More people are living in cities and towns than ever before. Many of these people don’t have the luxury of a traditional garden but many do now have the opportunity to create a roof garden.
A roof garden is a great way to create extra living space and enjoy the benefits of a calming green garden in the middle of a hectic environment. Wouldn’t it be nice to come home after work and spend a few hours chatting in your own personal oasis or invite your friends to an alfresco rooftop garden party?
Pot plants and outside seating are easy first steps to creating your rooftop garden but to achieve that ‘real garden’ look and feel artificial grass is the perfect answer. It is one of the best green roof surface products available on the market for it is durable, drains well and requires little to no maintenance. You also don’t have to worry about getting a water supply to the roof if you were using real grass.
Generally roof spaces can look pretty bleak before a roof garden is installed. They tend to be an expanse of concrete, bitumen, felt or decking.
Here we take our extensive knowledge from fitting artificial lawns on hundreds of rooftops and explain how to go about installing artificial grass on a roof garden.
1. Check the drainage of the roof
The drainage of the roof must be good now and for the lifetime of the artificial grass otherwise flooding will occur when the artificial grass is laid. If drainage isn’t good a few hours work using a self levelling compound can fix many drainage issues.
2. Will the roof be able to carry the extra weight?
You will need to check that the correct joists are below the roof to carry the additional weight of the grass, people, furniture etc that will be on the roof. You would be amazed where some people have wanted to send me! If you are unable to assess this yourself get a architect or structural engineer to help.
3. Is the rooftop area safe?
Are there suitable barriers around the rooftop to prevent people falling over the edge? This is especially important if you a considering allowing kids to use this space. You will also need to make sure nothing can be blown off the roof garden injuring people below.
4. Be careful not to cut the roof surface
If you are installing the grass on to felt or bitumen I suggest you place wooden boards down first and then lay the artificial grass on top.
5. Put very little glue on to the roof surface
If you glue directly on to the roofs surface use just a small amount of glue as it can cause drainage problems.
6. Use marine ply or an underlay on decking
If you are laying on to a decked roof – the decking can be either replaced with marine ply for a smoother finish or you can use an underlay. I don’t recommend shock pads because it is very difficult to get a fixing to them. If the decking is in relatively good condition you should be able to lay directly on to it.
7. Use joining tape to bind the grass together
We always use joining tape on any roof terrace when joining the grass together as we are trying to use as little glue as possible on the roof.
8. Check the access to the roof garden
From my experience most roof terraces are hard to access so I suggest cutting the artificial grass in to smaller pieces before trying to get the artificial grass to the roof. There are still people who believe they can get a 50 sqm roll of grass up the stairs and on to the roof in one bit!
9. Roof gardens can be windy places
We sand the grass once it is installed remembering to place more around the edges to prevent flapping from the wind. We suggest placing plastic planting containers around the edges of the grass for shelter and as another means to weigh the grass down. Lattice fencing can also be used as a windbreak.
If you keep these things in mind when creating your roof garden you will have a great area to escape to for many years to come.
Any of our grasses from our artificial grass range can be fitted on roof gardens.
Should you have any further questions on installing artificial grass on a roof garden please leave them in the comments section below.
If you would like us to provide you with a quote for supplying and installing the grass please fill out this form
