I thought I would share some photos of the aftermath on one of our green roofs in Melbourne after the recent weekend storms.  Melbourne was lashed with hail stones the 'size of lemons' and received 40mm of rain in 30 minutes.  There are some great photos of the Races in Melbourne to give you an indication of the mayhem.

Considering the above, you could say that the roof faired pretty well.  Like any terrestrial landscape the damage to succulent foliage type plants is always a problem with hail.  In the same breath these types of plants will readily sprout roots from their fallen leaves and in the end probably result in a greater density of planting.

I have great faith in plants and expect to see the roof bounce back from this most unusual storm.

I have started a new blog showcasing growing food in a Sydney suburban garden in places food is not traditionally grown namely the roof of a chook house and a sunny brick wall.

The blog will closely follow the hurdles and successes and make available any findings that make growing food on garden roofs and vertical gardens possible for anyone.

The blog can be viewed by following this link to foodupthere

Please check it out.

GREEN ROOF BEETROOT

I wanted to show you an example of some food I have been growing on the roof of my chook house.  This beetroot was grown in a 75mm media profile using only coconut fibre.  Slow release fertiliser and sub surface irrigation have been incorporated as part of the installation.  The smaller beetroots were grown in the garden and granted they may not have received the same amount of moisture it goes to show that there is a real opportunity to grow food on the rooftops in our towns and cities.

I have had great success growing all herbs, spring onions, peas, lettuce and spinach.  The shallow profile shows that food can be grown on existing buildings with retrofits, on shed roofs, dog houses or  any other such roof. 

I believe for rooftop installations where food is being grown, a mineral media is not essential as changing the growing media on a 2-5 year basis is easily done.  This can mean that lighter weight organic media can be used thereby creating a much larger scope for green roof installations.

This year Junglefy is the sponsor of the City of Sydney's Live Green House.  The Live Green House is a modular mobile home that showcases sustainable building practices and technologies that can be incorporated into new builds or retrofitted into existing buildings.  Junglefy showcased three technologies; the ecoVert™ Home, the ecoVert™ Pro and a dog house with a green roof.  All three technologies attracted a fantastic response and opened peoples minds to the opportunites of incorporating such technologies into their houses or apartments.
Please click on the following links for further details and a time lapse of the installation. Live Green House and Live Green Time Lapse
The Live Green house will be on display at Martin Place in Sydney on the 9th & 10th of November and again during Chinese New Year celebrations from the 12th - 14th of February 2010.