Green Roof Course with Dusty Gedge & John Little

I have had a most wonderful day today! As many of my followers will know, I am having a Wildlife Hub built and I wanted it to have a green roof. Green roofs have interested me for a while and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to learn more about them and what was involved. I searched the Internet and came across Dusty's website. I got in contact and discovered he was running a course in Leicester... only about an hour away. He invited me to go along... it meant we could meet and discuss my project further as well as me having the chance to learn a bit more about what would be involved to create the green roof on my hub.

I come to green roofs as a complete amateur.... I have read lots of bits on various websites and I also bought and downloaded the excellent guide available on the www.livingroofs.org website.

Dusty and John introduced themselves and we then all explained why we had chosen to come on the course. There was a real diverse cross section of people, from architects, to community groups, Trusts and organisations, to individuals wanting to create green roofs on their own homes, on sheds and even on the barge they were living on!

We learnt about the fundamentals of the green roof philosophy and it just all makes so much sense, I began to wonder why green roofs are just not standard on all flat roofs.

We then all had the chance to make up a small section of roof to demonstrate the technique used....
 All the materials we pre-cut and laid out for us...

If possible, we were asked to bring our own drill and started with a square of particle board and two batons representing the internal batons in the building's roof.

Bit, by bit, we added the wooden elements to create a lip  in which to lay the geotextile ( a protective layer on which the liner lays)...

 
We then laid the geotextile on the surface, with the butyl liner on top. ....

... and used wooden batons to hold the liner in place, creating a waterproof 'tray' on the roof

All of this is described in detail in the PDF booklet available on the website.

Then a thicker geotextile is added on top, to ensure that none of the substrate or planting damages the butyl membrane layer.

Phil, who is building my hub, has already looked at the booklet and understands how the roof of my hub must be constructed in order for me to get creative with the planting!

I am going to have to grow my green roof in trays which can be transported to Gardener's World Live and lifted up onto my roof.

Lunchtime gave me the chance to talk to Dusty and John more about my plans and they are hoping to come and do some talks on my stand in June, so if you are interested, then watch this space to find out more about when they might be at the show!

We also discovered that we shared passions for a lot more projects and I am sure I will be doing some more work with them, especially with the container rooms that they produce... take a look at http://greenroofshelters.co.uk/green-roof-shelters-container-family.... and be inspired!!!

I have had such a wonderful day and a massive thanks to Dusty, John, Fleur and Kay who did such a wonderful job of organising and running this event. It is the start of something much bigger... I just know it!