So: It’s been a while since we’ve had an update on the shed roof. Mostly because it’s been growing very, very slowly and developments have been few and far between.
BUT: I am convinced that this is its year to shine! Already we have a mostly green roof. Which is way better than this.
If we’re being honest with ourselves, I might admit that it’s taken a bit longer to grow in than I had anticipated. Succulents are not known to be terribly speedy. And I’m not a patient person.
But I went up there this week and and pleasantly surprised to see some new growth:
In hindsight there would have been a few things that I would have done differently and they both relate to water:
1. We only have about 4 inches of soil on the roof. We did this because we were primarily planting succulents (which are shallow rooted) and because we wanted to keep the overall weight down. Soil, particularly when wet, is heavy.
Unfortunately during the summer, the soil [due to a lack of depth] tends to dry out and although it kills all the weeds, I’ve also had a number of [good] plant deaths. Perhaps that’s also the reason it’s been slow to take off, growth-wise.
So that brings me to point #2:
2. I probably should have installed some type of watering system.
So this week I went up there and dug out a small trench along the top (long) rim and buried a soaker hose. I’ve yet to try it out but my hope it that water will slowly leach down the width of the roof, providing moisture to my wee little planties as it drains.
I’ll let you know how it works this summer.
xo, Sonja
