What are the best types of vegetation to grow on a rooftop? 
Ideally I am looking for plants or trees resistant to weather, temperature, 
are native to North America and do not require very deep soil for growing, 
but offer maximum foliage.

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Request for Question Clarification by kriswrite-ga on 04 Nov 2002 18:08 PST

In order to give the most informative answer, I'll need to know what
state you live in.

kriswrite

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Clarification of Question by phytokate-ga on 04 Nov 2002 23:14 PST

Thank you for your reply!
I live in Southern Ontario, and I am 
trying to create a rooftop garden that 
will insulate from high heat and extreme cold as well. 

Kate

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Request for Question Clarification by librariankt-ga on 24 Nov 2002 18:46 PST

Hi phytokate,

Another clarification question for you:

Are you planning to plant things directly onto your roof, or are you
planning to put them in pots?  I ask largely because we had a neighbor
who planted grass (amusing to watch him mow his roof) and he had a
constant battle with leakage.  Pretty much no matter what you put down
as a moisture blocker you'll get some tears because of degradation and
root invasion.

On the other hand, if you're planting things in pots you'd still get
some insulation because of shade etc.  This of course leads to a lower
cold tolerance, but it also means that you don't have to go with as
shallow a root system.

Let me know and I'll see what I can dig up!  (tee hee, no pun
intended)

librariankt

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Clarification of Question by phytokate-ga on 24 Nov 2002 20:24 PST

Hello librariankt
Thank you for your response and request for clarification
I will be using either pots or planters for my garden, 
and I will be able to construct the planters to be as 
insulated as desired, as I am going to build them myself. 

Thanks fo the warning about root invasion!

Here are a couple links that may help you in your search for an answer

http://www.cityfarmer.org/roofmonica61.html

and

http://www.interlog.com/~rooftop

this paragraph found at this link
http://www.cityfarmer.org/rooftop59.html#rooftop

links to the second link I have given

There are very few sources which describe the most important elements
for getting a rooftop garden off the ground. Perhaps the best
information is available from The Rooftop Garden Resource Group , a
relatively new organization, which offers an excellent series of Fact
Sheets for just $I0.00. Not only do they include the expected tips on
what plants to grow, soil mixes, and environmental considerations, but
also rarely seen and important advice on roofing, structural
considerations and building codes. Buy this collection, you won't be
sorry. And if you have roof garden resources of your own, they'd
welcome your input.


Interestingly both of these sites give information on rooftop gardens
in Canada.

Oh I couldn’t resist looking for more information so here is some more

http://www.greenroofs.ca/grhcc/index.html

http://www.greenroofs.ca/grhcc/Proceedings-GreenRoofResearchWorkshop2000.pdf

http://www.ecocentre.com/rooftop/designguide/index.html

http://www.sustainable.wellington.net.nz/Resources/Roof%20Top%20Permaculture.pdf

this one is from an Ontario gardener that has pictures of her garden
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0823250018707.html

A great page with a lot of information about gardening… not directly
focused on rooftops though
http://www.evergreen.ca/en/index.html


Most of these links were found using this search methodology

rooftop garden ontario "types of plants"
://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=rooftop+garden+ontario++%22types+of+plants%22&meta=

and slight variations of that type of search