In message , John
McMillan writes
Reginald Farrer (always good for a laugh...) was delightful on the
genus. "Sedum - This vast race as a whole, is curiously uninteresting:
as is felt even by catalogues, that do their best, yet cant say much,
and take refuge in an inextricable welter of synonyms and pseudonyms.
Nearly all Sedums are of easy culture in open poor places often far
too easy of cultivation, and yet more deplorably easy of propagation.
The race is far too large and dim for us here minutely to
discriminate." Not a promising start but he goes on to describe over
sixteen pages nearly 200 species in cultivation at the time (1919).
quoted from http://northants.bcss.org.uk/nl161/nl161odds.htm

Odd - for some reason I'll never understand, I find sedums endlessly
amusing....

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

Martin wrote:
Ah! I thought this was newsgroup :-)

It is! And I'm still talking about Uncle's roof g

Anyway the same comments apply, especially to asbestos roofs.

Indeedee. I'd take it all away if I was him.Though I don't imagine's
Uncle's friend's roof being covered with 3m high in snow ... Just a
suggestion, you understand.

On 16/10/06 16:33, in article ,
"®óñ© © ² * ¹°°³" wrote:

On Mon, 16 Oct 2006 16:12:14 +0100, Sacha wrote
and included this (or some of this):
snip

Goats would do it....

I was in a Majorcan villa a few years back and some goats
(I think they were) got upon to the roof over the bedroom and started
Flatley dancing or line-dancing in the middle of the night.

Startled? Who, moi? My nightshirt went up my back like a
roller-blind.

The last Rector for this village told my husband that he called upon the
previous inhabitants of this house one day and saw a goat on the roof. And
believe me, that would not be an easy thing to achieve in this house! He
left without asking 'why', which I think infuriating!

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

In article ,
"Uncle Marvo" wrote:


AFAIK the sedums or sempervivums or grass of green roofs are
normally not just planted on the existing roof with (or without)
a waterproofing membrane. They normally put down a layer of
lightweight free draining aggregate like that Hortag stuff for the
plants to hold on to. Then of course, if its a reasonable
slope you have to make sure that the aggregate doesn't slide
so I guess plastic or wire netting comes in. Over time some weed
seeds are going to land in the sedum colony and its going to
need a bit of weeding and maintenance.
I don't think I'd try this on a non-load bearing roof.

and yes, Klara, I find sedums amusing too.

There has just been an article on my local TV station (Look North). A
school has been roofed with sedum, as far as I recall, rooted only into
capillary matting.

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
In reply to Rupert (W.Yorkshire) ) who wrote
this in

Glad you find the info useful. The masks and protectives are all
detailed on most council websites. Use disposable everything
including masks and dump the lot in sealed bags at the end of the
job. What I mean is do not use just any mask and particularly not
ones borrowed from work where someone else will subsequently use
the
same mask.

When I say "borrow" ....I will check what we have, I am pretty sure
we have
the right stuff :-)

Australia is the world capital for Asbestos related diseases and they
are simply ghastly. My advice would be to get the shed owner to do
the removal work and don't go near the place till it's all gone.

"Sue" wrote in message
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote
Pity you weren't here or I could send you hundreds of Echivarias
(sp?)
that I've dug out and which are ready to go off to the tip.

People pay a fortune for those in garden centres here!

They grow like weeds in my garden. I use then as markers and pop them
in when I've finished a section of soil improvement so I know how far
I've got (I have a BIG country garden). I then go back and rip them
out when I want to plant "good" plants.

Rupert (W.Yorkshire) wrote:
"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...
In reply to Rupert (W.Yorkshire) ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

Excellent idea to de-asbestos. You do not need a licence to DIY on
your own property. It is a simple process and there are many web
sites that give exact instructions how to do it.
Most local councils have a section on asbestos removal and where to
take it. I am just about to remove a roof from my niece's garage
following the rules of Bradford Council. Safety masks etc and
polythene sheet will cost about £100. If you follow the standard
procedure and assume that the asbestos is the nastiest form then you
will do as good a job as the professional firms who do have to be
licensed and controlled.

That's very handy advice. I have masks etc at work which I can borrow.

I'm perusing the instructions ...

Thanks a lot for that info.
Glad you find the info useful. The masks and protectives are all detailed on
most council websites. Use disposable everything including masks and dump
the lot in sealed bags at the end of the job. What I mean is do not use just
any mask and particularly not ones borrowed from work where someone else
will subsequently use the same mask.

Also make sure that the asbestos is disposed of safely at the local tip
(and be sure to tell the stupid jobsworth that it is asbestos). I once
watched some young idiot operative put white corrugated asbsetos board
into a general waste crusher releasing a vast cloud of dust and fibres
over himself.

ISTR the dedicated asbestos waste container is a distinctive colour
(red)?

Regards,
Martin Brown

In message , John
McMillan writes
and yes, Klara, I find sedums amusing too.
Ah, a soulmate! From the sound of this thread we are very much on our
own :-)
--
Klara, Gatwick basin

On 17/10/06 05:15, in article
, "Farm1"
please@askifyouwannaknow wrote:

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
In reply to Rupert (W.Yorkshire) ) who wrote
this in

Glad you find the info useful. The masks and protectives are all
detailed on most council websites. Use disposable everything
including masks and dump the lot in sealed bags at the end of the
job. What I mean is do not use just any mask and particularly not
ones borrowed from work where someone else will subsequently use
the
same mask.

When I say "borrow" ....I will check what we have, I am pretty sure
we have
the right stuff :-)

Australia is the world capital for Asbestos related diseases and they
are simply ghastly. My advice would be to get the shed owner to do
the removal work and don't go near the place till it's all gone.


There's a town in Australia which the residents have been advised to abandon
but many won't. Even doctors refuse to visit there. Isn't that something
awful to do with asbestos?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

In reply to michael adams ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 16 Oct 2006 14:26:55 +0100, "Uncle Marvo"
wrote:

In reply to Sacha ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

On 16/10/06 14:19, in article
, "Martin"
wrote:

On 16 Oct 2006 06:08:45 -0700, "La Puce"
wrote:


Uncle Marvo wrote:
I heard something on GQT on R4 on Sunday saying that sedum was
difficult to get, and all you got nowadays was some inferior
variety.
Is this true?
I have told someone that I would kindly build them a green roof
on their garage, idiot that I be. I haven't a clue what I'm
doing, but I was going to put a rubbery membrane on it, build
round the sides a bit, fill it with compost and plant sedum and
maybe some alpines etc, in a Norwegian stylee. You can't walk
on the roof, it's asbestos or similar, so I can't be weeding it
either. I understand that I can put chicken wire over the top
which stops certain wildlife eating the roof, but I think that
would be ugly in the extreme.
Any ideas/tips/pointers/books/articles on the subject would be
very welcome.

Hullo Uncle. I'm sending you this link to start with - so that
you can also consider a grass roof which would be ideal as the
maintenance is pretty minimal. And it happens to be a project we
are still considering, not the roof but the house, a segal house
(instead of a boat possibly) ...

http://www.segalselfbuild.co.uk/arti...gagreenro.html

Did I miss the bit about the potential for the roof to collapse
under the weight when it is waterlogged?

Or how to cut the grass when it has grown?

That's the bit that worried me. I believe that's why sedum or
similar are used, cos you don't need to. I expect there's a way to
stop grass growing.

The roof caves in first?

The best way I have found is to *want* it to grow ...

I'd be more worried about putting a heavy weight on an asbestos roof,
for the same reason that you can't walk on it.
--

Martin

If the corrugations run down the slope i.e. across the short span
then there's no saying that he couldn't walk on it.

Although there's only one sure fire way to find out.

But in any case that's no comparison.

With a person all their weight is concentrated on their footprint.
So each footprint weighs, say 5 stone. That's the point of maximum
stress which would cause the structure to fail. Its doubtful if a
footprint of soil up to the depth of a foot would even weigh two
pounds, one 35th as much. And so the stress will be evenly
distributed across the entire structure.

Good point. The only problem then would be a) getting the thing on there in
the first place and b) weeding it. How do the Norwegians, who do lots of
this, manage their weeding? I had assumed that sedum or whatever they use is
short growing stuff which beats the weeds. Maybe not.

Perhaps I'll use astroturf!

Uncle Marvo wrote:
Good point. The only problem then would be a) getting the thing on there in
the first place and b) weeding it. How do the Norwegians, who do lots of
this, manage their weeding? I had assumed that sedum or whatever they use is
short growing stuff which beats the weeds. Maybe not.
Perhaps I'll use astroturf!

That's why I've suggested grass. There's hundreds of examples in the
UK. I see grass roofs everywhere I go. There's even one across the road
from me - though it wasn't intentional ) It just grew over the years
on the ondulated garage roof, it's pecked by birds and is a playground
for baby squirels. A mate did one on his outdoor shower hut. He didn't
bother with different layers, just some butyl and gravel, soil and wild
flower seeds. He has never been up there to weed nor does he bother
with it at all. However he doesn't have asbestos! My hubby told me that
the asbestos could split if you load it too much and then that's when
the dust could become dangerous. (We used to play darts on a door in
our student flat for years until we realised it was asbestos cough).

I've missed my mate last night ... but found her designs in my notes.
I'm putting together her ideas on an email to you.

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...


Good point. The only problem then would be a) getting the thing on there
in
the first place and b) weeding it. How do the Norwegians, who do lots of
this, manage their weeding? I had assumed that sedum or whatever they use
is
short growing stuff which beats the weeds. Maybe not.

Perhaps I'll use astroturf!

Rockwool was mentioned in my previous link.

Used extensivley in hydroponics, and presumably very light.

How it's anchored so as not to slide off, and how the plants are anchored
in the rock wool until they get established is another matter.

http://www.grodan.com/sw63706.asp

From the link it looks as though rockwool is pretty substantial
though light, like expanded polyurethane or very thick loft insulation.

Why not try using two or three slabs of rockwool which can be planted up on
the ground, and when fully established lifted into position ? If the slabs
were on top of plywood or chipboard sheets on the ground, these could be
then
lifted up and the rockwool blocks slid off onto the roof. You'd still need
some means of anchoring the rockwool on the roof however.


michael adams

....

"michael adams" wrote in message
...

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...


Good point. The only problem then would be a) getting the thing on there
in
the first place and b) weeding it. How do the Norwegians, who do lots of
this, manage their weeding? I had assumed that sedum or whatever they use
is
short growing stuff which beats the weeds. Maybe not.

Perhaps I'll use astroturf!

Rockwool was mentioned in my previous link.

Used extensivley in hydroponics, and presumably very light.

How it's anchored so as not to slide off, and how the plants are anchored
in the rock wool until they get established is another matter.

http://www.grodan.com/sw63706.asp

From the link it looks as though rockwool is pretty substantial
though light, like expanded polyurethane or very thick loft insulation.

Why not try using two or three slabs of rockwool which can be planted up
on
the ground, and when fully established lifted into position ? If the slabs
were on top of plywood or chipboard sheets on the ground, these could be
then
lifted up and the rockwool blocks slid off onto the roof. You'd still need
some means of anchoring the rockwool on the roof however.

I have a fair lump of rockwool, used as loft/boat insulation. It might be a
bit thick. I'll experiment with planting some stuff in it. I think grass
might be one good bet as it doesn't disappear in the winter, also it keeps
down weeds if you use the right stuff.

I think the loading would then be quite low as long as it is well-drained. I
suspect that it can be kept on the roof by means of some spikes, so I need a
material that is waterproof and spikey. Can't think of one.

On Tue, 17 Oct 2006 10:54:47 +0100, "Uncle Marvo"
wrote and included this (or
some of this):

I have a fair lump of rockwool, used as loft/boat insulation. It might be a
bit thick. I'll experiment with planting some stuff in it. I think grass
might be one good bet as it doesn't disappear in the winter, also it keeps
down weeds if you use the right stuff.

I think the loading would then be quite low as long as it is well-drained. I
suspect that it can be kept on the roof by means of some spikes, so I need a
material that is waterproof and spikey. Can't think of one.

Sharkskin is good.

--
®óñ© © ² * ¹°°³