Green roof adventures part 1

This Easter weekend we took out first steps towards putting in a green roof on the breezeway. Because the Resist-eau coating we put on the roof wasn't UV proof, it was important that we get it covered this year.

I spent about three weeks looking for the drainage mat online, I found places in California and Ontario. Then miraculously I found a place in Burnaby that had exactly what we needed. You don't always need a drainage mat for a green roof but because our roof is quite flat (it slopes about 1.5 inches every four feet) drainage is very important.

We had top soil which we mixed in with pumice and coconut coir. We picked coconut coir since it's a by-product and renewable, unlike peat moss, and we picked pumice over perlite again for its lower environmental impact. I'd read about some even greener alternatives, such as recycled glass growstones but these don't seem to be commercially available yet, We used 1/3 of each material. I'm a little worried this mix will hold too much water since both pumice and coir are more water-retaining than their counter-parts but we'll see how it goes.

Coconut vs, peat moss

 Kevin found a rock down the hill for the step. He not only had to move it up the hill to the cabin, but then get it to the second floor. He got a little peeved when I laughed at him rolling it up the hill,

Next week we'll finish the dirt and hopefully do some planting!