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A '''roof garden''' is any [[garden]] on the [[roof]] of a [[building]].
[[Image:Chicago City Hall rooftop garden.jpg|thumb|right|A roof garden on top of [[Chicago City Hall]].]]
[[Image:DirkvdM casa grande roof terrace.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The roof terrace of the Casa Grande hotel in [[Santiago de Cuba]], with a view of the turrets of the Catedrál de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción.]]
Humans have grown plants atop structures since antiquity. Besides the decorative benefit, roof plantings may provide food, temperature control, architectural enhancement, and recreational opportunities. Available gardening areas in cities are often seriously lacking, which is likely the key impetus for many roof gardens. The garden may be on the roof of an [[autonomous building]] which takes care of its own [[water]] and [[waste]]. Hydroponics and other alternative methods can expand the possibilities of roof top gardening by reducing, for example, the need for soil or its tremendous weight. Plantings in containers are used extensively in roof top gardens. One high-profile example of a building with a roof garden is [[Chicago City Hall]].
[[Image:Roof_garden_large.jpg|thumb|left|250px|An extreme example of a roof garden, in [[Vancouver, British Columbia]].]]
For those who live in small apartments with little space, [[square foot gardening]], or (when even less space is available) [[living wall]]s (vertical gardening) are wonderful solutions. These use much less space than traditional gardening (square foot gardening uses 20% of the space of conventional rows; 10 times more produce can be generated from vertical gardens). These also encourage environmentally responsible practices, eliminating [[tilling]], reducing or eliminating [[pesticides]], and weeding, and encouraging the recycling of wastes through [[compost]]. In small apartments, a [[Bokashi]] compost system is more practical than conventional composting.
The related idea of a [[Living machines|living machine]] is based on the most basic mode of gardening: dumping wastes ([[compost]] and [[sewage]], appropriately broken down, usually in some specialized ditch or container) on the [[soil]], and harvesting [[food]] which, when processed, generates compost, and when eaten, generates sewage. In most of the world, this kind of very tight closed loop gardening is used, despite certain health risks if necessary precautions are not taken. Compost including human or pet waste should reach thermophilic conditions and age for at least a year before being used. Manure from vegetarian animals is safe without these measures.
Composting itself is a safe process which, when composed of a variety of different materials, is one of the best forms of fertilization available.
==See also==
*[[green roof]]
*[[living wall]]
*[[Kensington Roof Gardens]]
*[[urban agriculture]]
*[[list of gardening topics]]
*[[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]]
==External links==
*[http://www.ljconline.nl/garden/indexgarden.htm Greenhouse in the Sky]
*[http://www.greenroofs.com/archives/sg_jan-apr04.htm Website with pictures of roof gardens in London]
*[http://www.greenroofservice.com Website with pictures of green roofs in Germany and USA]
*[http://www.urbanroofgardens.com Urban roof gardens in London and other major cities around the world]/
*[http://www.mylandscapes.co.uk Contemporary roof gardens in London]/
[[Category:Gardening]]