New Garage Wild Garden roof

lowki9

Hi,

I'm planning on replacing my garage and would like to build a garage that would be suitable for placing a wild garden roof onto.  I've been searching around the internet and there seems to be small pieces of information about what may be suitable but not sufficient amounts to create a complete plan.  Does anyone have experience of carrying out such a project or any ideas as to how it should be carried out?

Thanks

Mike

WillDB

There's a pretty comprehensive guide here, probably a bit OTT for your project but at least you can see the principles - loading, drainage, water retention, depth of growing medium etc https://www.bauder.co.uk/technical-centre/downloads/design-guides/green-roof-design-guide.pdf

lowki9

Thanks.  I'll take a look.

wild edges

What sort of planting do you want up there? The more I look into this the more I like the idea of diverse planting where you have mostly shallow soil but with areas that are raised and deeper so you can grow different types of plant. Create the raised areas using logs and stones to bank them up while also making wildlife habitat. If I was doing it I'd use mini gabion baskets as the edging filled with nice stone.  https://www.manomano.co.uk/stone-fence-2508?model_id=3051722&g=1&referer_id=686945&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgMeUvej94wIVx7HtCh0inA3lEAYYBSABEgJVxvD_BwE

Just remember to keep access easy as they need more maintenance than you think.

lowki9

I like the idea but the garage is on the border with my neighbours so height restrictions apply.   Even wild plants require a large amount of maintenance?   I figured that I'd place a drip irrigation system on top and they'd fend for themselves.  

wild edges

The gabions are only 20cm high so they don't add much more depth than your soil and drainage layer but they look nicer than just a timber or plastic edge and things like sedums and sempervivums will grow in them.

You need to keep on top of weed seeds so weeding a few times a year really helps to keep a decent appearance. Then cutting back and removing dead material can help keep things neat. It all depends how wild you want it to be. There's a big difference between wild and scruffy though. It's not massive amounts of maintenance but you can't really just leave it to look after itself.

I've got some great books on small green roofs but they're out of print now and expensive sadly. Nigel Dunnett seems to be the authority on the subject though so see what you can find by him.