How to put a Green Roof on your Garden Shed

Garden sheds are useful places to keep your garden tools and equipment. They range from the very cheap to the extremely expensive. But quite often the siting of a garden shed has already been determined before the designer gets there and quite often the clients are reluctant to move them. Although, I have to say, I have done that on more than one occasion. So if your stuck with a boring garden shed roof to stare at, then why not consider making it environmental and green. If you get the planting right then you will attract wildlife into your garden as well.

1. The first thing to make sure of is will the roof carry the weight of the turf or soil and seeds you are going to be putting on it. If its an old shed it might need refurbishing first. If its a large double garage you will need to consult your structural engineer who will be able to calculations for you.

2. The second thing to do is think about water and drainage. You would hope that nature will water your green roof for you, but in dry spells in summer you might need to make sure the plants don’t dry out, so adding in a automatic watering system up front might stop you having to climb on a ladder. These are usually made of thing pipe with slow drip feed mechanisms.

3. The next thing to think about is some form of edging to make sure that the turf doesn’t slip off the roof, especially if its has a high pitch. But even the flattest of roofs need a slight pitch to avoid water puddling in the turf. So some inexpensive soft or hard wood around the edge will do the trick.

4. Fourthly its time to decide whether you are going to use prepared turf or plant it yourself with plug plants (Small plants usually made for growing on) or seeds. Look at BeeMat they have a few systems; one is a living tile which comes in 54 x 54 cm interlocking tiles ready planted with sedum or wild-flowers. Another system is their BeeMat which comes on a role 50cm x 200cm that contains a diverse range of high quality native wildflower seeds such as Borage, Lady Phacelia, Lesser & Greater Knapweed, Chrysanthemum, Vipers, Bugloss, Cornflower, Verbena, Corn Marigold and more… They also do a Butterfly Mat and a Bird Mat depending on your preference.

5. Finally stand back and admire and watch the wildlife.

Take a look at how Joe Swift does it on the BBC.