Roof garden

“ I hold that nothing unsightly should be seen in the garden. The shed for sticks and stakes is a lean-to at one end of the barn, showing to the garden. The roof had to be made at a very low pitch, and there was no roofing material suitable but galvanized iron. But a depth of four inches of peaty earth was put over the iron, and now it is a garden of Stonecrops and other plants that flourish in shallow soil in a hot exposure. ”

“ One needs the roof of a tea house to keep off the evening dews or occasional shower. It cannot be made a large feature of the grounds like a garden. It is not important enough. It will not, without trees and high shrubs behind it, make any background as will a garden wall or lattice. It is no barrier along a street or of any use as a fence or division line. ”

“ In case of fire the walls and floors of one room, or of any number of rooms, can instantly be saturated with water, and twice in each week, at an appointed hour, a warm, gentle rain is made to descend for a sufficient length of time upon the trees and shrubs in the roof garden. ”

“ It might be that two or more people have homes overlooking a roof who would join together in the making of a garden. In that way a larger area could be undertaken and the expense would not be seriously felt. If the roof is one exposed to much sunshine, then one should select plants which revel in sunshine like the annual poppy, the verbena, salvia, sweet alyssum, candytuft, ageratum, dahlia, canna, California poppy, asters; all these are hardy, easily grown plants, which will give an abundance of bloom all summer. ”

“ The windows have no glass, being enclosed on the outside with an iron railing constructed sometimes like a balcony. The floors are of soft brick. The roof, sloping considerably, is of concave tiles. The yard often has a flower garden, or is used for raising poultry, or maybe pigs. ”

“ Its slanting roof of red tiles projected over white walls, divided here and there by broad rows of bricks, which contrasted agreeably with the green color of the blinds on the first and second stories.
These buildings, open to the south and east, were surrounded by a large garden of about ten acres, partly planted with trees, and partly laid out in fruit and kitchen-garden. Before continuing this description, which perhaps will appear a little like a fairy-tale, let us begin by saying, that the wonders, of which we are about to present the sketch, must not to be considered Utopian dreams ”

“ The large forest trees, always grand, graceful, and appropriate, would become such a house, throwing a protecting air around and over its quiet, unpretending roof. Vines, or climbing roses, might throw their delicate spray around the columns of the modest veranda, and a varied selection of familiar shrubbery and ornamental plants checker the immediate front and sides of the house looking out upon the lawn; through which a spacious walk, or 126 carriage-way should wind, from the high road, or chief approach. ”

“ Already Uncle Jase stood with his back to the broad, straight column whose canopy of leafage spread a green roof between the tall, waving grass that served as a carpet and the blue of a smiling sky.
Through branches, themselves as heavy and stalwart as young trees, and through the myriads of arrow-pointed leaves that rustled as they sifted and shifted the gold flakes of sunlight, sounded the low, mysterious harping of wind-fingers as light and yet as profound as those of some dreaming organist. ”

“ The paths are only one or two and they never turn abruptly and ask you to keep off their corners; they have none. Neither have the flower-beds. They flow wideningly around the hard turnings of the house with the grace of a rivulet. Out on the two wider sides of the lawn nothing breaks the smooth green but a well-situated tree or two until the limits of the premises are reached, and there, in lines that widen and narrow and widen again and hide the surveyor's angles, the flowers rise once more in a final burst of innumerable blossoms and splendid hues—a kind of sunset of the garden's own. ”

“ We, your human neighbours, lie abed in our snug cottage, and tremble at the groaning and shivering of our beams, and silently wonder in the dark amid the noise how much of our red-tiled roof will remain over us by morning. (Five pounds’ worth of tiles went off, I recollect, in last Thursday week’s tempest.) But you, on your open hilltop, feel the fierce cold wind blow through and through you; till all the buds on your south-western face are chilled and killed; while even the others, more sheltered on the leeward side, have got nipped and checked, so that they develop irregularly. ”

“ We shall begin with a very servicable span-roofed house, adapted for a mixed collection of plants, with pits adjoining on each side for bedders and frame plants. It is designed with a view to secure the utmost economy consistent with efficiency. It will be observed that the pitch of the roof is low, the ridge being only nine feet from the ground line. ”

“ It takes additional character from bold and picturesque scenery, with which it is in harmony. The pine, spruce, cedar, or hemlock, or the evergreen laurel, planted around or near it, will give it increased effect, while among deciduous trees and shrubs, an occasional Lombardy poplar, and larch, will harmonize with the boldness of its outline. Even where hill or mountain scenery is wanting, plantations such as have been named, would render it a pleasing style of cottage, and give agreeable effect to its bold, sharp roof and projecting eaves. ”

“ Nothing so perfectly sets off a cottage, in external appearance, as the presence of plants and shrubbery around it. A large tree or two, by giving an air of protection, is always in place; and creeping vines, and climbing shrubs about the windows and porch, are in true character; while a few low-headed trees, of various kinds, together with some simple and hardy annual and other flowers—to which should always be added, near by, a small, well-tended kitchen garden—fill up the picture. ”

“ They are seldom more than sixteen or eighteen feet long, eight or ten broad, and five or six high from the ridge pole to the ground: they are built with a sloping roof like our European houses. The material of both walls and roof is dry grass or hay, and very tightly it is put together, so that they must necessarily be very warm; some are lined with the bark of trees on the inside, and many have either over the door or somewhere in the house a plank covered with their carving, which they seem to value much as we do a picture, placing it always as conspicuously as possible. ”

“ Under this great oak in the stillness is a place to dream—in summer, looking upward into the vast expanse of green boughs, is an intricate architecture, an inimitable roof, whose lattice-windows are set with translucent lapis lazuli, for the deep blue of the sky seems to come down and rest upon it. ”

“ Behind the central wooden house, with the windows, was a high rick-like roof composed of turf and green with grass surmounted by a small square chimney, and this roof covered a crypt-like kitchen. This extraordinary troglodytal abode was entered over a stone pavement which, rising slightly, conducted the sightless visitor to the penetralia of gloom and cooking. Inside of this semi-subterranean passage, forming its walls, was a formidable structure of stone and turf. Turf and stone houses for sheep and cows and horses were scattered about. ”

“ The low-priced 'cheap greenhouse' is a makeshift of some sort. Perhaps its roof is constructed of hotbed sash, a perfectly feasible method of construction, which for ordinary, commonplace gardening will answer admirably. Or, its foundation is merely the plain earth. Such a building does admirably in the summer time, and even in the late spring and early autumn; but woe betide the enthusiastic amateur in winter, who, being possessed of one of these light greenhouse structures, has indulged in a few costly, exotic plants. ”

“ Wood, brick, stone and slate, mingled in a way to content the eye of a colorist, cover what little space the windows leave on the outside of the house. All this is surmounted by a roof of red or violet tiles, or tarred plank, interrupted by openings to give light to the attics, and having an abrupt pitch. These steep roofs look well against the background of a northern sky; the rains run off them in torrents, the snow slips from them; they suit the climate, and do not require to be swept in winter. ”

“ The roofs are always of shingle, with broad advancing eaves of most characteristic shape.
A church have I seen in the middle of a maize field. The roof had fallen in, the walls were cracked, in places crumbling away, tall sunflowers peeped in at its paneless windows, and the birds built their nests amongst the beams of its ruined vaults. ”

“ Level stretches do not always bring about right results. If your ground slopes to the garden edge why not design a rustic tea house to fit into the hillside? Should you visit it of a clear afternoon, seat yourself on the wooden settle and glance around you, you will be delighted with the view obtained. Below is the garden rolled out like a carpet brightly patterned at your feet, smooth stretches of lawn between rest the eyes as they gaze off to the horizon when the blue of the sky seems to melt into the masses of waving bloom. ”

“ The roof is a conical frame of bamboo-cane thatched with long grass, having long eaves to protect the walls from the deluging rains of Africa. The most substantial of these dwellings are liable to be undermined by wet, if the ground be level, or to be penetrated by rain, if the roof be not kept in good repair ”

“ But these grass-grown roofs are rarely sound enough to keep out the rain. We often heard our neighbors complaining of water pouring in torrents into their rooms, and I have sometimes been roused in the night by an unexpected sprinkling. Patches of fresh earth are added from time to time, and the roofs are rolled occasionally with a heavy stone, like a common garden-roller. One is usually kept on the top of each house, or block of houses.
When I went out, on the 11th of February, I saw laborers busy in the plain, at the foot of the Carmel Hills. ”

“ HAD we embarked upon a little stone house, instead of a little red-brick one, should we, I wonder, have had the energy to bestow upon ourselves a small flagged and stonewalled garden as an adjunct to it? I doubt it. For one thing flagged gardens are, I imagine, costly affairs. Moreover I have never myself seen a new one that appealed to me as quite satisfactory. An old, grey-walled, and grey-flagged garden, as part of an old, grey farmhouse, or manor, is one of the most ideal possessions that the heart of man could sigh after. ”

“ If you employ an architect or builder not practically versed in the construction of plant houses to carry out your wishes, you will probably obtain for an extravagant outlay a heavy structure with a lofty roof, in which nothing worth having can be persuaded to grow. Keep the roof down to something like the actual requirements of the plants, for the nearer they are to the glass the better. ”

“ Small gardens can be designed as settings for works of art or products of the hand-craftsman—ceramic bowls and urns, authentic wrought-iron grilles, wood carvings, statuary, sundials, pools, even fountains and waterfalls. Or a garden may be designed with a background of well-placed rock, a tree stump, or a piece of driftwood. A bench, arch, gate, antique hitching post, or well-house may inspire a miniature planting. Inanimate ground covers such as gravel are often a definite part of the design. ”

“ Cold colours will not suit with green; and, therefore, slated roofs are disagreeable, unless, as in the Westmoreland cottage, the gray roof is warmed with lichenous vegetation, when it will do well with anything; but thatch is better. If the building be not of wood, the walls may be built of anything which will give them a quiet and unobtruding warmth of tone. White, if in shade, is sometimes allowable; but, if visible at any point more than 200 yards off, it will spoil the whole landscape. ”

“ Deep grooves in the stone work, with light iron frames fastened near the outer edges of the arches, gave support during the cold weather to a roof of double glass, which covered all the open spaces between the arches, converting the whole into one vast greenhouse, through which passed the system of heating pipes from the furnace room to the cottage, thus providing a roomy winter home for an army of tropical plants and shrubs and at the same time protecting the water supply from the ill effects of all frost. ”

“ Across the poles, covering the rest of the roof, willows and straight twigs of any kind are laid close together, and over these is placed a layer of dry grass arranged in regular rows. Mud is then carefully spread over the grass to a depth of about 3 inches, and after it has nearly dried it is again gone over so as to fill up all the cracks. A layer of dry earth is then spread over all and firmly trodden down, to render the roof water-tight and bring its surface level with the surrounding ground, following the same method and order of construction that prevails in dwelling-house buildings. ”

“ It is a good plan, after remodeling a house, to carry out this scheme of our forebears and have a narrow bed following the line of the house. Trees also are always effective; they break the roof line and shut off objectionable views. If you have no trees, by all means plant some. Screens can be devised by planting shrubbery, which makes unnecessary a latticed enclosure and is all the more interesting if the shrubs bear flowers, adding a bright spot to the color scheme. ”