Ideas!

Here are the best container vegetables for a Rooftop Garden

Rooftop Garden Design Ideas and Tips

We have some great terrace garden design ideas and essential tips that you can use for inspiration on your rooftop.

1. Keep it Open

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A small rooftop looks big if you are not going to fill it with a lot many things. A transparent glass instead of a parapet wall, fences, or railing will be great!

2. Create Some Privacy

houzz

If you have an open terrace, then growing climbing plants for privacy would be a great idea. Clematis, Climbing roses, and English Ivy are some of the best options you have! You can also use a bamboo screen, drapes or set up a wooden frame.

3. Grow Tall Plants and Trees

If you have a large rooftop, you can plant tall trees and shrubs to utilize the space to the fullest. Growing bamboos and grasses is a good combination if you want to make it low maintenance.

4. Create Raised Beds

Creating raised beds adjacent to the roof walls is a good idea. You can add wooden raised beds or ones that are made from metal. If you like, you can also construct concrete raised beds and grow tall shrubs and small trees in them.

Ensure you use a waterproofing membrane and lay a thick barrier that can block roots and prevent damage to the roof. One more idea is to make slightly elevated raised beds from the surface. That way, the roots of the plants may not be able to penetrate.

5. Plant Carefully

When it comes to rooftop garden design, ensure you maintain the diversity in the size of the plants. A few large plants, shrubs, and small trees, ground covers, annuals must be there. Also, buy containers of different sizes, as this will give a great look to your rooftop garden.

6. Add Furniture

Decide in advance what kind of furniture you would like to purchase. Would you like to lounge on the roof terrace or want to have dinner there? You must make a choice in the initial stage. Furniture that fits the style and theme of your roof garden would be more appropriate.

7. Add a Focal Point

Anything can be a focal point that draws attention. A water feature, tall tree, a beautiful arrangement of container plants, or simply a statue would be a great addition to the roof garden.

8. Introduce Lights

It is important that your rooftop garden is well-lit during the evening, especially near the stairwell or door. Moreover, lighting a roof will make it look larger during dusk.

9. Use No More than Three Colors

Always choose one color as an accent shade and one or two more hues that follow. Using several different colors for walls, floor, railings, furniture, or containers can make your rooftop look too busy and cluttered.

A color combined with a neutral color works best. Neutral colors like white, gray, beige, indigo also accentuate the beauty of plants.

10. Utilize the Vertical Space

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Utilize vertical space to add more appeal to your rooftop garden. Hang planters on the walls, use railing planters, and grow a lot of climbers.

11. Nice Floor is Important

Don’t avoid the flooring. Choose a type that fits your budget, suits the climate you live in, and accommodates the theme of the rooftop garden.

12. Play with Colors and Plant Types

Use cool and warm colors in balance to get a beautiful look. On a well-planned urban rooftop garden, everything is possible! Grow trees, shrubs, foliage plants, and annuals for a burst of different shades!

13. Rooftop Sitting Area

A rooftop barbeque, bar, or a mini kitchen along with some plants would be a great place to throw mini parties. You can have a lovely weekend right at your terrace that way!

14. A Mini Pool

A mini pool on the terrace surrounded by lush green tropical plants is a dream for many. If you don’t have a big terrace, then you can make a mini pool and add plants in containers.

15. Become a Rooftop Homesteader

A rooftop is a great place to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, and salads of your choice. Become a rooftop homesteader and grow your own food with ease.

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Guide to Rooftop Gardens | Garden Design

Get answers to common rooftop garden questions By Amber Freda

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Are you thinking of transforming your rooftop into a garden? Rooftop gardening has its own unique challenges and caveats that may surprise even the most seasoned of gardeners. Read these frequently asked questions before heading into the project.

Can I have a garden on my rooftop?

Yes, anything is possible. First, it’s important to know the difference between a roof garden and a green roof. A green roof can be done on any roof, even a slanted one. A green roof usually consists of shallow plastic or metal trays filled with sedums, grasses, or perennial wildflowers. It’s lightweight and easy to install. A roof garden usually consists of larger planters filled with a mix of evergreens, flowers, shrubs, and grasses. A roof garden might also include outdoor furnishings and can be thought of as an outdoor room. A roof garden usually exists on a mostly flat roof surface, due to the weight of the materials and the way the space is going to be used.

GET AMBER'S CHECKLIST FOR DESIGNING ROOFTOP GARDENS

The most basic requirement is that you know how many pounds per square foot your roof can hold so you can determine how much weight it will be able to withstand in terms of decking, planters, furnishings, etc. An architect, developer, or building manager may be able to tell you what the weight-bearing load is for the roof. If that information is unavailable, you may require the services of an engineer and/or a roofing contractor that can do a probe to determine this information.

How can the weight be kept down?

Pre-fabricated wood, fiberglass, and metal planters are usually pretty lightweight to begin with. Custom planters are bulkier and can be designed with false bottoms in them to help reduce the total amount of soil needed to fill them. As far as decking goes, wood or porcelain decking is usually lighter weight than stone or concrete.

What utilities are required for a rooftop garden?

An outdoor faucet is a must for a roof garden. An automated drip irrigation system can usually be installed for around $1,000-2,000, and it will be an enormous time-saver, as well as help extend the longevity and health of the plants. It usually pays for itself within the first year by greatly reducing the need for replacement plantings. An electrical outlet is useful to have if you plan to install low-voltage landscape lighting.

What are some important safety considerations for rooftop gardens?

Railing heights should conform to local laws. You will also want to check out your local laws with regards to flammable materials. NYC only allows 20% of a building’s total roof surface to be covered in wood decking. Umbrellas tend to be a safety concern. There are versions out there that are rated for wind permeability because they have extra vents built into the canopies that allow the air to pass through without lifting the entire thing up like a sail. There are also umbrellas with very heavy bases, like the Tuuci umbrellas, which are 500 pounds and in very little danger of ever being blown off a roof.

How can views, both good and bad, be handled?

We usually block unattractive views of neighboring rooftops, buildings, or walls using plantings like tall evergreens or fencing. We try to keep the more attractive views open by using lower plantings in those areas.

What types of plants are best suited for rooftops?

Gardening on top of a roof can be likened to gardening on top of a mountain. We tend to select plants that are more bottom-heavy than top-heavy to help avoid having them get blown over in high winds. Most evergreens work well for this reason, as well as multi-stem and weeping trees. We also try to avoid plants with large leaves, like elephant ears, which will tend to get easily shredded up by the wind. Finally, we recommend measuring the total number of sunlight hours the space receives per day to help determine whether you should use plants for full to part sun or mostly shade.

What features can be incorporated into a rooftop garden?

There are very specific fire code rules for every city that must be looked into for fire pits and grills. In NYC, the only ones that are allowed are electric, charcoal, or dedicated gas lines. Propane tanks are strictly forbidden. We usually incorporate a combination of high-voltage wall sconce lighting and low-voltage landscape lighting in the planters for a more ambient effect. For shade, we would probably recommend an umbrella, shade sail, awning, or pergola, depending on the aesthetic and budget of the client. Jacuzzis are usually allowed as long as they aren’t too heavy for that particular roof. The most difficult thing with a Jacuzzi is usually getting it to the roof — a crane may be required, which can be pricey.

Amber Freda is recognized across NYC for her landscape design expertise. Her company, Amber Freda Home & Garden Design, offers design and installation of roof gardens, terraces, backyards, patios, and decks.

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Roof gardens: a new word in modern landscape design

The history of the roof garden goes back to before our era. The first ancient landscape ideas were the hanging gardens of Babylon and the green terraces of Caesar Augustus. The modern history of such landscaping begins in Iceland, where the roofs were covered with earth and planted with grass. The houses of the inhabitants of this island country resembled living corners, on the roofs of which greenery grows freely almost as in natural conditions. The first person to seriously plan gardens of this type was the famous French architect Le Corbusier. Back in the first half of the 20th century, he identified five principles of the new architecture. The second of them was as follows: "The roof garden will be the most beautiful part of the building, and this means the revival of green spaces in big cities." Despite centuries of experience, green roofs began to spread only in the 80s. The twentieth century, when technology and high-quality materials were invented. One of the most interesting and, perhaps, the most famous objects in this direction is the Hundertwasser House in Vienna.

A roof garden is not a luxury, but a means of landscaping

Today, almost everyone can afford to create a green roof. It is no longer a luxury, as it used to be. From an idea to its implementation is just a stone's throw away. The production of materials and the technology of green roofing is very well developed and allows you to create a delightful corner of nature on any roof. There are several types of green roofs:

- extensive green roof

is the simplest green roof option, with a small (6-12 cm) layer of substrate and plants that require minimal maintenance and grow in extreme conditions;

- semi-intensive green roof

is a garden with ground cover plants, different types of herbs, perennials and small shrubs. This type of green roof makes it possible to plan a variety of plantings and expands the range of exploitation of the territory;

- intensive green roof

is a type of green roof, which, depending on the thickness of the ceiling of the building, can have a substrate layer of up to two meters, which allows planting not only bushes, but also low-growing trees. This landscaping option is almost endless, it can only be limited by the budget or the lack of new ideas. A lawn, a flower bed, a terrace and even a jacuzzi - all this is quite possible on an intensive type roof.

In today's world, greening flat roofs has become extremely relevant both from an economic and environmental point of view. Why? Here are a few arguments:

✓ The roof garden has a property that is very relevant in our time - it insulates the building in winter and cools it in summer. Additionally reduces physical, chemical and biological stress. New green spaces appear in the settlements, maintaining and improving the ecological background of the territory.
And these are additional opportunities for the conservation of flora and fauna and nature protection in the conditions of a modern city.
✓ Green roofs collect atmospheric precipitation, thereby reducing the load on the sewer, returning it to the natural circulation.
✓ Thanks to green roofs, the area of ​​green spaces is increased in a small area. Such a garden can be created both on the roofs of high-rise buildings, and on terraces or roofs of private houses.
✓ A green roof increases the sound and heat insulation of buildings.
✓ Green rooftops absorb most of the harmful substances found in the urban environment, reducing the impact of urban pollution.

Garden on the third floor

Green roofs are very popular in Europe today. The world has seriously thought about environmental problems, especially in large metropolitan areas. People are constantly looking for ways to increase the area of ​​green spaces in one way or another, improve the environment and save their health. It is better to tell about how exactly the greening of roofs takes place with an example. One of the clients of the green roof company, Mr. Rosner and his wife, dreamed of transforming the terrace of their new apartment in the center of the German city of Inglstadt. With the help of a landscape designer, it was possible to build a beautiful garden on the roof, in the open air, with real flower beds and plants in containers.

Roof gardens (+30 photos) Advantages of a Green Roof

Contents of the article is Queen Amitis. A multi-stage pyramidal structure rose to the sky with luxurious greenery of trees, shrubs, iridescent radiance of exotic flowers. Stone platforms fertilized with fertile soil represented a rather complex structure with a water irrigation system, fountains and cascades. The wonderful Babylonian gardens on the roof - proof of the touching love of Tsar New Chadnezzar II - have become for humanity an unproven, but a vivid example of the almighty engineering and design thought. In the modern world, a corner of wildlife on the roof is gaining its fashionable popularity. But for the majority, this is a spiritual and physical need for silence, solitude among natural lines, colors, smells.

The most famous rooftop gardens

Not only ancient Babylon became famous for its "green" ideas. In many Scandinavian countries, birch bark roofs covered with magnificent turf have been an integral part of the landscape since the Middle Ages. The tradition is not going to die: every year the Scandinavian Green Roof Association chooses the best project.

The temperamental Renaissance Italy, immersed in the sun, continued the idea of ​​unusual gardening. One of the Medici villas - "Fiesole" (villa "Belcanto") - in the vicinity of Florence stood out not only for its "panoramic" view, but also for its multi-level garden on high stone terraces. The green islands of bliss and coolness have long been loved by the Italian people as a practical, original technique.

In Russia, a roof garden has been around since the 17th century. Initially, these were attempts to ennoble the outbuildings of the courtyard: barns, warehouses and cellars. Such "creativity" was available to eminent persons, and later to wealthy merchants. In the residences of Russian emperors and empresses, in the houses of the wealthy nobility, oases were equipped, investing large sums of money in projects of "hanging gardens". So, in the Small Hermitage, the center of Catherine II's "graceful leisure", a real open garden was created at the level of the second floor with walking paths, trees, flowers and even running overseas animals. Much later, it will be covered with a glass roof, turning it into a winter garden.

An acute shortage of nature in large cities forces architects and landscape designers to join forces, creating unique structures on the top of buildings. A marvel of artistic thought is the rooftop garden of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore. The architect's idea is a giant gondola, standing on a hotel complex of three high-rise buildings. Green spaces, walking paths, swimming pools, places for recreation - amaze the most sophisticated tourists.

A real masterpiece, born in the confluence of nature and architecture - the terraced park of the Namba shopping complex in Japan. Stylized islands of natural landscapes, stone compositions, waterfalls, streams and small ponds occupy the height of an eight-story building. An amazing building in the Russian capital that attracts attention is the Moscow International House of Music. The project of the building includes a small winter garden on the roof with exotic greenhouse plants, smoothly turning into an open area with several green areas and walking paths.

If we talk about the prevalence of green gardens on the upper areas of our buildings, then today these are separate, infrequent developments. Good prerequisites for the development of this direction in Russia undoubtedly exist.

The practicality of roof gardens

The beauty and unusualness of roof gardens breaks all records. But there is another reason, which lies not only in the aesthetic aspect of home design. A green roof is more durable because the plants absorb water very well. In addition, in the summer it is an opportunity not to languish from the heat, and in winter it is an opportunity to save heating costs. However, not all roofs of large urban buildings are able to withstand the load of "intensive" gardens, the soil depth of which reaches two meters. Such eco-islands under the very sky involve paths, ponds, swimming pools, alpine slides, light landscape architecture buildings and a number of serious preparatory works involving specialists.

"Extensive" gardens are easier to arrange and prepare, located on flat or pitched roofs of private houses, gazebos, sheds. Such green carpets from the most unpretentious plants are only an external decor, not assuming that they will be walked on. One of the main difficulties of creating a rooftop garden is its price. Engaging builders, landscape designers, architects and other professionals is quite expensive.

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