Pakistan Gardening Forum

regarding water proofing 0.5 mm geo membrane is 100 percent successfull.it is not very expensive either

Lanter roofs are no good for plants because they act as very efficient conductors of heat, radiating it for hours after nightfall too. A bit like the bars on an electric heater.
Can you Imagine what the heat from above, sides and below does to the root structure of the plants.. it slowly but surely cooks them. Then just as the plants are getting used to the heated conditions somebody comes along and douses them with cool water,,, this sudden thermal change causes the roots epidermis and hairs to go into immediate shock and die off. Thus allowing the entry of destructive fungi and the plant slowly dies. Its a bit like being in a sauna all day and then diving into an ice cold pool, whereas we humans can just about cope with it for a short period plants cant.

The second problem that exists with growing basic plants on roofs is that the building structure has to be constructed to be able to cope with the extra weight and permeability of both damp and roots.

On average if you require to grow traditional lawn grass on a roof then with the soil depth and added water weight you can expect around 56kilo per square foot. So for a 20ft x 30ft area that equates to 56 x 600 = 33.600 kilo or 33.5 metric tonnes. calculations are approximate and include the soil, substrate and moisture/water content.

Growing things like sedums, mosses and herbs the loading characteristics are much less at 8kilo per square foot or 8x600= 4,800 or 4.8tonne

Clearly both types have to be carefully constructed with loading calculations included at the build stage otherwise problems will occur and in fact it could be quite foolhardy and dangerous to do so otherwise. Modern lanterns are actually not very thick and the supporting walls are often very tall and of narrow thickness. which is not a good combination for excessive loadbearing.

For roof gardens our ancient methods of house construction with gharra walls, mud roofs and mud/mitthee plastering incorporated substantial beams and thicker walls are probably best if proper waterproof membrane is included. generally only single storey though, however as we all know this practise has been mostly discontinued and in most places now non-existent.

It is a shame though as it was adapted over thousands of years to be the most cost effective, thermally efficient, earthquake and insect attack proof, Ideal for our climate. Green lawn roofs on such structures would be ideal and the load could be taken, some of our older readers may remember though the dangers of living in these houses during the monsoon rains as some poorly built ones would collapse under the extra water weight. By contrast most houses in Pakistan these days are built where they are far too hot in the summer and far too cold in the winter.

In my humble opinion modern Pakistani houses would be unable to take the extra weight of a green roof neither would they be conducive to a good growing environment. It would be foolish and dangerous to do so.

I know this information and the loadings as only last month I was talking to a professional installer of green roofs in the UK and I asked him the very same question.

Dude i have a roof top garden. Iv had it for 10 years now. My main kitchen is right below it and there is no leak Alhamdulillah. I haven't used light soil. Although i have used a good water proofing method. Use tar to water proof your roof top before putting in the soil, but do leave a drain on one side because sometimes it rains too much.

newton wrote:Lanter roofs are no good for plants because they act as very efficient conductors of heat, radiating it for hours after nightfall too. A bit like the bars on an electric heater.
Can you Imagine what the heat from above, sides and below does to the root structure of the plants.. it slowly but surely cooks them. Then just as the plants are getting used to the heated conditions somebody comes along and douses them with cool water,,, this sudden thermal change causes the roots epidermis and hairs to go into immediate shock and die off. Thus allowing the entry of destructive fungi and the plant slowly dies. Its a bit like being in a sauna all day and then diving into an ice cold pool, whereas we humans can just about cope with it for a short period plants cant.

The second problem that exists with growing basic plants on roofs is that the building structure has to be constructed to be able to cope with the extra weight and permeability of both damp and roots.

On average if you require to grow traditional lawn grass on a roof then with the soil depth and added water weight you can expect around 56kilo per square foot. So for a 20ft x 30ft area that equates to 56 x 600 = 33.600 kilo or 33.5 metric tonnes. calculations are approximate and include the soil, substrate and moisture/water content.

Growing things like sedums, mosses and herbs the loading characteristics are much less at 8kilo per square foot or 8x600= 4,800 or 4.8tonne

Clearly both types have to be carefully constructed with loading calculations included at the build stage otherwise problems will occur and in fact it could be quite foolhardy and dangerous to do so otherwise. Modern lanterns are actually not very thick and the supporting walls are often very tall and of narrow thickness. which is not a good combination for excessive loadbearing.

For roof gardens our ancient methods of house construction with gharra walls, mud roofs and mud/mitthee plastering incorporated substantial beams and thicker walls are probably best if proper waterproof membrane is included. generally only single storey though, however as we all know this practise has been mostly discontinued and in most places now non-existent.

It is a shame though as it was adapted over thousands of years to be the most cost effective, thermally efficient, earthquake and insect attack proof, Ideal for our climate. Green lawn roofs on such structures would be ideal and the load could be taken, some of our older readers may remember though the dangers of living in these houses during the monsoon rains as some poorly built ones would collapse under the extra water weight. By contrast most houses in Pakistan these days are built where they are far too hot in the summer and far too cold in the winter.

In my humble opinion modern Pakistani houses would be unable to take the extra weight of a green roof neither would they be conducive to a good growing environment. It would be foolish and dangerous to do so


I know this information and the loadings as only last month I was talking to a professional installer of green roofs in the UK and I asked him the very same question.

Iv got one right outside my bedroom window. Iv had it for the last 10 years. Alhamdulillah there havnt been any problems. It has palms, grass and every season i plant new paneeri which blossoms all season. Therez no danger to the roots. Iv bin trying to attach pics bt the size of the pic is too big.

Iv attached a pic. As u can see, its got grass and plants growing. The lanter places no threat. The weight places no threat. Leakage places no threat, just have a slightly slanted ground towards the drain and water proof ur roof with tar. Il upload more pics.

Posting to an old thread but nevertheless here are my 2 cents although this does not exactly cover roof gardens.

Green roofs are quite common is some parts of the world especially Germany where 14% of all house roofs are green. You can search for "Sedum roofs" and you will have lots of info. There are lots of companies that provide turnkey green roof sedum solutions but sadly none are operating in Pakistan.

Here is a link which describes the basics of sedum roofs. Hope it helps.

Your absolutely right sedums are ideal for rooftop gardening but in my humble opinion not many of the other plants or grass.. in the example picture above I note several of the plants are performing poorly with stunted growth

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