Rooftop Gardens: Trend Once Reserved for Wealthy Makes Broad Comeback

The idea of growing things on roofs is being revisited; roof gardens are making a comeback. Rooftop gardens that were once viewed as something only the rich or eccentric would have now are being looked at from a different perspective.

Also known as roof gardens and green roofing, rooftop gardening involves growing green vegetation on a rooftop. There is no limit to what can be grown on the roof, be it a few potted plants scattered around a roof terrace to an entire roof composed of growing vegetation.

An entire roof covered with soil and garden vegetation planted over a water proof membrane is called a green roof. This full blown roof garden makes a building more energy efficient and extends the life of the roof. Typical roofing materials are broken down by the sun's ultraviolet rays usually within 15-20 years, when those ultraviolet rays are blocked by a roof garden, a roof could last indefinitely.

A green roof also provides environmental and economic benefits for the building they cover. A roof garden that covers the entire roof of a building reduces the urban heat island effect, keeping the heating and air conditioning costs down, saving a lot of electricity for the building that would otherwise have been used for heating and cooling.

A green roof also absorbs air pollution, stores carbon, reduces outside noise, insulates the building, serves as a living environment for birds and is an attractive alternative to traditional roofing at a comparable price.

A popular plant choice for roof gardens is sedum, a type of succulent that is weather tolerant. A local area school that is in the process of installing a roof garden will have sedum, iris, phlox and apple trees. These type of plantings for a roof garden will require an irrigation system to be installed, making the potential of what can be grown on that roof garden limitless.