We're a bit short of space in our garden, but there's a nice flat
roof... It's the normal black type thing. It's south facing, with a
wall behind it so it's a real sun trap. It strikes me it could be the
ideal place to grow anything which likes it hot with full sun. I was
thinking of chillies and tomatoes, but I'm open to other suggestions.
They may as well be vegetables, as no one is going to see them there.

The only thing is, will a flat roof be too hot? I imagine it could
well be sweltering up there in the summer - the roof itself can often
be too hot to touch in July and August. I'd probably keep the
containers off the roof itself by resting on some timber anyway.

Watering and access are an issue, but I can work those out. I just
wondered if anyone had tried it and if it is such a good idea?


~ If emailing, please use: Steve_A_Haigh
~ @
~ hotmail.com
~

In article ,
Steve writes:
| We're a bit short of space in our garden, but there's a nice flat
| roof... It's the normal black type thing. It's south facing, with a
| wall behind it so it's a real sun trap. It strikes me it could be the
| ideal place to grow anything which likes it hot with full sun. I was
| thinking of chillies and tomatoes, but I'm open to other suggestions.
| They may as well be vegetables, as no one is going to see them there.

Cape gooseberries :-)

| The only thing is, will a flat roof be too hot? I imagine it could
| well be sweltering up there in the summer - the roof itself can often
| be too hot to touch in July and August. I'd probably keep the
| containers off the roof itself by resting on some timber anyway.

Chillis etc. don't mind heat if they have enough water - it won't
get THAT hot in the UK, but your timber idea is well worth while.

| Watering and access are an issue, but I can work those out. I just
| wondered if anyone had tried it and if it is such a good idea?

Yes, it is, provided that you don't overload the roof and you don't
cause leaks by damaging it or causing water to puddle. But do
watch out for that.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Steve" wrote
We're a bit short of space in our garden, but there's a nice flat
roof... It's the normal black type thing. It's south facing, with a
wall behind it so it's a real sun trap. It strikes me it could be
the
ideal place to grow anything which likes it hot with full sun. I was
thinking of chillies and tomatoes, but I'm open to other
suggestions.
They may as well be vegetables, as no one is going to see them
there.

The only thing is, will a flat roof be too hot? I imagine it could
well be sweltering up there in the summer - the roof itself can
often
be too hot to touch in July and August. I'd probably keep the
containers off the roof itself by resting on some timber anyway.

Watering and access are an issue, but I can work those out. I just
wondered if anyone had tried it and if it is such a good idea?

Yes it will be hot, but providing you can water enough, this should
not be a problem.

You should check how much weight the roof can carry - you don't want
all 'yer veggies ending up in the room below....

Chillies, tomatoes, beans, herbs, there is no end to what is possible
on a flat roof.

Lots of links about roof gardening on my website:
http://members.rott.chello.nl/ldejag...ex.welcome.htm (roof page)

HTH Jenny

"Steve" wrote in message
...
We're a bit short of space in our garden, but there's a nice flat
roof... It's the normal black type thing. It's south facing, with a
wall behind it so it's a real sun trap.

Years ago my brother had a garden on the roof of his flat complex in
London......in addition to growing grapes in pots plus flowers etc. he built
a small greenhouse for growing tomatoes and the likes........not a big one
but big enough to grow 1/2 dozen tomato plants.....excellent
results......had a hosepipe connected up to the roof for easy
watering.........he could grow pretty much much anything he
wanted.........HW

The design requirement for a man load on flat roof joists will mean it
can carry almost as many growbags as you require.

Loading is almost certainly not a factor in this case. If you want me to
check then get the size of the flat roof joist, with the longest
distance between supports and I`ll do a quick calc to prove the loading
for you. 8-)

--
email farmer chris on
Please don`t use as it`s a spam haven.

In article ,
Christopher Norton writes:
| The design requirement for a man load on flat roof joists will mean it
| can carry almost as many growbags as you require.
|
| Loading is almost certainly not a factor in this case. If you want me to
| check then get the size of the flat roof joist, with the longest
| distance between supports and I`ll do a quick calc to prove the loading
| for you. 8-)

Growbags, yes, but you can easily overload it with containers!

Also, flat roofs are an abomination in the UK, because they leak,
and a much lower load than their limit may well cause them to sag.
I have seen a large 'flat' roof holding a 1-2" deep puddle all
over it ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Christopher Norton" wrote in message
...
The design requirement for a man load on flat roof joists will mean
it
can carry almost as many growbags as you require.

Loading is almost certainly not a factor in this case. If you want
me to
check then get the size of the flat roof joist, with the longest
distance between supports and I`ll do a quick calc to prove the
loading
for you. 8-)


What if there are no joists ?
My flat roof is made by flat concrete panels.........
Jenny

The message
from "JennyC" contains these words:


"Christopher Norton" wrote in message
...
The design requirement for a man load on flat roof joists will mean
it
can carry almost as many growbags as you require.

Loading is almost certainly not a factor in this case. If you want
me to
check then get the size of the flat roof joist, with the longest
distance between supports and I`ll do a quick calc to prove the
loading
for you. 8-)


What if there are no joists ?
My flat roof is made by flat concrete panels.........
Jenny

Then I`m of no use whatsoever. I`m a timber engineer. Chances are tho
that the design requirements are the same. BS codes have that effect
now. If it`s old then I`d be very carefull.

--
email farmer chris on
Please don`t use as it`s a spam haven.

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:


Growbags, yes, but you can easily overload it with containers!

Also, flat roofs are an abomination in the UK, because they leak,
and a much lower load than their limit may well cause them to sag.
I have seen a large 'flat' roof holding a 1-2" deep puddle all
over it ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I`m a roof truss designer so it`s pitched roofs all the way for me. The
by product is a whole suite of software to be able to design timber
beams of all types.

They should all have some fallaway on them now to get rid of water. Most
problems with flat roofs are that cowboys have put them up with no
consideration for design and so there are a lot out there with 50 x 100
joists. Thats where problems start.

--
email farmer chris on
Please don`t use as it`s a spam haven.

In article ,
Christopher Norton writes:
|
| My flat roof is made by flat concrete panels.........
|
| Then I`m of no use whatsoever. I`m a timber engineer. Chances are tho
| that the design requirements are the same. BS codes have that effect
| now. If it`s old then I`d be very carefull.

VERY careful. Most timber tends to fail gracefully, so you get some
warning. Concrete doesn't.

| They should all have some fallaway on them now to get rid of water. Most
| problems with flat roofs are that cowboys have put them up with no
| consideration for design and so there are a lot out there with 50 x 100
| joists. Thats where problems start.

That's OK for roofs of a metre or so span :-)

I built a pergola with a 4 metre 100x100mm main beam, and have
regretted it! It sags. Not a real problem, but a bit annoying
to the eye. I should have used 100x150mm - 100x200mm would have
looked wrong.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"JennyC" wrote in message
...

"Christopher Norton" wrote in message
...
The design requirement for a man load on flat roof joists will mean
it
can carry almost as many growbags as you require.

Loading is almost certainly not a factor in this case. If you want
me to
check then get the size of the flat roof joist, with the longest
distance between supports and I`ll do a quick calc to prove the
loading
for you. 8-)


What if there are no joists ?
My flat roof is made by flat concrete panels.........
Jenny

Then you will probably need a buildings inspector/surveyor.
The problem could be:-
The roof cracks
The roof collapses
The wall holding up the roof slips/slides/subsides
The foundations of the wall subside

You are unlikely to get a warning of any of these things until it is too
late.

Window boxes are probably OK
grow bags against the wall are usually OK

Full blown raised beds, pots and other garden designs tend to require a
building survey.
Which is where I came in.

Dave
BTW I do know of a decent survey service if you are reasonably close to
Shropshire.

"JennyC" wrote in message
...

"Christopher Norton" wrote in message
...
The design requirement for a man load on flat roof joists will mean
it
can carry almost as many growbags as you require.

Loading is almost certainly not a factor in this case. If you want
me to
check then get the size of the flat roof joist, with the longest
distance between supports and I`ll do a quick calc to prove the
loading
for you. 8-)


What if there are no joists ?
My flat roof is made by flat concrete panels.........
Jenny

Then you will probably need a buildings inspector/surveyor.
The problem could be:-
The roof cracks
The roof collapses
The wall holding up the roof slips/slides/subsides
The foundations of the wall subside

You are unlikely to get a warning of any of these things until it is too
late.

Window boxes are probably OK
grow bags against the wall are usually OK

Full blown raised beds, pots and other garden designs tend to require a
building survey.
Which is where I came in.

Dave
BTW I do know of a decent survey service if you are reasonably close to
Shropshire.

"Christopher Norton" wrote
JennyC" contains these words:
"Christopher Norton" wrote
The design requirement for a man load on flat roof joists will
mean
it can carry almost as many growbags as you require.
Loading is almost certainly not a factor in this case. If you
want
me to check then get the size of the flat roof joist, with the
longest
distance between supports and I`ll do a quick calc to prove the
loading for you. 8-)

What if there are no joists ?
My flat roof is made by flat concrete panels.........
Jenny

Then I`m of no use whatsoever. I`m a timber engineer. Chances are
tho
that the design requirements are the same. BS codes have that effect
now. If it`s old then I`d be very carefull.

I was !! I had wild plans for a shallow pond with a waterfall type
affair on my roof garden, but luckily found the architect who build
our house and he told me that the roof could carry 150Kg per square
meter. My water feature would have been double that............. So
now I have heavy pots situated over the weightbearing walls below and
around the edges...........:~)

Jenny
Greenhouse in the sky pictures at :
http://members.rott.chello.nl/ldejag...ex.welcome.htm

"Dave Painter" wrote
"JennyC" wrote

What if there are no joists ?
My flat roof is made by flat concrete panels.........
Jenny

Then you will probably need a buildings inspector/surveyor.
The problem could be:-
The roof cracks
The roof collapses
The wall holding up the roof slips/slides/subsides
The foundations of the wall subside

You are unlikely to get a warning of any of these things until it is
too
late.

Window boxes are probably OK
grow bags against the wall are usually OK

Full blown raised beds, pots and other garden designs tend to
require a
building survey.
Which is where I came in.

Dave
BTW I do know of a decent survey service if you are reasonably close
to
Shropshire.

See my other post Dave.............
Also Shropshire is not close to Rotterdam :~))
Jenny

On Wed, 8 Oct 2003 13:54:08 +0200, "JennyC" wrote:



Then I`m of no use whatsoever. I`m a timber engineer. Chances are
tho
that the design requirements are the same. BS codes have that effect
now. If it`s old then I`d be very carefull.

I was !! I had wild plans for a shallow pond with a waterfall type
affair on my roof garden, but luckily found the architect who build
our house and he told me that the roof could carry 150Kg per square
meter. My water feature would have been double that............. So
now I have heavy pots situated over the weightbearing walls below and
around the edges...........:~)

and being in NL, the whole lot is slowly sinking into the ground?
--
Martin