Rooftop and vertical gardens can serve as an adaptation strategy for urban areas. Rooftop gardens are gardens built on rooftops, while vertical gardens are gardens built on walls. They provide benefits such as reducing the urban heat island effect, improving air quality, and managing stormwater runoff. Construction involves layers for drainage, soil, and plants. Maintenance considers plant stress, weeds, and infrastructure issues. Vertical gardens also improve insulation and reduce building temperatures. While beneficial, they have disadvantages like potential wall damage from plant roots. Both can utilize ornamental, edible, and medicinal plants suited for Sri Lankan homes.

1. Rooftop and vertical gardens
as an adaptation strategy for
urban areas

2. Contents
01
• What is a rooftop garden, a vertical garden?
02
• Benefits, construction of rooftop gardens
03
• Maintenance considerations, long term issues of rooftop gardens
04
• Benefits, disadvantages and issues of vertical gardens
05
• How these gardens become an adaptation strategy for urban areas?
06
• Applications for urban SriLankan homes
07
• References
2

3. What is a rooftop garden?
• Rooftop garden
Any outdoor, elevated garden.
- They are generally found in urban areas.
- They can be public, semi public or private.
• Vertical garden
A vertical garden is a wall covered with
vegetation.
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4. 4
Rooftop gardens

5. 5
Top view of some rooftop gardens

6. 6
Close view of a rooftop garden

7. Benefits of roof top gardens (1)
• Reduce urban heat island effect
• Add beauty and usable space
• Reduce energy requirement of buildings
• Storm water management
• Air quality improvement
7

8. Benefits of roof top gardens (2)
• Dust reduction
• Increased life expectancy of roof
membranes
• Noise reduction
• Biodiversity preservation
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9. Basic Construction
9
Cross section of a typical rooftop garden

10. 10
layer
layer

11. Practical considerations when
building a rooftop garden
• Condition of the roof
• Structural capacity of the roof
• Access to the roof
• Cost
• Irrigation
• Drainage
11

12. Maintenance considerations
• Plant stress
• Invasive weeds, stray tree seedlings
• Shoot pruning
• Nutrient deficiency
• Pest and diseases
• Drainage
12

13. Long term issues
• Plant replacement
• Soil replacement
• Deterioration of containers, tiles
• Damage to building infrastructure (drainage
problems)
13

14. What is a Vertical Garden?
• A vertical garden or a living wall is a wall
covered with vegetation.
– The plant supporting system is very light and thus can be
implemented on any wall.
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15. 15

16. 16
Indoor vertical gardens

17. 17
A vertical garden designed to allow some natural light in

18. 18
Hydroponic vertical garden

19. Benefits of vertical gardens
• Act as a thermal isolation system
• Reduce the overall temperature of the
building in summer and protect the building
from the cold in winter.
19

20. Disadvantages of vertical gardens
• Roots grow deep inside the wall and damage it
• Only light weight plants can be used.
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21. Issues in vertical gardening
• Flammability issues
• Maintenance difficulties
21

22. How these gardens become an
adaptation strategy for urban areas?
• Reduce air pollution
22
Noise
Combustion gases
Dust

23. • Increased energy conservation
23
Thermal insulations no heat up/cool down is required energy preservation

24. Applications for a urban SriLankan home
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25. 25
A growth pillar A growth column

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27. Plants that can be used for rooftop
and vertical gardens
• Ornamental plants
• Edible plants
• Medicinal plants
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28. Ornamental Edible Medicinal
28
Piper Nigrum L.
Piper betle L.
Solanum lycopersicum
Solanum melongena
Wattakaka volubilis
Climbing roses
Clematis spp.
Asparagus falcatus

29. References (1)
• Janick, J. (1972)
Horticultural science, 2nd edition. W.H. Freeman and company, San
Francisco : 564-570
• Prakash, J. and Pierik, R.L.M. (1991) Horticulture - New technologies
and applications. Kluwer academic publishers, The Netherlands :
401-404
• Richard, D.M (2008) Chicago’s green rooftops, A guide to rooftop
gardening, Chicago Department of Environment.Chicago.
• Lars, B. Lennart, G. Jonas, L. (2005) Hydrological function of a thin
extensive green roof in southern Sweden. Nordic hydrology , 36(3),
pp. 259-268
[Online] Available from
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16976182 [Accessed
20.03.2012]
29

30. References (2)
• Niachou, A. Santamouris, M. Tsangrassoulis, A. (2001) Analysis
of the green roof thermal properties and investigation of its
energy performance. Energy and Buildings, 33(7) : 719-729
[Online] available from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S03787788
01000627 [Accessed 20.03.2012]
• Wong, N.H. Alex, Y.k.T. Yu, C. Kannagi, S. Puay, Y.T. Derek, C.
Kelly, C. Ngian, C.W. (2010) Thermal evaluation of vertical
greenery systems for building walls. Building and Environment
45(3) : 663-672 [Online] available from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S03601323
0900198X [Accessed 20.03.2012]
• http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Flowers/Vi
nes/annual.htm (20.03.2012)
30

31. References (3)
• http://www.miller-mccune.com/science-
environment/farming-in-high-rises-raises-hopes-3705/
(20.03.2012)
• http://nparc.cisti.nrc.ca/npsi/ctrl?action=shwart&index=an
&req=20386110&lang=en (20.03.2012)
• http://www.trentu.ca/eab/documents/Rooftop_Gardens-
Zipple.pdf (20.03.2012)
• https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/jeq/abstracts/3
4/3/1036?access=0&view=article (20.03.2012)
• http://www.cropsreview.com/vertical-farming-issues.html
(20.03.2012)
• http://www.technologyforthepoor.com/UrbanAgriculture/Gar
den.htm (20.03.2012)
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Thank you