Rooftop gardens are a beautiful addition to any urban home or business. You can add herbs, flowers, shrubs, and edible plants. However, this will take some time and a few practical steps. This is what we’ll outline for you below.

1. Prep Your Roof
You want to find out how much weight your roof can safely hold. This is the loading capacity. A structural engineer can give you an exact weight. You’ll have to use this weight to make sure all of your plants, furniture, equipment, plant containers, dirt, and weather conditions don’t overload your roof.

2. Check Building Codes
Go to your local city hall and check with your building codes. You may end up with regulations that govern how tall or large your garden can be. They may even stop you from building one. See if you need any permits and special features while you’re there.


How to Create a Roof Garden on My House

3. Monitor the Sun Exposure
Monitor how much sun your roof gets over one or two weeks. This will give you a good idea of what you can and can’t have. Monitor it in the morning, midday, and evening hours. Make a note of any heavily shaded areas.

4. Map Out Your Garden Design
Take a sheet of graph paper and map out your garden’s design. Plot out where your plants will go, your furniture, and any features you want to have. You can measure your roof beforehand and scale your sketch to match your space.

5. Connect a Hose
Connect a hose that will go to your roof. If there is a water line or faucet on your roof, connect your hose there. This will make watering your new rooftop garden an easy process. You can also rig up water containment systems if there is no hose attachment.

6. Get Your Gardening Supplies
Go shopping and pick out your containers. You can get metal, wood, terracotta, ceramic, and more. You may want to pick out a trellis too for any climbing plants. Choose plants that are heat and drought-resistant. Native plants, ornamental shrubs, and ornamental trees are good choices. Avoid plants with big leaves because they tend to burn. Pick out your potting soil too.

7. Set Up Your Garden
Once your plants are in their containers, it’s time to set up your garden. Lay your plants out on the rooftop as you had on your design. You can pick a focal point and arrange your garden around it, or you can use all of the space to flow from one area to the next.

8. Add Decorations
When you get your garden set up, it’s time to add all of the small decorations that make it unique. You could have lightweight furniture, a birdhouse, an umbrella for shade, and a small table. Choose pieces that have a multi-functional design to make the most out of your space.

9. Maintenance
Be prepared to perform routine maintenance on your garden. You’ll want to water it in the cooler hours of the day like early morning or late afternoon. Trim back plants as they get too long, fertilize, and re-pot them as necessary. 

Contact Evergreen Landscaping

Are you ready to set up your new rooftop garden? If so, contact us. We can help you decide the perfect plants, how to set up your garden, and how to keep it healthy.