Trendy Roofs!

Earth Day. The chatter, buzz, blogs, TV segments, Twitter and oh, so many green celebs praising and promoting the "green" message is building. All welcome news!

The message that we're all caretakers of the earth and gardening with a purpose is gaining steam, and for many, becoming an ingrained life-style.

From planting with natives, composting, and growing water wise plants, to vertical gardens and sharing your garden harvest with neighbors, friends and family, the move to connect with nature (biophilia) in this techno-crazed world, is BACK!

For urbanites craving the soothing connectivity with plants and wildlife, rooftop gardens let you get your hands dirty and dig in the earth and plant something.

Plus, the sheer bliss of relaxing surrounded by ornamental plants, flowers and yes, containers full of colorful, fragrant herbs- and plucking ripe tomatoes and fresh lettuce and basil for a fresh salad, satisfies even the crustiest of curmudgeons.

C'mon- it's hard to say, "bah, humbug" - with a fresh cherry tomato you grew stuffed in your mouth.

But not all roof tops are created equal.

Whereas rooftop gardens are generally for aesthetics, entertaining, and growing your own produce, green roofs on buildings are primarily built for more utilitarian purposes: they cover a larger space and help provide a barrier to heat and solar radiation and reduce rain run-off.

Panels used to support the plants vary in depth but with an eye toward weight, and need to be more tolerant to heat and changeable weather conditions.

It's nice to see that buildings in crowded urban cities and towns are slowly getting onboard to help "green" their cities by adding a green roof to cool things down and help give back to Mother Nature. Ah, now that's an Earth Day message we can all get behind!

~Lynne
GMG

Photo credits: Rockefeller Center, David Shankbone, Garden Visit; Community Garden of Denver (Wikipedia Commons) and Rooftop Garden at Rockefeller Center (Wikipedia Commons)