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Green Garden Roofs. | Stratton Exteriors

green roof cottage 2

green roof cottage

This post might not fall squarely within the realms of feasibility or practicality, but it’s a design idea that has stuck with us in the months since we first came across it. (The house that clued us into the trend is the one pictured above, which is the 540-square-foot Portland area cottage belonging to eco interior designer Jessica Helgerson.) We’d heard already of “greening” the roofs of urban lofts and big-city dwellings by installing vegetable and herb plantings and modest flower gardens, but now the green roof is taking off with country folks and suburbanites, too—albeit suburbanites with a willingness to part with the ordinary in a big way.

And this time the rooftop garden isn’t merely a place for a container garden to run wild, but one that’s swapped the shingles and tar for a full-on no-section-of-roof-is-left-uncovered expanse of vegetation. These kind of green roofs are touted as great ways to save money and reduce energy expenses, as they slow rainwater runoff while also insulating interior spaces. Today’s green roofs seem like a sequel to yesterday’s thatched roofs and so they can come across as quaint in an English countryside kind of way–or they can feel very rustic barnyard or, on the other end of the spectrum, chic and modern. It all depends on the roofline and the vegetation rooted there. This versatility, paired with the many ecological virtues of the garden roof, should help this trend continue to—ahem—grow.

Of her green roof, Helgerson said, “As part of the remodel, the worn out roof was replaced with a green roof, planted with moss and ferns gathered along the Columbia River Gorge. The green roof offers insulation as well as a playful visual counterpoint to traditional white cottage.”

Here are some more green roofs we’re loving:

rooftop garden picsWhat do you think of this trend? Have you seen a sky-high garden like this anywhere in Nashville?