11 Most Essential Rooftop Garden Design Ideas and Tips | Terrace Garden Design

In densely populated urban areas of the cities even having a small rooftop or patio is such a boon. You can create a garden there. You can sit there and enjoy.
Surely you may have many plans about your rooftop garden design and style but considering these tips will be helpful too.

Get more ideas for rooftop decoratives, click here.

We have some great terrace garden design ideas and essential tips that you can use for inspiration on your rooftop.

A small rooftop if kept open looks big. Consider, for example, transparent glass instead of a parapet wall; fences, railing or even you can create a hedge around the border. However, if you are concerned about the privacy and would like to block the constantly prying eyes of the neighbors, avoid this tip.

If you have a large rooftop or have a bad view from there or if you want to get a real garden like feel do little high vegetation around the walls to maximize greenery and confine yourself from the rest of the city. Growing bamboos and grasses is a good combination if you want to make it low maintenance, otherwise, your options are unlimited, grow shrubs and trees.

3. Create raised beds

If your roof supports, creating raised beds adjacent to the walls is a good idea. You can add wooden raised beds or the ones that are made from metal. If you like, you can also construct the concrete raised beds– 2 feet deep and wide would be a great size, in them you can even grow tall shrubs and small trees and with the regular maintenance, pruning, and root trimming in every few years you can control the plants.

For these raised beds ensure you use waterproofing membrane and lay a thick root barrier that can block roots and prevent damage to the roof. One more idea is to make slightly elevated raised beds from the surface that way the raised beds do not touch the surface and roots of the plants may not be able to penetrate.

When it comes to rooftop garden design, ensure you maintain the diversity in the size of the plants. A few large plants, shrubs and small trees, ground covers, annuals must be there. Also, buy containers of different sizes this will give a great look to your rooftop garden.

5. Furniture

Decide in advance what kind of furniture you would like to purchase. Would you like to lounge on the roof terrace or want to have a dinner there? You must make a choice in the initial stage. Furniture that fit the style and theme of your garden would be appropriate.

A focal point attracts the eyes toward it. Anything can be a focal point that draws attention. A water feature, tall tree, beautiful arrangement of container plants, a statue etc.

During the evening, it is important that your rooftop garden is well-lit. Especially near the stairwell or door, it’s nice to make more bright spots. Moreover, lighting a roof will make it look larger during dusk.

8. Use no more than three colors

Always choose one color as an accent color and one or two more colors that’ll follow it. Using several different colors for walls, floor, railings, furniture or containers will make your rooftop look too busy and cluttered. A color combined with a neutral color works best. Neutral colors like white, gray, beige, indigo also accentuate the beauty of plants.

Utilize vertical space to add more space to your rooftop garden, hang planters on the walls, use railing planters and grow a lot of climbers.

Don’t avoid the flooring. Choose flooring type that fits your budget, suits the climate you live in and accommodate the theme of the rooftop garden.

11. Play with colors and plant types

Use cool colors and warm colors in balance to get a beautiful look. On a well planned urban rooftop garden, everything is possible. Grow trees, shrubs, foliage plant and annuals for a burst of color.