Garden and Home South Africa - October 2015

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:
Wooden planters are light
and perfect for suburban roofs.
Picking lunch from
The Star’s rooftop
garden in Jo’burg.
WIN!
WIND, WATER
AND SUN
Wind can blow a garden to smithereens
on a rooftop – especially in a coastal
city. To prevent this, Marc suggests
sticking to low-growing plants.
“Vegetables like tomatoes should be
staked to prevent them being blown
over and having their roots exposed.”
When building permanent structures
like seating and pergolas for shade
and support, design them to be wind
permeable, otherwise they can create
wind tunnels or be blown over.
Rooftops tend to dry out more quickly
than normal gardens and a reliable water
supply is important. Water-wise methods
such as mulching, intensive planting and
grouping all help a garden to survive the
hot sun. For a larger garden, drip irrigation
is ideal. Bare rooftops can be very hot,
and simply planting a garden results in a
cooler environment. “One of the beauties of
rooftop gardens is the benefits they produce
below,” says Marc. “At one of our gardens
the ambient temperature inside the building
below it has dropped by an average of 3°C.
This has reduced their air conditioner use
by 40 percent during summer.”
WIN! We’re giving away three copies
worth R295 each. To enter, SMS
URBAN, your name and e-mail address
to 48406. An SMS costs R1,50, errors will
be billed and free SMSes don’t apply.
For full Ts&Cs, see page 155.
SOURCES Evagroup 083 298 7151 or visit evagroup.co.za GardenShop gardenshop.co.za Jane’s Delicious Garden
janesdeliciousgarden.com Jane’s Delicious Urban Gardening by Jane Griffiths (Sunbird Publishers) jonathanball.co.za
134 OCTOBER 2015 | gardenandhome.co.za